Climate Change in Courtrooms: Developing a Network for Scientific and Legal Expertise (VERDICT) (2026-2030)
SEVEN theme: Fairness of Climate Solutions
Best available science is a critical consideration in order for lawyers and courts to properly interpret the legal obligations of governments and corporate actors in respect of climate change. The interdisciplinary task of connecting climate science and legal frameworks presents an opportunity for large-scale, high-impact change in mitigation, adaptation, and the just transition. But despite the clear overlap between science and the law, no comprehensive network exists in Europe through which climate scientists and legal scholars and practitioners can directly collaborate.
VERDICT will address the following challenges: (1) The lack of an interdisciplinary network linking legal scholars and practitioners with climate scientists and climate-focused social scientists in Europe, (2) The absence of easily accessible, interdisciplinary content for non-experts in relation to climate litigation, (3) The current limitations of interdisciplinary scientific dialogue and the absence of a research agenda to advance litigation-relevant climate science, (4) Limited legal literacy and awareness in the scientific community, (5) The disconnect between best available science and the current legal grounds for accountability, and (6) The lack of available science to develop legal cases related to adaptation and loss and damage.
VERDICT aims to address these challenges by developing a European network that will advance scientific questions on the interpretation of relevant law and build interdisciplinary capacity.
A central component of this project includes in-person meetings that will provide a platform for the legal community to highlight important scientific evidentiary gaps in climate-related legal cases, and for scientists to explain how their latest findings could be incorporated into the work of legal scholars and practitioners. Additionally, the project will develop freely accessible online materials for a wider audience interested in climate-related legal cases. To that end, three scientific work packages will cover the science and law around the Paris Agreement and other international treaties, corporate accountability for climate-related harm and failure to transition and needs and obligations on adaptation, loss, and damage.
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Envisaged impact
The short-term benefits of VERDICT will include a transformative impact on the framing of climate science and its utilization by the legal community. In the long-term, the network and its associated capacity building will further strengthen interdisciplinary research and the development of climate-related legal cases aiming to ensure that government and corporate actors are complying with their obligations under law.
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Researchers & partners
The main proposer of the VERDICT COST Action project is Inga Menke (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, IASA), joined by researchers and institutions from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
SEVEN researcher Nataša Nedeski is as a secondary proposer of the VERDICT COST Action. Other SEVEN researchers who will participate in the project include André Nollkaemper (Academic Director of SEVEN) and Christina Eckes (European Law).
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Funding
This project has received funding from the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST).
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Opportunities for collaboration
Do you see an opportunity for yourself or your organisation to collaborate on this theme? After the official launch of VERDICT in autumn 2026, you can participate in the COST Action, for instance by applying for Working Group membership on the COST website.