Workshop: The Role of Science in Climate Change Litigation

On 14-15 July, an interdisciplinary workshop on the role of science in climate litigation will take place at the BIICL. The event description is below.

Six years after the adoption of the Paris Agreement, and amidst new challenges posed by the Covid crisis, States’ responses to climate change are still insufficient to keep the rise of global temperatures within acceptable and negotiated limits. Climate change litigation is rapidly spreading, with more than 1600 cases filed so far around the globe. Climate science often plays a crucial role in these cases, providing supporting evidence and helping to address issues such as ‘attribution’ and ‘risk assessment’.

This Workshop aims to examine the current, and potential future role of science in climate litigation from both the legal and the scientific perspective. Such an interdisciplinary dialogue will contribute to improving participants’ understanding of how science can help overcome current obstacles in climate change litigation, and how it can help courts to clarify existing legal obligations of States and private actors to prevent or respond to climate change.

The programme is available here.

This event is convened by Christine Bakker, Ivano Alogna, Jean-Pierre Gauci, and Roberto Buizza. The workshop is integrated in the Seasonal School on Climate Change and International Law: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, 12-16 July 2021.