Climate Action, Litigation and Accountability: Screening for Sustainability Seminar Series

Rights-Based Climate Litigation after Klimaseniorinnen: A Reassessment - Annalisa Savaresi
This talk will provide a critical analysis of the role of human rights in climate change litigation, with particular reference to the landmark judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in Verein Klimaseniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland. Building on her previous work in this field, Savaresi will explore how courts have grappled with—and continue to respond to—the
challenges at the intersection of human rights and climate law. The talk will reflect on the progress achieved to date, identify unresolved questions, and consider potential future developments, underscoring both the opportunities and the risks that characterise this evolving area of legal practice.
Annalisa Savaresi earned her PhD from the Faculty of Law at the University of Copenhagen in 2013 and has since held academic positions at the University of Edinburgh (2012-2016) and the University of Stirling, where she continues to hold a part-time chair. At the University of Eastern Finland (UEF), Annalisa directs the Joint Nordic Master Programme in Environmental Law and
oversees the Center for Climate Change, Energy and Environmental Law’s contributions to the Horizon Europe project RETOOL and the Jean Monnet network, Green Deal Net.

Corporate Climate Accountability after the Shell Case: Taking Stock, Looking Forward - Harro van Asselt
This talk will take stock of the legal efforts to strengthen corporate climate accountability in the EU. The stage will be set by a discussion of the Milieudefensie v Shell case in the Netherlands, which affirmed the independent legal duties of corporations to take climate action, but also highlighted the challenges of spelling out what those duties entail exactly. The talk will put the Shell case in its broader context by discussing other instances of corporate climate litigation, as well as legislative developments, including the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. The talk will discuss the progress made, and gaps still remaining, in promoting corporate climate accountability.
Harro van Asselt is Hatton Professor of Climate Law at the Department of Land Economy, and a Fellow and Director of Studies at Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge. He is also Professor of Climate Law and Policy at the University of Eastern Finland, and an Affiliated Researcher with the Stockholm Environment Institute. 

For online participation, please contact sustainability [at] jur [dot] lu [dot] se (sustainability[at]jur[dot]lu[dot]se).

This seminar forms part of the Screening for Sustainability Project which looks at the relationship between economic activities and sustainability. It consists of two Lund University-based projects funded by Formas and the Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation.