New Zealand Centre for Environmental Law

What happens after a ground-breaking climate ruling? Colleagues in Auckland next Thursday 3 October at 6pm are warmly invited to our Future Generations series event:  “The European Court of Human Rights Climate Change Decisions” when Corina Heri and Rob Kirkness will consider the recent landmark judgment of the European Court of Human Rights and its implications.  Speaker: Dr. Corina Heri, University of Zürich   Commentator: Robert Kirkness, Thorndon Chambers Registration: https://lnkd.in/gcrk-GRR Abstract: In April 2024, the European Court of Human Rights caused headlines around the world with its first-ever climate rulings. In KlimaSeniorinnen v. Switzerland, the Court found that States must mitigate their greenhouse gas emissions and devise adequate regulation in order to comply with human rights law. This was a major innovation, and the ruling was celebrated as a landmark success. However, in many ways, this ruling merely represents a starting point. It raises questions about how to harmonize different regimes, how to ensure access to justice, and how to ensure an equitable response to the global climate crisis. These questions were not answered by the European Court, and perhaps they cannot be answered by a regional human rights court alone. Corina Heri’s lecture will place the KlimaSeniorinnen case in its context – the two inadmissibility decisions that accompanied it, as well as broader discussions in human rights law – to discuss the future of the phenomenon of rights-based climate litigation.

Colleagues in Auckland next Thursday 19th September at 6pm are warmly invited to: Climate Science and the Courts: Epistemic Dilemmas in Adjudicating Climate Change | Presented by Dr Katalin Sulyok as part of the NZCEL Future Generations series, with commentary from Professor Dave Frame, University of Canterbury - please register here: https://lnkd.in/gKsU6zkM In her lecture, Dr Sulyok will detail three scenarios from climate litigation case-law, where scientific and legal logic would warrant different conclusions. Dr. Sulyok argues that, even though crafting a purely legalistic assessment may be justified in certain circumstances, there are hard epistemic limits on the extent to which courts may legitimately sideline climate science in their judgments. She will conclude by highlighting different scenarios for courts reflecting on climate science in their findings, with a view to ensuring the robust (and rapidly developing) scientific knowledge of climate change in adjudicating climate litigation cases is not undermined. Dr. Katalin Sulyok is based in Budapest (ELTE Eötvös Loránd University). She holds a Ph.D. in international law, a Bachelor's in Biology and an LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School. She is the author of the Cambridge University Press 2021 monograph “Science and Judicial Reasoning – The Legitimacy of International Environmental Adjudication”. She is also legal advisor in domestic and international climate litigation cases, and the chair of the Climate Crisis and Human Rights Working Group of the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions, which was an oral intervener in the recent KlimaSeniorinnen and Duarte cases before the European Court of Human Rights.

For those who are following NZCEL, a summary of recent and forthcoming events in the Future Generations Series 2024. Dates for the September and October events to follow nearer the time.

If you missed NZCEL’s International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea Advisory Opinion on Climate Change event on 21 May in Auckland and last night 12 June in Wellington (co-hosted with the CPL and the ILA) you can visit the website now and read the transcript of the conversation and analysis by Professors Caroline Foster (UOA) and Joanna Mossop (VUW): https://lnkd.in/g9r4sa42

For a Panel discussion on the recent International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea Advisory Opinion on Climate Change, join us on Wednesday in Wellington...especially for those who missed the Auckland event...

NZCEL invites you to “A Conversation with Professors Caroline Foster and Joanna Mossop” at 6pm on Wednesday 29 May following the expected release of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea’s Advisory Opinion on Climate Change on Tuesday 21 May. Register at the link below for attendance at this public event (in-person in Auckland only) to hear the combined views of these two Professors from the University of Auckland and Victoria University of Auckland respectively. The Advisory Opinion is expected to set out the obligations of States party to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea with respect to climate change. Does anthropogenic greenhouse gas emission amount to “pollution” of the oceans, through ocean acidification and ocean warming? What are State’s obligations to protect and preserve the marine environment in relation to climate change? At this event we will discuss these issues and more, including asking how the Advisory Opinion may be relevant beyond the law of the sea. We are grateful to Justin Sobion, Coordinator for the Caribbean States’ regional meetings pertaining to the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Climate Change, who will chair this event. https://lnkd.in/gVbkHTNM 

Thank you to our generous and extremely knowledgeable and insightful speakers for this wonderful high quality event, and to all our visitors, ngā mihi nui ki a koutou.

Nice report here from NZCEL’s Vernon Rive including on the New Zealand climate case out this week in which he describes the High Court’s upholding of NZ Commerce Commission’s allowance for increased depreciation of natural gas sector assets in light of expected reduction on returns in light of ongoing market response to the need for GHG emissions reductions. #climatelitigation

Dr Katalin Sulyok is one of the keynote speakers in an event later in the year as part of NZCEL's 2024 Future Generations Series. In this article published on the new 'Opinion and Analysis' platform on the New Zealand Centre for Environmental Law's website, she explores what the European Court of Human Rights’ KlimaSeniorinnen Judgment might mean for future generations. https://lnkd.in/gnymEAHb