This course will give the students an overview of the dynamically evolving field of international law on climate change. The course will pay particular attention to the foundations of this field, which can be found in the principles and customary law obligations of international environmental law. The course will also cover applicable concepts of climate science and climate policy, which are necessary to understand the phenomenon and main drivers of the climate crisis, as well as the challenges and opportunities of the legal tools to abate climate change. Besides covering the international treaty law rules on climate change, special attention will be paid to the booming trend of climate litigation, which increasingly reaches international courts, and to the human rights-based tools to protect the environment and a safe climate for present and future generations.

Syllabus

1. The history of international environmental law: from transboundary pollution to tackling the Anthropocene challenge and the climate crisis
2. The legal principles and customary law obligations of international environmental law
3. The role of science in international adjudication: challenges of adjudicating scientific disputes: case studies
4. The causes and dynamics of climate change, climate impacts - What lawyers (should) know about the science of climate change
5. International law governing climate mitigation, climate adaptation, climate finance and geoengineering
6. The protection of the climate system in international treaty law: from Rio to Paris.
7. Climate change and customary international law
8. Climate litigation before international courts: advisory proceedings
9. Climate litigation before domestic: legal responsibility surrounding climate change
10. Human right to a healthy environment in the Council of Europe’s system (and beyond)
11. Climate change and human rights law: The ECtHR’s climate judgments