European Association of Climate Law founded
2025-10-15 Climate law sets the framework for effective climate protection and ensures the implementation of international commitments, climate justice and economic transformation. Prof. Dr. Jelena Bäumler, Professor of Public Law and International Law, therefore joined forces with Professor Rodi (University of Greifswald), Professor van Asselt (University of Cambridge) and Professor Mehling (MIT) to establish the European Association of Climate Law. Around 100 experts in climate law – mainly from Europe, but also from other regions of the world – took part in the founding conference in Berlin to discuss current developments, challenges and perspectives in the field.
Professor Bäumler, what are currently the most pressing issues in climate law?
The climate report issued by the International Court of Justice in July this year marks a milestone and joins a series of landmark court rulings in recent years. Since the Paris Agreement, the 1.5-degree target has been incorporated into many legal systems, climate targets have become significantly more important, and courts have confirmed and further specified the obligations of states.
At the same time, setbacks are obvious: in some countries, climate research is increasingly being discredited, while economic and security policy interests are overshadowing climate issues. This is precisely where the law has a central role to play: anchoring climate obligations in the legal system and linking them closely to human rights protects the issue from the fluctuations of day-to-day politics. Support from legal scholarship can reveal regulatory gaps and accompany progressive development in order to achieve the legally binding 1.5-degree target.
Climate law is a relatively new field of law. What areas does it cover?
Climate law is a classic cross-cutting area. Climate regulation now plays a role in almost all areas of law – from international and European law to economic and administrative law to private law. The aim of the association is to highlight the connections, identify similarities and differences between European countries, examine developments outside Europe and provide academic support for the emergence of an independent field of law with specific rules and principles.
Is the establishment of the association promising at all in the current climate? Climate issues are in danger of disappearing from the political agenda.
Sustainability and climate protection may be under pressure at the moment, but their fundamental importance remains unchanged – climate change does not stop just because we ignore it. The founding conference also served to survey the field and sends a clear signal to the outside world: climate law needs a permanent forum for exchange, orientation and further development – especially in times when other voices want to marginalise it.
Thank you very much for talking to us!