The Center for Climate Change, Energy, and Environmental Law, based at the Law School of the University of Eastern Finland, celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2023, and organized an academic seminar to reflect on a decade of progress and set the sights on a future committed to addressing pressing issues in climate change, energy, and environmental law. The seminar was organized in Helsinki on 17th November and gathered a wide and high-level audience of practitioners, judges, representatives of ministries, NGOs, private sector and academics of which around 90 attended in person and 120 as registered virtual participants.

Keynote speeches on synergies and contradictions between the climate, energy and sustainability transitions were held by Prof. Sebastian Oberthür (UEF and Vrije Universiteit Brussels), Prof. Leigh Hancher (European University Institute) and Prof. Chris Backes (Utrecht University).

The 4iTraction-project was presented by Prof. Sebastian Oberthür who chaired a panel discussion dedicated to access to justice and climate litigation. Prof. Kati Kulovesi and Prof. Annalisa Savaresi from UEF contributed to the panel discussion as experts in procedural climate governance. The UEF team is working actively on procedural climate governance issues under WP5 of the 4i-Traction-project, and access to justice is one the key themes of interest. The panel discussion touched upon recent experiences on climate litigation from various perspectives.

Another panel discussion was held on energy disputes, chaired by Prof. Leigh Hancher. This session discussed how the Russia’s war in Ukraine has created a wave of disputes involving Russia and Russian entities with knock on effects for future energy disputes. Developing alternative sources of energy generates also disputes related to energy equipment and services. The war also continues to have an impact on energy prices, which is generating another set of disputes, at least in Finland.

The final panel discussion focused on the need to mitigate biodiversity loss and degradation of environmental quality. The challenge of balancing climate change mitigation needs of e.g. space to build wind and solar power plants, and simultaneously preventing biodiversity loss was discussed from ministry and court perspectives and with contribution from academia.