Taking Climate Change to Court?

Law as a Driving Force for the ClimateI want to attend!
25 November 2021 | 15:00-16:30 CET
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Abstract

As the theme for our conversation might suggest, law is often associated with determinacy and force. But, perhaps counterintuitively, in the context of a pervasive and existential challenge like climate change, law’s primary role law has not been to provide “rules” and “enforcement.” Instead it has served to frame and guide action, and to force justification. So, it may be more apt to think of law as a “dynamic force.” This applies all the more when law needs to operate in a context marked by complexity and significant disagreement. In the climate context, for example, multiple issues intersect and vast disagreements remain over what action ought to be taken, how fast, and by whom. The Paris Agreement on climate change has been called “weak.” I will suggest that it may in fact be stronger than its predecessor, the Kyoto Protocol, precisely because reflects the insight that, in such a heterogenous context, global climate action cannot be “driven” by binding obligations and enforcement.

Explorer

Jutta Brunnée

Jutta Brunnée
Environmental Law
University of Toronto, Canada

Jutta Brunnée teaches and researches in the areas of Public International Law, International Environmental Law, and International Legal Theory. Her current research agenda explores the role of international legality and legal practices in mediating between stability and change in international law. Brunnée’s research has been published extensively worldwide, and won various awards. She is the Dean, University Professor and James Marshall Tory Dean’s Chair at the University of Toronto.

From 2006 to 2016, Brunnée served on the Board of Editors of the American Journal of International Law. She was elected Fellow of The Royal Society of Canada in 2013, and Associate of the Institut de Droit International in 2017. In 2019, she delivered a course on “Procedure and Substance in International Environmental Law” at The Hague Academy of International Law, published in the Academy’s Collected Courses / Recueil des Cours series (2020).

Co-Explorers

The fellow academics who are from different disciplines. They explore the topic from various perspectives and make the discussion interdisciplinary.

Aku Kwamie

Aku Kwamie
Health Systems Governance
The Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, Switzerland

Aku Kwamie is a health systems researcher. Her work focuses on applying complexity theory to health systems governance, management and leadership. She is particularly interested in district health systems, as well as learning and mentorship in health policy and systems research (HPSR). She leads the The Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research’s portfolios on systems thinking and capacity strengthening for the conduct of HPSR.

Kwamie holds degrees from the University of Toronto, King’s College London, and Wageningen University. She is a Next Einstein Fellow, a commissioner on the WHO-UNICEF-Lancet Commission, a working group member for Children in all Policies 2030, and a former Board member of Health Systems Global.

Photo of Natasia Kalajdziovski

Marcus Nakagawa
Sustainability
The Higher School of Advertising and Marketing, Brazil

Marcus Nakagawa is an expert in the intersectional field of social entrepreneurship and sustainability. A published author, and the 2019 winner of the prestigious Jabuti Award, Nakagawa has a long experience of working with multiple stakeholders such as NGOs, businesses, suppliers, and governmental agencies. He is the founder of ABRAPS (Brazilian Association of Professionals for Sustainable Development), and Professor and Coordinator at Centro ESPM de Desenvolvimento Socioambiental (CEDS).

Nakagawa holds degrees from Escola Superior de Propaganda e MarketingCentro Universitário da FEI, and the Inter-American Institute for Economic and Social Development (INDES). His research focuses on issues of ethics, socio-environmental responsibility, social entrepreneurship, business administration, third sector and entrepreneurship.

Anne Kaun

Anne Kaun
Media and Communication Studies
Södertörn University, Sweden

Anne Kaun researches and teaches in the field of media and communication studies. Her academic interests include media theory, mediated temporalities, algorithmic culture, automation, and artificial intelligence from a humanistic social science perspective. She is Professor and Program Coordinator at Södertörn University, and the Vice-chairperson of the interest group on Activism, Communication and Social Justice within the International Communication Association (ICA).

A former researcher at Goldsmiths College (University of London) and Annenberg School for Communication (University of Pennsylvania), Kaun received her PhD (in 2012) from Örebro University in cooperation with Södertörn University. She also holds degrees from the Universität Leipzig and the Kaliningrad State Technical University.

Christine Gangelhoff

Christine Gangelhoff
Music Studies
University of Bahamas, The Bahamas

Christine Gangelhoff is a researcher in music, specializing in classical, folk, and popular art forms. A trained flutist, she has performed both as a soloist and with chamber ensembles and orchestras in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, and Europe. She is also the founding member of the chamber ensemble, C Force. Presently, Gangelhoff is Professor of Music at the University of The Bahamas and the Artistic Director of the non-profit, Nassau Music Society.

She holds degrees from Yale University, the University of Minnesota, and the University of North Texas, and has previously taught at Memorial University of Newfoundland and University of St. Thomas.

About Stockholm Explorative Talks

Stockholm Explorative Talks is a stage for academic discussions confronting global problems with an interdisciplinary approach, by pairing unlikely academics together. Stockholm Explorative Talks welcomes experts from all over the world for a dialogue best described as dedicated, courageous and surprising.

Stockholm Explorative Talks is founded and run by Stockholms Akademiska Forum – 18 universities and the City of Stockholm.