Dr Gastón Medici-Colombo
JdC Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Barcelona
Towards a tipping point in the judicial review of carbon-intensive projects?
Time: 3-4 pm. Hybrid: in-person in Weston Seminar Room (2.49) in DAB + online in Zoom
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Abstract: A sound scientific consensus exists that complying with the Paris Agreement’s goals requires a sharp phase-out of all carbon-intensive activities. However, while the remaining carbon budget rapidly drains, governments around the world continue to approve the development of projects and infrastructure with serious impacts on the global climate (e.g., fossil fuel infrastructure). Against this backdrop, litigation challenging government approvals of carbon-intensive projects has flourished in domestic jurisdictions on every continent. This seminar will provide a transnational panorama of this increasingly rich case law. It will discuss whether legal standards of transnational value are being established and to what extent a judicial tipping point is approaching, where legally consenting to a carbon-intensive project becomes the exception rather than the rule.

Michael Weinold
PhD Candidate, Paul Scherrer Institute / ETH Zürich
Improving emissions modeling for future air transport systems
Time: 1.30-2.30 pm. In-person only: West 1, West Hub, JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge

Abstract: Aviation is presently responsible for 2-3% of global carbon emissions. The majority of these comes from long-distance routes, on which only liquid fuels are viable due to their high energy density. Therefore, more energy efficient aircraft powered by non-fossil fuels are currently under development. In order to assess the economic, technical and environmental viability of these future aircraft-fuel-combinations, accurate life-cycle assessment models are required. Presently, such models poorly capture the underlying physics of aircraft. In order to accurately prediction future emissions, models must consider physical limits in both aircraft efficiency and fuel production pathways. Michael Weinold, a doctoral student at ETH Zurich and Paul Scherrer Institute is working on such models to improve the accuracy and precision of life-cycle assessment forecasts of future air transport systems. He will present recent progress in dis-aggregating aircraft energy efficiency, limits for future efficiency and hybrid approaches to life-cycle assessment of non-fossil fuels.

Professor Richard Lazarus
Charles Stebbins Fairchild Professor of Law, Harvard University
The challenge of climate lawmaking in the United States
Time: 3-4 pm. Hybrid: in-person in Main Seminar Room (1.25) in DAB + online in Zoom
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Abstract: Making law to address climate change is exceedingly hard for any lawmaking system. The United States is no exception. Indeed, climate lawmaking in the United States has proven particularly hard because the manner in which climate change spreads cause and effect over enormous spatial and temporal dimensions creates redistributive challenges for which the U.S. lawmaking system is distinctively ill-suited. This includes how the Framers of the U.S. Constitution deliberately separated lawmaking authorities horizontally and vertically, and also made lawmakers subject to reelection susceptible to the short term and near-space demands of their geographically-defined constituents. Recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions have made it even harder still. These lawmaking hurdles raise the serious question whether the United States can act in time to avoid some of climate change’s worst global consequences. Fittingly, this seminar presentation will take place only a few days before the U.S. Presidential Election.

Clara Ma
CEENRG Researcher & PhD Candidate, Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge
Policy interventions for sustainable food consumption
Time: 3-4 pm. Hybrid: in-person in Main Seminar Room (1.25) in DAB + online in Zoom
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Abstract: Animal-source foods are responsible for roughly 20% of total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and produce twice the emissions of plant-based foods, despite providing fewer calories and less protein.   Shifts to plant-based diets could lead to substantial decreases not only in greenhouse gas emissions but also in land use, water use, air pollution, and nutrient losses to the surrounding environment, among other environmental, public health, and animal welfare benefits. Financial incentives and information provision are tools that could be used to influence behavior around food consumption, and evidence on how individuals respond to these interventions in real-world settings is important for climate and environmental policymaking. Using a quasi-experimental approach, we evaluate the effects of CO2 emissions labels and price subsidies, separately and in combination, on the meal choices of individuals in university cafeterias.

Sulaiman Ilyas-Jarrett
Head of Policy and Strategy, Renewable Electricity Delivery, UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ)
Striving for a renewable energy system by 2030: notes from the Government
Time: 3-4 pm. Hybrid: in-person in Weston Seminar Room (2.49) in DAB + online in Zoom
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Bio: Sulaiman is Head of Policy and Strategy for Renewable Delivery at the UK’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. He is responsible for the evolution of the UK’s flagship renewable support scheme, the Contracts for Difference scheme, and has led on key aspects of energy flexibility and market design across several roles in the department. He is also working on aspects of Great British Energy, the newly established state-owned energy company. He is a Policy Fellow at the University of Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy, where he was previously a Newton Scholar and was awarded his MPhil in Environmental Policy. He also holds a BA in Modern History from the University of Oxford.

Alexandra Allard
PhD Candidate, Örebro University | Visiting Researcher, CEENRG, Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge
Lobbying for depletion: The effect of informational lobbying on fishing quota negotiations in the Baltic Sea area
Time: 3-4 pm. Hybrid: in-person in Manatee Room (1.41) in DAB + online in Zoom
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Abstract: Overfishing represents a significant global challenge, with the European fisheries management system being identified as one of the least effective in the world. Lobbying is a potential but unexplored weakness in this system. To examine the impact of informational lobbying on negotiations regarding fishing quotas (TACs), I have compiled a data set comprising interest group recommendations, scientific advice from ICES, proposals from the European Commission, and final TACs from 2015 to 2025. The results indicate that industry groups are more successful in their lobbying efforts than other interest groups. It is worth noting that the efficacy of informational lobbying appears to be influenced by factors such as coalition size and the level of conflict.

Dr Luca Mavelli
Reader in Politics and International Relations, University of Kent
“We are all in this together”: Climate change, collective responsibility, and the politics of existential risk
Time: 12-1 pm. Hybrid: in-person in Syndics Room, 17 Mill Lane + online
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Abstract: From austerity to the recent pandemic, the refrain ‘We are all in this together’ has been increasingly used by political leaders to frame and manage crises. This paper examines a largely neglected phenomenon: the adoption of this rhetoric of collective responsibility by corporate actors, particularly the oil industry, in relation to climate change. These campaigns signal a critical shift from previous industry strategies aimed at deflecting responsibility for climate risk—namely, denialism (manufacturing ignorance and doubt) and greenwashing (portraying harmful practices as sustainable). What explains this shift from denying responsibility to embracing a collective rhetoric that suggests shared accountability? Could this narrative of ‘We are all in this together’ serve to dilute the oil industry’s role in driving climate change by implying that all are equally responsible, potentially masking those most accountable? More crucially, does this trend increase the risk of extreme climate outcomes that could lead to catastrophic shifts, heightening the potential for human extinction or civilizational collapse? This presentation will consider how collective responsibility rhetoric might obscure vital accountability and become a hidden threat to addressing climate change as an existential risk.

Dr Caroline Bertram
Carlsberg Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge
Strengthening the Paris Agreement through trade? The potential and limitations of EU trade agreements for climate governance
Time: 3-4 pm. Hybrid: in-person in Main Seminar Room (1.25) in DAB + online in Zoom
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Abstract: As the Paris Agreement faces growing challenges in delivering the necessary level of ambition needed to address the climate crisis, scholars are increasingly exploring economic instruments as tools to enhance the binding nature of international climate obligations. Since 2019, a commitment has been included in the European Union’s (EU) preferential trade agreements to effectively implement the Paris Agreement. This commitment now exists in nine ratified or pending trade agreements, including with the Mercosur countries. Yet research into the legal nature and institutional implications of this linkage between the Paris Agreement and EU trade agreements remains scant. I argue that the EU’s latest trade agreements significantly increase the cost of withdrawing from the Paris Agreement and bolster the Paris Agreement’s obligations of conduct, namely parties’ procedural duties, the expectation of progressively more ambitious climate pledges (NDCs), and the commitment of all parties to realise these to the best of their efforts. Furthermore, I dive into the enabling and constraining political factors that have determined its design. 

Dr Julia Talbot-Jones
Senior Lecturer, School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington | Visiting Researcher, Bennett Institute for Public Policy, University of Cambridge
A global analysis of legal personhood for nature through an institutional lens
Time: 3-4 pm. Hybrid: in-person in Weston Seminar Room (2.49) in DAB + online in Zoom
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Abstract: The rise of laws that establish legal rights for nature has been framed as a revolution in environmental law and governance; however, little is understood about the durability of these rights and the institutional conditions that could lead to desirable outcomes. This seminar will present preliminary results of the first global analysis of legal rights for nature cases (n=313) to understand the social, legal, and institutional responses to the Rights of Nature being given force and effect. The results suggest that many laws establishing legal rights for nature remain unchallenged and durable over time. Nevertheless, backlash in the form of litigation is swift in cases where existing property rights to an environmental good or natural resource conflict with the newly established (or proposed) rights. The findings provide insights for researchers and policymakers interested in understanding the conditions under which legal rights for nature could be established and sustained over time.