Urgent Action: Global Perspectives on the Dutch Climate Change Litigation

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

220 S. 34th Street Energy Forum (4th Floor of Fisher Fine Arts Library)

Might the courts hold the answer to climate change?  With great uncertainty hovering over the upcoming international climate talks in Paris not to mention persistent policy gridlock in many national governments advocates around the world are looking to judges for solutions that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  Climate change litigation faces many significant obstacles, but this summer advocates achieved an internationally-renowned victory in a court in The Hague, which ruled that the state has a duty to protect its citizens from the ravages expected from climate change.

In this seminar, Roger Cox, the lead lawyer in the landmark Dutch case will discuss the strategy he successfully pursued.  His opening remarks will be followed by commentary by leading legal authorities Lucas Bergkamp (Brussels) and Veerle Heyvaert (London). The session will be moderated by Cary Coglianese, the Edward B. Shils Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

The Risk Regulation Seminar Series is organized by the Penn Program on Regulation. This seminar is co-sponsored by the Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center, the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, The Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures and the Perry World House.