European Association of Climate Law 2nd Annual Conference: Climate Law 10 Years after the Paris Agreement, Helsinki

The European Association of Climate Law (EACL) e.V. is a non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing the study of climate change and law in Europe and beyond. As stated by the organisers, by providing a platform for in-depth discussions, fostering collaboration among legal experts, and supporting the participation of young scholars, EACL seeks to strengthen legal responses to climate change from global to local levels. The association describes itself as a professional forum for scholars and practitioners working on climate law.

The benefits EACL lists for members are: actively contributing to EACL's scientific work, including participation in specialist working groups; benefiting from reduced registration fees for the annual EACL conference; taking part in the association's committee work and helping shape its activities and priorities; and connecting with a growing network of scholars and practitioners in climate law across Europe and beyond.

EACL membership fees are EUR 150 per year (regular fee), EUR 50 per year (reduced fee, for academics, representatives of non-profit organisations, and members of the public service) and EUR 25 per year (student fee). Membership is applied for through the EACL membership application form, and the association publishes its bylaws (Satzung) on the same page.

The conference will be hosted by the Center for Climate Change, Energy and Environmental Law (CCEEL), Law School, University of Eastern Finland. EACL states that the event is hosted by Professor Kati Kulovesi and her team at the Centre for Climate, Energy and Environmental Law (CCEEL) of the University of Eastern Finland (UEF).

The programme states that the EACL Conference 2026 is organised in cooperation with the Centre for Climate Change, Energy and Environmental Law, University of Eastern Finland, and directs readers to the CCEEL website at https://sites.uef.fi/cceel/ for conference updates and information.

Following the inaugural conference in Berlin in 2025, the second annual conference of the European Association for Climate Law (EACL) will take place in Helsinki, Finland, on 17-18 September 2026 on the theme "Climate Law 10 Years after the Paris Agreement". The UEF registration system records the event window as 17 Sep 2026 08:00 AM to 18 Sep 2026 04:00 PM, with a last registration date of 01 Sep 2026.

As the organisers put it, the 2015 Paris Agreement is a landmark in the evolution of climate law. Since its entry into force in 2016, it has strengthened the international legal framework for climate action and catalyzed developments in European, national, and transnational climate law. Climate legislation and litigation have increased substantially, procedural climate governance frameworks have been established worldwide, carbon markets have grown, and regulatory instruments have been adopted to accelerate renewable energy deployment and improve energy efficiency. The organisers note that implementation has lowered future warming projections and that global greenhouse gas emissions may have peaked and are projected to decline in the 2030s, but that the decline is still far too slow to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Ten years after the Paris Agreement entered into force, the conference will take stock of its achievements, identify outstanding challenges, draw lessons learned, and assess the state of climate law across governance levels.

Per the Call for Abstracts, the event comprises a general conference and an early-career research workshop, both focused on the same themes. The workshop aims to provide a platform for early-career researchers to present and discuss their work in climate law and is open to students, PhD candidates, postdocs, and junior faculty. Papers may be single- or coauthored, but the lead author must be an early-career researcher. The conference also includes a plenary session with invited keynote addresses.

The call for abstracts for this edition has closed: abstracts were due by 24 April 2026, selection of abstracts was to be completed by 31 May 2026, and abstracts had to be a maximum of 300 words clearly outlining the research question, methodology, and key findings or arguments. A draft programme has since been published. What is currently open is registration to attend, through the UEF registration system, until 1 September 2026. Note that the registration system displays the notice "One or more products have run out of valid ticket codes. You can still register but you cannot order these products" and offers a "Join waiting list" control, so a particular fee product or the dinner may not be orderable at the time you register.

• The current state of international climate law: implementation of the Paris Agreement amid geopolitical turbulence; impacts of international climate litigation on the evolution of international climate law; interactions between international climate law and other fields of international law, including human rights, international economic law, other areas of international environmental law, as well as the role of customary international law and general principles; the role of non-UNFCCC legal and governance frameworks.
• The past, present, and future of EU climate law: EU climate law and leadership at a time when climate policies are increasingly politicized and contested; the state of EU procedural climate governance, including the EU climate targets and their implementation (including the European Climate Law and the Governance Regulation), and the status of the three Aarhus Convention rights (public participation, access to information, and access to justice) within EU procedural climate governance; substantive EU climate law, including but not limited to ETS 1 and ETS 2, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, carbon removals and their certification, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and methane; links between EU climate law and international law, such as global fairness and human rights, territorial scope and limits of EU climate law, as well as its contemplated links with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
• Comparative and domestic climate law in Europe and beyond: legal innovations, challenges and lessons learned from substantive and procedural climate law and litigation in Europe and beyond; climate targets and their enforcement; climate democracy and democratic decay; innovations and challenges in domestic and comparative substantive climate law concerning mitigation and adaptation; domestic and comparative climate litigation.
• Assessing and (re)imagining theory and methods of climate law research: methods and theoretical approaches to climate law research, including comparative and global climate law, "climate law in action", and socio-legal and empirical methodologies.

• 0830-0900 Registration and coffee - University of Helsinki, Athena, Room 107, Siltavuorenpenger 3 A.
• 0900-0920 Welcoming remarks.
• 0920-1010 Plenary Fireside Conversation (title to be confirmed) with Prof. Harro van Asselt (Hatton Professor of Climate Law, University of Cambridge and Professor of Climate Law and Policy, University of Eastern Finland) and Prof. Áine Ryall (Chair of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee and Co-Director of the Centre for Law and the Environment, University of Cork); additional panellists to be confirmed.
• 1010-1030 Early Career Researcher Awards.
• 1030-1100 9-minute walk to the next venue, Hotel Arthur, Vuorikatu 19. Coffee served on arrival.
• 1100-1230 Parallel Sessions A.
• Session 1: The Paris Agreement After 10 Years: Interpretation, Evolution and Future Challenges (Conference room Auditorium) - Majid Asadnabizadeh, Institute of International Relations, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University Lublin, Poland: "Linguistic Framing and Collective Action in COP28-30 Negotiations: Implications for Climate Law Ten Years after the Paris Agreement"; Laura Mai, University of Bern: "'It's A Treaty - But of What Kind?' Reflections on Legal Form, Character, and Features of the Paris Agreement at Ten"; Haomiao Du, Utrecht Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law (UCWOSL), Utrecht University: "The Legal Space for Retaining the 1.5-Target with Overshoot"; Violetta Sefkow-Werner, University of Zurich: "The Climate-Human Rights Nexus: Systemic Integration as a Tool for Defining Due Diligence Post-Paris - Harmony or Hegemony?"
• Session 2: Constitutional Dimensions of EU Climate Governance (Conference room Mäki) - Maiju Mähönen, CCEEL, University of Eastern Finland: "What Constrains the EU Legislature? A Constitutional Analysis of the EU's Procedural Climate Governance Framework"; Valentina Eisendle, University of Innsbruck: "The Overriding Public Interest in Renewable Energy and the Restructuring of Administrative Balancing"; Clemens Kaupa, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam: "The EU climate/constitution interface and the problem of effectiveness"; Anil Öztürk, Lund University: "Exit Liability: Groningen's Arbitration Aftershock and the EU CCS Regime".
• Session 3: Tracing the Impacts of Climate Litigation (Conference room Hjelt) - Chiara Padrin, University of Milan: "Climate Litigation against Corporations as a Driver of Constitutional Transformation: A Comparative Analysis"; Giuseppe Naglieri, University of Bari: "Beyond Win or Lose: The Methodological Turn in Climate Litigation Research"; Pedro Minassa, Lisbon Public Law Research Centre (LPL), University of Lisbon: "Beyond The Hague: Intergenerational Protection Duties in Climate-Related Cases before UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies and Special Procedures"; Nina Koistinen, CCEEL, University of Eastern Finland: "Climate litigation in Ireland: exploring governance impacts".
• 1230-1330 Lunch.
• 1330-1500 Parallel Sessions B.
• Session 4: Rights, Participation and Climate Justice (Conference room Auditorium) - Ketan Jha, University of Brighton: "Who Decides What Counts as Climate Law? Article 9(3) from Global Feedback to Save Leitrim"; Dr. Agnes Lux, ELTE University, Faculty of Social Sciences: "Future Generations Through the Lens of Children's Rights: Rethinking Climate Protection in International Law"; Raihanatul Jannat, CCEEL, University of Eastern Finland: "Running in Place: Investigating how the GCF's Adaptation Portfolio Responds to Women's Climate-Resilient Needs Through the Lens of Bangladesh"; Atieh Khatibi, The Research Center for Climate Law, University of Graz: "The Nexus of Climate-related Security Risks and Women's Rights in the International Climate Change Law Regime".
• Session on The History and Future of Market-Based Mechanisms (Conference room Mäki; the draft programme numbers this session "Session 4" as well, and no session is numbered 5) - Ilaria Espa and Kateryna Holzer, Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI) / World Trade Institute and CCEEL, University of Eastern Finland: "Trade in Carbon Credits: The Role of International Economic Law in the Development of Carbon Markets"; Bent Bos, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam: "The Never-ending Story of EU Climate Policy: An Epic Retelling of the Development of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS)"; Anu Lähteenmäki-Uutela and Till Reinholz, Syke, Finland and IKEM, Germany: "From Carbon to Nature to Bundled Credits: Transformative Potential of Innovative and Cross-Cutting Legislative Approaches"; Jennifer Salmon, independent researcher: "An Empirical Analysis of Market Mechanisms under the UNFCCC: Recommendations for the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism and Beyond".
• Session 6: Institutions, Expertise and Authority in Climate Governance (Conference room Hjelt) - Tuula Honkonen, CCEEL, University of Eastern Finland: "The Saami Climate Council: tokenistic participation or real inclusion of Indigenous rights and knowledge in climate policymaking?"; Hana Müllerová, Institute of State and Law, Czech Academy of Sciences: "Climate Disintegration Instead of Stronger Action: A Case Study of Triple-Branch Failure in the Czech Republic"; Elena Frassinelli, Università degli Studi di Trento: "Evidence-Based Governance or Symbolic Advice? A Legal Analysis of the ESABCC's Role under the European Climate Law"; Sophie Alena Hölscher, European University Institute: "Equity, CBDR-RC, and Sustainable Development at the Green Climate Fund: Ethnography of an Institution Troubled by Ambiguity".
• 1500-1520 Coffee break.
• 1520-1650 Parallel Sessions C.
• Session 7: The Evolving Architecture of EU Climate Governance (Conference room Auditorium) - Dr. Götz Reichert, Centrum für Europäische Politik (cep): "The ETS-2 Postponement and the Erosion of EU Legislative Standards: How a Legally Flawed Shortcut Jeopardises Future EU Climate Legislation"; Tiago Antunes, University of Lisbon, School of Law: "Leading by Example or Forcing Good on Others? Green Deal and the 'Indirect Extraterritorialisation' of EU Law"; Simona Sagone, University of Palermo: "The EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism at the Crossroads of Climate Ambition and Geopolitical Fragmentation".
• Session 8: National Climate Law in a Comparative Perspective (Conference room Mäki) - Rinata Kazak and Ievgeniia Kopytsia, Linköping University and Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University / IKEM: "Climate Law in Post-Soviet Countries: Exploring 'Terra Incognita'"; Michael Kalis, IKEM - Institute for Climate Protection, Energy, and Mobility e.V. and Leuphana University of Lüneburg: "Argos Eyes and Hermes' Lullaby: Anticipatory Governance in the German Federal Climate Change Act"; Monirul Azam, Södertörn University: "From Climate Ambition to Legal Accountability: Swedish Climate Law after Aurora and KlimaSeniorinnen".
• 1650-1730 Early Career Researcher Networking Event - Hotel Arthur, lobby area, Vuorikatu 19.
• 1730-1830 EACL Assembly - Hotel Arthur, conference room Mäki, Vuorikatu 19.
• 1900-2100 Conference Dinner (venue to be announced).

• 0830-0900 Coffee and arrival - Hotel Arthur, Vuorikatu 19.
• 0900-1030 Parallel Sessions D.
• Session 9: Legal Dimensions of Carbon Capture, Removal and Storage (Conference room Auditorium) - Martje Köppen, University of Oxford: "Carbon Dioxide Removed from View: Coordination and Discretion in EU Multi-level Climate Lawmaking"; Rosa Manzo, Bergen University Faculty of Law COAST Center: "The Normative Limits of Carbon Capture and Storage under the Paris Agreement"; Sara Tolonen, CCEEL, University of Eastern Finland: "Carbon Dioxide Removals and the EU ETS: Legal Implications of the EU Carbon Removal Certification Framework".
• Session 10: The Future of Climate Law After the ICJ Advisory Proceedings (Conference room Mäki) - Linn Pfitzner, University of Edinburgh: "Reconsidering Responsibility: From Loss and Damage to Climate Reparations"; Elif Naz Němec, Institute of State and Law, Czech Academy of Sciences: "Dissent in the Time of Climate Change: Judicial Disagreement and State Resistance in International Climate Law"; Suzanne Varrall, University of Melbourne: "Beyond the Paris Agreement: Fragmentation, Accountability, and Due Diligence in International Climate Law"; David Rossati, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam: "The International Court of Justice's 1.5°C Formula as a Legal Fiction: the Future of Climate Litigation in 'Reckoning with Reality'".
• 1030-1050 Coffee break.
• 1050-1220 Parallel Sessions E (Early Career Researcher Spotlight).
• Session 11: Theory and Practice of Climate Litigation (Conference room Auditorium) - Jameela Joy Reyes, Noah Walker-Crawford and Nicholas Petkov, London School of Economics Grantham Research Institute: "Once upon a Trial: Narratives as a Method in Comparative Climate Litigation Research"; Costanza Azzuppardi, Enrico Buono and Carlotta Garofalo, Scuola Normale Superiore, Universität des Saarlandes and Universität Graz: "Ten Years after Paris: Mapping the Impacts of the Third Wave of Climate Litigation"; Dorit Aschauer, University of Vienna: "Litigating for the Future? The Role of Environmental NGOs in Protecting Future Generations from Climate Change"; Nolwen Guilleman and Rebecca Walker, University of Geneva: "The Concept of 'Fair Share' through the Lens of Domestic Climate Change Litigation".
• Session 12: Implementing Climate Law Across Sectors and Jurisdictions (Conference room Mäki) - Tanga Dickenstien Rodolph and Nana D. Asare, independent researcher: "Governing Methane across jurisdictions: the external reach of EU Methane Regulation in Nigeria's gas market"; Eduardo Giugliano Garcia and Federica Brancaccio, Università del Salento: "A Legal Shield for Carbon? A Critical Review of the Brazilian Forest Code and the institute of Legal Deforestation under the Paris Agreement"; Katharina Neumann, University of Oxford: "A sectoral approach for agricultural emissions mitigation under the Paris Agreement: A path to implementation?"; Katja Kurki, CCEEL, University of Eastern Finland / Finnish Environment Institute: "Legitimate authority in EU climate governance: from horizontal solidification to vertical liquidity".
• 1220-1320 Lunch.
• 1320-1450 Parallel Sessions F.
• Session 13: Climate Law Interactions Across Regimes and Governance Levels (Conference room Auditorium) - Niklas Löther, CCEEL, University of Eastern Finland: "Legal Reforms to Synergise Climate and Clean Air Governance: Shortcomings and Opportunities in the Governance Regulation and NEC Directive"; Andrew Walters, University of Aberdeen: "Beyond Net Zero: Safety Cases as Climate Governance Tools in Deep-Time Energy Regulation"; Vilja Rentto, CCEEL, University of Eastern Finland: "The legal emergence of just transition: interconnections and tensions across governance levels"; Maria Laura Marceddu, Edinburgh Centre for International and Global Law: "The Paris Agreement in investment arbitration: Mapping the Interaction Challenge".
• Session 14: Corporate Accountability in Climate Governance (Conference room Mäki) - Li Yuan, University of Helsinki: "From Climate Commitments to Legal Proof: Accountability, Evidence, and the Implementation Gap in EU Climate Governance"; Fergus Green, University College London: "The (ab)use and reception of 'market substitution' arguments in climate litigation: A comparative review and constructive proposal"; Francisco Javier Camarena Juárez, Universidad La Salle Bajio, México: "When Environmental Judges Speak Civil Law, Civil Liability and the Private Sector Climate Litigation Agenda in Mexico and Latam"; Lauri Peterson, CCEEL, University of Eastern Finland: "Conducting Without a Baton: Orchestration and the Meta-Governance of Voluntary Climate Action".
• 1450-1500 A 3-minute walk to the University of Helsinki, Metsätalo (B212) room 2, Unioninkatu 40.
• 1500-1530 Closing remarks.

The programme is a draft and is stated by the organisers to be subject to change.

Registration is through the University of Eastern Finland registration system. The Orders table in that system lists four products, with prices shown both excluding and including taxes: Participants with academic affiliation 50,00 / 50,00; Participants without academic affiliation 150,00 / 150,00; Conference dinner 61,67 (taxes excluded) / 70,00 (taxes included); Conference dinner for EACL members 0,00 / 0,00; and UEF Staff (internal invoice) 0,00 / 0,00. All figures are in euros.

On what the fee covers, the two official sources are worded differently and the draft reports both rather than choosing one. The CCEEL conference page states that the fee "includes access to the full conference programme, lunches and coffee breaks". The UEF registration system states that the fee "includes access to the full conference programme and catering". If the exact scope matters to you, ask the organisers at cceel@uef.fi.

Payment is made through the registration system's payment step, where the payment method offered is Paytrail. The system states that Paytrail Oyj is a collecting payment service provider and an authorized Payment Institution working in cooperation with Finnish banks and credit institutions, that Paytrail Oyj will be shown as the recipient on your bank or credit card statement, and that Paytrail Oyj will forward the payment to the merchant. Paytrail Oyj is identified as Business ID 2122839-7, Innova 2, Lutakonaukio 7, 40100 Jyväskylä.

Registration closes on 1 September 2026. The registration system also shows a "Join waiting list" control together with the notice "One or more products have run out of valid ticket codes. You can still register but you cannot order these products."

On the evening of Thursday, 17 September, participants are warmly invited to join the conference dinner. The dinner includes a three-course meal accompanied by two alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages. Participation in the dinner is optional and subject to a separate fee; it is not included in the conference registration fee, and the dinner option is selected as part of the registration.

The dinner fee is EUR 70 for non-EACL members (shown in the registration ledger as 61,67 excluding taxes and 70,00 including taxes) and free of charge for EACL members. Menu options for the conference dinner in the registration form are Fish or Vegetarian. The venue for the conference dinner will be confirmed at a later date.

If you are not yet an EACL member and would like to benefit from the free conference dinner by becoming one, apply for membership at https://www.eacl.eu/membership/ and pay the membership fee by 1 September 2026. EACL membership fees are EUR 150 per year (regular), EUR 50 per year (reduced rate for academics, representatives of non-profit organisations and members of the public service) and EUR 25 per year (student). EACL separately lists reduced registration fees for the annual EACL conference among its member benefits.

The registration system states: "Cancellations made by 1.9.2026 are eligible for a 50 % refund. No refunds will be issued for cancellations made after that date due to pre-booked costs."

Accepting this policy is compulsory. The registration form carries a mandatory tickbox, "I accept the cancellation policy *", which must be ticked before the "Sign up" button can be used.

The conference will be held across three venues, all located within a 10-minute walk of one another: two University of Helsinki locations (Siltavuorenpenger 3 A and Unioninkatu 40, 00100 Helsinki) and Hotel Arthur (Vuorikatu 19, 00100 Helsinki). The venue for the conference dinner will be confirmed at a later date.

Within the programme, Day 1 opens at the University of Helsinki, Athena, Room 107, Siltavuorenpenger 3 A, moves to Hotel Arthur after a 9-minute walk, and Day 2 runs at Hotel Arthur before a 3-minute walk to the University of Helsinki, Metsätalo (B212) room 2, Unioninkatu 40 for the closing remarks. Session rooms at Hotel Arthur are named Auditorium, Mäki and Hjelt.

Participants are welcome to arrange their own accommodation according to their preferences. The organisers recommend booking accommodation at Hotel Arthur, which will serve as the main conference venue, but note that Helsinki's public transport network provides convenient and easy access to the conference venues from across the city; those planning to use public transport will need to download the HSL app at https://www.hsl.fi/en/tickets-and-fares/hsl-app.

For those arriving in Finland by air, the organisers say the most convenient option is a local train directly from Helsinki Airport to Helsinki Central Railway Station, a journey of approximately 24 minutes. Hotel Arthur is an 8-minute walk from the Station (Päärautatieasema).

• Open the UEF registration system link for the conference (registration.contio.fi) and start a new person registration. The form states: "Fill in your personal information. Fields marked with * are mandatory."
• Complete the mandatory personal information fields: Roles * (Participant), Customer type *, Surname *, First name *, E-mail * and Organization *. Title is optional.
• Note any "Diet or other restrictions". The options listed are Dairy-free, Gluten-free, Lactose-free, Vegan, Vegetarian, and "Other, please specify".
• Answer the mandatory question "Please select the days you will attend: *" by choosing 17 September only, 18 September only, or Both Days. Part-day attendance is therefore offered.
• In the Orders table, select the applicable fee product: Participants with academic affiliation (EUR 50), Participants without academic affiliation (EUR 150), or UEF Staff (internal invoice) (EUR 0.00, internal invoice).
• Select the optional conference dinner if you wish to attend it: Conference dinner (EUR 70.00 including taxes, EUR 61.67 excluding taxes) or Conference dinner for EACL members (EUR 0.00). If you order the dinner, also choose a menu option: Fish or Vegetarian.
• If a product you want is unavailable, the form shows "One or more products have run out of valid ticket codes. You can still register but you cannot order these products" and offers a "Join waiting list" control.
• If you want the free dinner as an EACL member, apply for EACL membership separately through the EACL membership form and pay the membership fee by 1 September 2026.
• Fill in the invoicing information and select the payment method offered, Paytrail. You can use "Copy personal address" to reuse the address you already entered.
• Check your information, tick the mandatory box "I accept the cancellation policy *", optionally tick "Send me a confirmation email", and press "Sign up".
• Complete registration before it closes on 1 September 2026.