*CANCELLED* LUCSUS Seminar: Synergies between Science, Law and Activism in Climate Litigation: trends and gaps according to social movements and NGOs turning to the courts

Next to rising GHGs emissions, global average temperature, and slow- and rapid-onset weather events, we observe three further upward trends around the world in climate politics and climate knowledge. First, the growing influence and application of climate attribution science, particularly extreme weather event attribution. Second, the proliferation of citizen-led climate lawsuits to forward climate action, protection, and compensation via the courts. Third, the increase in magnitude and efforts of activists and civil society mobilizations in the name of climate action, justice and reparations. Through a variety of climate litigations, social movements and NGOs are testing the limits of the law in national and international courts, and the evidence provided by climate science, to deliver action and justice where other political means have failed. These recent developments raise important questions on how different practices and knowledges interact and combine, inside and outside the courts, to support process of transformation. In this seminar, we present a preliminary analysis of data from interviews with social movements, NGOs and experts engaged in climate litigation to better understand the conditions that affect the scope for collective legal action and the ways in which legal and scientific frameworks intersect with social movements’ strategies and goals. By examining how social movements and NGOs integrate their campaigns with the law and the science, we will share initial insights from ongoing research that maps out the current synergies between science, law and activism, the main trends of their combination, and the gaps requiring further research and convergence.

Bios

Salvatore Paolo De Rosa is a postdoctoral researcher at LUCSUS. His current work in the GAMES project brings forward an interdisciplinary effort to study and to enhance synergies between climate science, legal frameworks and climate activism. He holds a PhD in human geography from Lund University and his research focuses on socio-ecological conflicts, environmental movements, climate activism, and the politics of mitigation, adaptation and vulnerability in Sweden. He carries out engaged research on and with social movements, and is a member of the scholar-activist collective Undisciplined Environments.

Mark Connaughton is a research assistant to several projects at LUCSUS. As part of the GAMES project, he is collecting data from scientists, legal practitioners and activists on how the connections between climate science, law and activism can be enhanced to advance climate action and justice. With a background in urban studies, his research interests include urban sustainability, spatial justice, migration and housing.

The seminar is a part of the theme: Connecting the Local and the Global.

Venue

The seminar will take place in Wrangel, Biskopsgatan 5, room 117.

The LUCSUS seminars are open for the public, held online or in-person and take place Thursdays from 11am to 12 noon. We are looking forwards to seeing you!