MCF Seminar Series: Corporate Climate Litigation

About the event:

Who should pay for climate change? This fundamental question underscores one of the most pressing global challenges of our time, demanding urgent action and innovative approaches to mitigate its impact. In recent years, a notable shift has occurred with the emergence of corporate climate litigation driven by advancements in climate science. In this talk, Dr Ekaterina Aristova will present her findings from a comprehensive review of climate-related claims involving corporations. Through an analysis of diverse cases from different jurisdictions, Ekaterina will identify emerging trends and patterns in legal proceedings and explore the inherent challenges and complexities of litigating climate-related issues.

Moreover, Ekaterina will share insights from a recent workshop she organized in November 2023 in Oxford, bringing together over 50 legal experts engaged in climate litigation. This collaborative effort provided a platform for discussions on evolving legal strategies and their implications for shaping jurisprudence related to climate change.

Please join us in person or online for this interactive event co-hosted by Melbourne Climate Futures and the Asian Law Centre.

About the speaker:

Dr Ekaterina Aristova is a Research Fellow at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights (Faculty of Law, University of Oxford). Her research interests are in the field of business and human rights, with a particular focus on strategic human rights and environmental litigation. Ekaterina examines how conventional private law doctrines evolve in response to global challenges and are used creatively in different jurisdictions to foster human rights and environmental accountability. Ekaterina is a co-editor of ‘Civil Remedies and Human Rights in Flux’ (Hart Publishing 2022) and ‘Civil Liability for Human Rights Violations: A Handbook for Practitioners (Bonavero Institute of Human Rights 2022). She is also an author of a forthcoming book, ‘Tort Litigation against Transnational Corporations in the English Courts: The Challenge of Jurisdiction’ (OUP 2024), a revised manuscript of a PhD thesis completed at the University of Cambridge. In 2022, Ekaterina was awarded a prestigious Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship to complete a project on climate change litigation against corporations.