The present group members are

Professor Christina D. Tvarnø 

Associate Professor Henrik Andersen 

Associate Professor Marie-Louise Holle

Assistant Professor Sarah Maria Denta 

Assistant Professor Jaakko Salminen

Assistant Professor Yvette Lind

Phd Fellow Amalie Toft Bentsen

The purpose of the climate law and economics research group

The purpose of the research group is to establish a strong group of researchers that can provide research in climate law in a Danish, EU, international and economic perspective.

CBS LAW is a significant legal environment for combining business law and economics and has several researchers within this field. This group of researchers has previously focussed on public private law, EU law, international law and WTO in an economic perspective. The starting point of the climate research to be conducted is how collaboration between the public sector and the private industry can provide relevant and innovative solutions to the climate change and global warming.

Climate law and economics events

The CBS LAW climate law and economics research group will present online climate law and economics seminars during the fall 2020 and plan on hosting a climate law and economic conference in 2021.

The researchers of the CBS LAW climate law and economics group have written the following papers and articles on climate law and economics and more is to come during the next months.

Climate law arises from the UN conventions, protocols and agreements.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change entered into force on 21 March 1994 and 197 countries that have ratified the Convention. The UNFCCC is known as the “Rio Convention”, negotiated at the “Rio Earth Summit” in 1992. Two other UN conventions were negotiated at the same summit; the UN Convention on Biological Diversity; and the Convention to Combat Desertification. Legislation is the key instrument in the Rio Convention (UNFCCC) as stated in the preamble. The countries   should   ”enact   effective   environmental   legislation,  that environmental   standards,   management   objectives   and   priorities   should   reflect   the environmental  and  developmental  context  to  which  they  apply,  and  that  standards  applied by  some  countries  may  be  inappropriate  and  of  unwarranted  economic  and  social  cost  to other countries, in particular developing countries”. Consequently, legal studies on climate law are of high significance.

The Kyoto Protocol was adopted on 11 December 1997 and entered into force in 2005. Currently, there are 192 Parties to the Kyoto Protocol which makes the Kyoto Protocol key legal instrument worldwide. The purpose of the Kyoto Protocol is to operationalizes the principles from UNFCCC by committing industrialized countries to limit and reduce greenhouse gases emissions in accordance with agreed individual targets. Hence, the Kyoto Protocol is based on the principles of the UNFCCC. It binds the developed countries with the principle of “common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities.” The Kyoto Protocol introduced a flexible market mechanism, building on the trade of emissions permits which means that the countries must meet their targets through either national measures or through 1) International Emissions Trading; 2) The Clean Development Mechanism, or 3) Joint Implementation.

At COP 21 in Paris, on 12 December 2015, the countries of the UNFCCC agreed to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low-carbon future. The Paris Agreement builds upon the UNFCCC and provides common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, and to assist developing countries. 187 countries have ratified the agreement. The Paris Agreement entered into force in 2016. Legislation is a key element in the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement itself does not consist of binding legislation but in the preamble the importance of the engagements of all levels of government and various actors, in accordance with respective national legislations in addressing climate change is emphasised. The Paris Agreement’s key purpose is stated in article 2 due to which, the aims of the Paris Agreement is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change, in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty. The purpose should due to article 2 be followed by:

Holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, recognizing that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change; (b) Increasing the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change and foster climate resilience and low greenhouse gas emissions development, in a manner that does not threaten food production; and (c) Making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development.

The Paris Agreement does not provide negotiated binding national targets and common legislation. All measures and provisions regulating the effort are on a national legal level.

Further climate law research is necessary

The CBS LAW climate law and economics research group will provide relevant legal research on an international, EU, and national level and will provide relevant knowledge on how to establish and develop collaboration among public and private parties. The law, the economics and collaboration will be key elements in the future climate change development and thus CBS LAW will contribute to the future global climate research environment.

Climate Law Talks

Yvette Lind is invited to participate as a speaker in two panels at TaxCOOP World Summit 2020 hosted by Montreal: Towards a Green international Tax Reform and Towards a Green Economic Recovery.  The conference includes a total of five panels, featuring additional speakers such as the French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and Pascal Saint-Amans, Director of the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration.

Jaakko Salminen presents his research: From Market Contracts to the Circular Economy: Law and Holistic Conceptualizations of Production At University of Oslo Department of Private Law 24 September 1500 CET. 

Yvette Lind presents her research: To be or not to be? - Taxing the Swedish Aviation Sector before and after COVID-19 (#23) At GCET21 (Global Conference on Environmental Taxation), Vermont Law School On september 24, 2030

See the selected research from the group members 

(Will be updated in the fall 2020)

Tvarnø, Christina D., Regulating the Climate (February 27, 2020). Copenhagen Business School, CBS LAW Research Paper No. 20-01. Available at SSRN or here

Tvarnø, Christina D., EU Climate Law and Public Private Partnerships (April 29, 2020). Copenhagen Business School, CBS LAW Research Paper No. 20-06. Available at SSRN

Holle, Marie-Louise, & Amalie Bang, 'Making Legal History: State Liability for Negligence in Climate Change', (2020), 26, European Public Law, Issue 1, pp. 45-58. Available here

See also SSRN: Bang, Amalie and Holle, Marie-Louise, Making Legal History: State Liability for Negligence in Climate Change (February 24, 2019). Copenhagen Business School, CBS LAW Research Paper 19-11, Available at SSRN or here

Andersen, Henrik, WTO Jurisprudence on Protection of Marine Living Resources: Policy Considerations for the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (May 16, 2019). Copenhagen Business School, CBS LAW Research Paper No. 19-20. Available at SSRN or here