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Call for Papers: OGEL Special Issue on 'Climate Litigation and the Energy Sector'

13 April 2023

Update March 2024: The OGEL 1 (2024) Special Issue on "Climate Litigation and the Energy Sector" has been published and is available here, https://www.ogel.org/journal-browse-issues-toc.asp?key=105. New articles on this topic remain welcome, feel free to submit your proposals to info@ogel.org for future issues of our journal. 

The OGEL Energy Law Journal (OGEL, ISSN 1875-418X, www.ogel.org) invites submissions for a Special issue focusing on "Climate Litigation and the Energy Sector". The editor for this issue is Professor Kim Talus, the Editor-in-Chief for OGEL and James McCulloch Chair in Energy Law and Director, Tulane Center for Energy Law Tulane Law School; Professor of European Economic and Energy Law, UEF Law School; Professor of Energy Law, University of Helsinki.

According to the United Nations Environment Program, climate litigation refers to cases brought before administrative, judicial and other investigatory bodies that raise issues of law or fact regarding the science of climate change and climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.

Climate related litigation against banks, large energy companies and governments is on the rise and has rapidly become an important area of energy related litigation. There are over 2000 cases decided and currently pending and the number is growing. Most of these cases relate to governments and is targeting their energy policies, but the number of cases initiated against private entities is also increasing. Issues that are litigated relate to, among many others, access to information, environment, human rights, 'just transition', GHG emissions, international trade and investment and so on.

These cases raise a number of important questions about the role of courts in energy policy making, the rights of future generations, impact of judgments on states and private companies and their strategies and policies, responsibilities of private entities for past and current polluting action, among many other important issues.

Following the rapid increase in the number of cases, also the research and writing on this topic is growing. However, most writing is done by experts in climate law and policy or environmental law and policy. While important, current studies paint a partial picture where the energy approach is lacking. Therefore, there is a clear need for the energy expert community to become engaged in this international discussion.

This OGEL Special Issue seeks to provide information on climate related litigation from an energy perspective. We encourage submission of relevant papers, studies, and brief comments on various aspects of this subject. These may relate to specific court or arbitral proceedings, or wider policy level questions. Even comparative law approaches to the topic are welcomed.

Proposals and Papers should be submitted at your earliest convenience to:

The minimum word count of articles should be 5000 words (excluding footnotes, endnotes, appendices, tables, summary etc.). Articles should include summaries (150-200 words). The layout of the articles should conform to OGEL's submission guidelines available at: www.ogel.org/contribute.asp (more information available upon request).

Feel free to forward this call for papers to colleagues who may be interested in contributing to the special issue.

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