Agnes Hellner

Project summary

How should climate cases be decided by courts in the future?

Agnes Hellner is a Senior Lecturer in Procedural Law at the Department of Law at Stockholm University. Her research project, “The allocation of institutional responsibility for climate change mitigation in the Nordic countries”, will examine the role that courts can play in addressing climate change. She will also investigate the extent to which responsibility for implementing measures to mitigate climate change rests with the legislature. The project compares the legal frameworks in Sweden, Norway and Finland to identify similarities and differences.

 

“When society faces new and fundamental challenges, such as climate change, new questions arise that must be addressed by both legislatures and courts. Institutional roles may also need to be reconsidered. It is essential to understand the mandate and function of different institutional actors in relation to legal obligations concerning climate change. This is fundamental to the rule of law,” Agnes explains.