JUSTDECARB Project
The Centre for Climate Law and Sustainability Studies is part of a consortium that submitted a successful proposal to the ‘Enabling Societal Transformation in the Face of Climate Change’ (SOLSTICE) call launched by JPI Climate international programming initiative, a platform supporting societal research of climate change. The Czech Republic has become one of ten European countries involved in its overarching joint initiative called ‘Connecting Climate Knowledge for Europe’.
The three-year project (12/2020 – 11/2023) called ‘Socially Just and Politically Robust Decarbonisation: A Knowledge Base and Toolkit for Policymakers’ (JUSTDECARB) will be led by CICERO-Center for International Climate Research (Oslo). Other members of the consortium include Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at LSE (London) and Institute of Public Law and Political Science and Field of Excellence ‘Climate Change Graz’ at University of Graz. The interdisciplinary team will bring together economists, political scientists, philosophers and law researchers. The major project theme will be to study the processes, policies and measures relating to the request for decarbonisation, with a particular focus on justice of such processes. The objective is to develop a ‘toolkit’ for policymakers to steer transition processes in a way that will help the scheduled policies and measures be perceived as socially just and become supported by key stakeholders, an aspect crucial for maximum policy impact. The legal part of the project (developed by our Centre) will pursue the question of using human rights and legal principles as criteria for assessment of climate policies and measures.
Project website: here.
CLASS at the International Conference on Just Transition in Dundee, Scotland
9. 9. 2023
Three members of CLASS participated at the international conference organised by the University of Dundee on 7-8 September 2023 on the topic of Just Transition and International Law, to present their findings of the JustDecarb project. Hana Müllerová contributed on "Two Approaches to the Concept of Just Transition from the International Law Perspective"; , Monika Feigerlová presented "The Modernised Energy Charter Treaty Through the Lenses of a Just Transitions"; and Adam Novák presented "Just Transition in Post-Communist European Countries". The full conference programme can be found here.
Expert opinion on Just Transition released
1. 3. 2023
Within the JUSTDECARB project, Hana Müllerová and Adam Novák prepared an expert opinion on just transition for the "AVex" series of the Czech Academy of Sciences. The Academy of Sciences prepares the AVex series for law makers, state authorities and their representatives as an expert basis on various topics of public interest. All the opinions issued so far are available (in Czech only) here.
Our AVex titled "Just Transition: Transformation to low-carbon economy from the perspective of law” presents the basics of the just transition concept and its legal context. The concept is not yet sufficiently familiar in the Czech environment, although it is one of the fundamental pillars of the EU climate policy expressed in the European Green Deal under the principle of "leaving no one behind" in the transformation of the society to climate neutrality. The aim of the just transition is to prevent negative phenomena such as increased poverty, social instability, unemployment or displacement from affected regions in the transition to a low carbon economy. One of its basic prerequisites is the application of the relevant findings of legal science on the optimal and equitably balanced setting of regulation, including the human rights and law principles.
The fulltext of the expert opinion (only in Czech) is here.
Workshop on just transition in the Czech Republic
16. 6. 2022
On Friday, 24 June 2022, we are organizing a workshop to connect the knowledge of theory and practice on the topic of just transition in the Czech Republic. Our guests will represent academia, public administration, affected regions, business and NGOs. The workshop will take place in the main building of the Academy of Sciences (Národní 3, Prague 1, hall 108) and online on the Zoom platform. It will be held in Czech.
Just Transition is a concept related to the transition from a fossil-based to a low-carbon economy. The concept of just transition originates from the labour market and employment environment, where it means providing a fair solution for employees in industries or operations that are being shut down. However, in recent years, the concept of just transition has expanded beyond this narrow conception, has become part of the overall debate on addressing the climate crisis, and can also be seen as a set of guidelines for design and implementation of climate policies in general. The concept of just transition is an important part of the European Green Deal. In the Czech Republic, the concept of just transition is relatively new, associated so far mainly with the use of financial instruments and the European Just Transition Fund, which supports investment and transformation of areas affected by the need to phase-out coal. The aim of the workshop is to open a space for a broader perspective on the concept of just transition and to bring together the expertise and experience of theorists and practitioners.
The workshop programme can be found in the attached invitation [in Czech].
The videorecording of the workshop is available on our YouTube channel here [in Czech].
You can view some photos from the workshop here:
Photo credit: Eliška Johnová
Looking back at the conference Human Rights and Climate Change
29 November 2021
We would like to thank all the speakers and participants - those who came in person to the main building of the Czech Academy of Sciences and those who joined us online - for their interesting contributions and discussions. We have just posted a photo gallery from the conference on its website, as well as the video recordings of the presentations that are now available for viewing on our YouTube channel in a separate playlist.
Conference on Human Rights and Climate change: Last registration call
16 November 2021
The registration for the in-person attendance at our Friday conference on Human Rights and Climate Change has been already closed but you can still register for the online participation until Thursday 18 November 9:00. The conference programme and registration form can be found here.
Conference on Human Rights and Climate change: Programme and registration
25 October 2021
We have just published the programme and opened registration for the International Conference on Human Rights and Climate Change, which we will be hosting on Friday 19 November 2021. The conference will be held in a hybrid format (in person and online via Zoom). You will hear presentations from distinguished international and Czech experts on the human rights impacts of climate change. The conference programme and registration form can be found here.
We are preparing the programme for our November conference
27 May 2021
We are happy to announce the first speakers who confirmed to participate at our conference on Human Rights and Climate Change on 19 November 2021:
Christina Voigt (University of Oslo)
Sanja Bogojević (University of Oxford)
Eva Schulev-Steindl (ClimLaw, University of Graz)
Ivana Jelić (European Court of Human Rights)
Marc Limon (Universal Rights Group, Geneva)
Felix Ekardt (Research Unit Sustainability and Climate Policy, Leipzig)
JUSTDECARB Launch Workshop
20 March 2021
Let us invite you to a launch workshop of the JUSTDECARB Project. Our objective is to present the project findings and outputs not only to our academic peers but also to other experts and stakeholders.The workshop will take place on 13 April 14:00 -17:00 (CEST) on Zoom. Participants are invited to join the entire workshop or only the sessions that are of most interest to them. The sessions will present the political, legal, philosophical and economic topics of a just transition that the project will address. The event is free; the registration is required through the link included in the Workshop Invitation.
Conference on Climate Change and Human Rights: Save the date
20 February 2021
Mark your calendars for our conference on Climate Change and Human Rights! It will be held on 19 November 2021. The conference will take place at the Academy of Sciences, Prague, and online via Zoom. More details will be available in May 2021.