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Climate Change Laws of the World: From Global Climate Obligations to National Action Project

This Climate Change Laws of the World: From Global Climate Obligations to National Action project, in partnership with the Grantham Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, explores how national climate laws and governance frameworks can be developed to align with obligations under international law, including those set out in recent Advisory Opinions on climate change from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The project gives LSE students participating in the Clinic the opportunity to collaborate with the Grantham Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and contribute to its Climate Change Laws of the World database, a leading global resource on national climate laws and policies. Through their research, students will explore how different countries approach climate action and climate governance.

What will students do?

Working in teams, students will be assigned countries and will:

  • Identify gaps in the existing data held in the Climate Change Laws of the World database.
  • Research and collect relevant national climate laws and policies.
  • Summarise their findings and contribute new information to the database.
  • Consider how national climate legislation and governance relate to obligations under international law as interpreted by the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea and the International Court of Justice in their recent Advisory Opinions on climate change.

What will students learn?

Through the project, students will develop their understanding of:

  • State obligations to address climate change under international law.
  • The relationship between international and domestic law, drawing on the recent Advisory Opinions.
  • Legislative practice across a range of jurisdictions and different approaches to climate policy and governance.
  • Structured data and the role of AI in developing search engines and databases.

Project outputs

The project will contribute to the ongoing development of the Climate Change Laws of the World database. It will also result in a joint policy publication by the GRI and the Sustainability Regulation Observatory (SRO), with participating students credited as contributors.