On 17 January 2023 a new event series opened its doors at WU: Der Wiener Juristische Salon. The new event series is a joint initiative of LawGov’s Professor Verena Madner together with Professor Dragana Damjanovic (Technical University Vienna) and Professor Iris Eisenberger (Vienna University). Taking on the idea of the Viennese “Salon” as an intellectual space for debate, it aims to provide room for an international research-led exchange on the role of law in the shaping of sustainable societal structures (for underlying information in German please see here).

The opening event was devoted to the topic of climate protection through law. In an inspiring talk, Gabriele Britz, Professor of Public Law and European Law at Justus Liebig University Giessen and Judge at the German Federal Constitutional Court, shared 10 insightful theses on the topic. In very clear words, she argued that climate protection needs the law. Environmental law, in particular, has a whole set of instruments to offer that can be adapted and applied also for the purpose of climate protection. Such application was, however, the responsibility of the legislator; just, as it was the legislator’s decision in which sectors, to what extent, and until when, emission reductions must be achieved. Courts were not immediately designed to take those decisions in the legislator’s stead, and should not have to do so. However, courts would remain central in the control of these actions and inactions of the legislator.

The discussion following Professor Britz’s talk fully embraced the idea of the new event series. It invited critical questions as to the implications of distributive decisions for intergenerational justice, the role of fundamental rights and guarantees in negating climate protection, possibilities to de-politicise the balancing of competing public interests and the responsibility of the legislator to secure acceptance for climate protection. The lively discussion amongst participants continued in the social part of the evening, and will hopefully continue at the next event of the Wiener Juristische Salon.