Reconceptualising Legal Paradigms for Climate Change
Climate change today calls for a systemic, irreversible transformation of environmental, social,
economic, and legal orders. Legal frameworks have traditionally approached climate change through the lens of crisis or emergency, yet such approaches increasingly appear ill-suited to addressing its enduring, structural, and pervasive impacts. As climate change becomes a defining condition rather than an exceptional event, fundamental assumptions underlying existing legal paradigms require critical re-examination.
ClimateXLaw Conference seeks to provide an interdisciplinary forum for exploring how law alone and in interaction with other disciplines can be reconceptualised to meet the challenges posed by climate change as a long-term, systemic phenomenon. The Conference aims to foster dialogue on the limitations of current legal responses, to identify normative and structural gaps, and to explore
innovative legal, regulatory, and governance approaches that align with socio-ecological sustainability and justice.
We welcome contributions that engage with normative, doctrinal, theoretical, empirical, and policy
oriented questions, and we particularly encourage participation from scholars and practitioners
beyond the legal discipline, including the social sciences, environmental sciences, economics, political science, philosophy, urban studies, and technology studies.
Indicative Themes
Contributions are invited across a range of topics that reflect the interdisciplinary nature of the
conference. Indicative themes include, but are not limited to:
Climate change law beyond the “emergency” paradigm / Climate change, air pollution, and
public health / Protection of oceans, forests, biodiversity, and ecosystems / Access to water and
climate-related resource governance / Sustainable development and environmental governance /
Human rights, environmental protection, and climate justice / Environmental protection in armed
conflicts / Indigenous peoples, traditional knowledge, and environmental law / International trade, investment protection, and climate change / Sustainable energy production and environmental regulation / Artificial intelligence and digital tools in climate governance / Cities, urban governance, and climate resilience.
Types of Submissions
We invite the following forms of contribution:
Individual Paper Abstracts
Abstracts for individual paper presentations based on original research with a strong conceptual,
empirical, or theoretical foundation. Abstracts should not exceed 300 words.
Panel Proposals
Proposals for thematic panels consisting of 3–5 presentations addressing a shared research question or theme. Panel abstracts should not exceed 300 words.
Poster Presentations
Visual presentations of ongoing research projects, empirical studies, or conceptual work that would
benefit from interdisciplinary discussion. Abstracts should not exceed 300 words.
Participation and Publication
Authors of accepted abstracts will be invited to present at the conference. All the selected abstracts
will be published in a conference proceeding with an assigned DOI number. A selected number of
contributors will subsequently be invited to submit full papers for consideration in a post-conference edited volume related to the conference theme.
Please note that travel and accommodation costs are to be covered by participants.
Submission and Deadlines
Abstract submission deadline: 31 March 2026
Notification of acceptance: 30 April 2026
Abstracts should be submitted electronically via the conference submission portal.
Contact information
For questions regarding submissions, formats, or conference logistics, please contact the organising committee at: info@climatexlaw.com.
Conference Chair:
dr. Maša Kovič Dine
Assistant Professor, Head of the Department of
International Law, Faculty of Law, University of
Ljubljana
Conference Coordinator:
Gal Veber
Teaching and Research Assistant at the Department
of International Law, Faculty of Law, University of
Ljubljana