3rd Annual International Conference

Centre for Sustainable Development Law and Policy

10 September 2026 - 11 September 2026

9.00AM - 5.00PM

Durham Campus

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Standard rate - £250 per delegate

10 September 2026 - 11 September 2026

9:00AM - 5:00PM

Durham Campus

Standard rate - £250 per delegate

Durham University’s Centre for Sustainable Development Law and Policy (CSDLP) and the European Center of Just Transition Research and Impact-Driven Transfer (JTC) at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg are pleased to announce our third Annual International Conference on Just Transitions to a Net Zero World, to be held at Durham University on 10-11 September 2026.

Registrations open

If you would like to attend as a delegate, please Register here

Conference Synopsis

Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement a broad theoretical consensus has been reached towards accomplishing – globally – the paths to a Net Zero World. How to implement this consensus at the national level remains a contested issue. The concept of Just Transitions encompasses a wide range of dimensions and perspectives, reflecting the complexity of global shifts towards more just and low carbon economy. They include labour-oriented approaches, integrated justice frameworks, socio technical transition approaches, governance strategies, and public perceptions of what constitutes a ‘just’ transition. At a time when transition pathways and even their scientific necessity are once again subject to political challenge, even the already existing just transition commitments are threatened. Our concern is not merely what climate law and governance promise, but how these frameworks can be modelled, enacted and operationalised in practice.

Firmly grounded in the theoretical work of the first two conferences, this 3rd edition of our joint conference seeks to move beyond theory and explore the concrete and innovative pathways that translate agreed‑upon changes into practice. We have put together a programme of critical, interdisciplinary and practice-oriented contributions that explore multifaceted pathways seeking to balance social, ecological and economic aspects of transitions while remaining sensitive to context-specific factors. This year’s presenters will engage with the implementation aspects of just transitions, address the challenge of bridging gaps between theory and practice, and examine the development of processes that shape transition outcomes.

Outcomes

Following our conference, we look forward to sharing a report covering the following themes:

Just Transitions to Govern Net Zero Strategies and Sustainable Development
Just Transitions: Reality or Utopia?
Just Transitions in Industry and Technology
Just Transition: For Whom, By Whom, With Whom?

Venue

The venue for the conference is Durham University Business School, Waterside Building, Durham, DH1 1SL. Based in the heart of Durham City Centre, the venue is in the new, innovation district on the banks of the River Wear.

Durham Business School Waterside Building is a:

10 minute walk to the Durham Railway Station
2 minute walk to the Radisson Blu Hotel
14 minute walk to Durham Cathedral

More information on travel and suggested accommodation in Durham can be found in the conference welcome pack. The 3rd Annual International Conference - Welcome Pack - Summer 2026.pdf

Queries

For any queries about the conference, please contact pia.k.andres@durham.ac.uk and csdlp@durham.ac.uk

Featured conference speakers include:

Speaker	Presentation Title
Prof Josephine van Zeben Provost for Education and Academic Staff Development; Professor of Transnational Law, European University Institute / Florence School of Transnational Governance	Who Gets to Be Resilient? Power, Vulnerability and the Just Transition
Prof Tim Stephens Professor of International Law and Associate Dean (External Engagement), The University of Sydney Law School	The law of the sea and the transition from fossil fuels
Prof Martin Evans Executive Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Durham University	Working with nature to mitigate climate change
Prof Elisa Morgera UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change and Human Rights; Professor of International Law and Sustainability, Durham University	Fair defossilization of our economies: insights from human rights analysis and health evidence
Judge Maria Teresa Infante Caffi International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS)	Judicial Voices on the Just Transition
Honourable Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla Supreme Court of Nepal	Judicial Voices on the Just Transition
Prof Dr Phoebe Koundouri Founder and Director, AE4RIA Research Centers; Co-Chair, United Nations GSDR; President, World Council of Environmental Economists, Athens University of Economics and Business / University of Cambridge	United Nations Global Sustainable Development Report 2027: A Global Commons for Accelerating SDGs Implementation
Dr Piotr Szwedo Associate Professor, Jagiellonian University in Kraków	Rights of Nature and ecocentric approaches in international economic law
Prof Kim Schumacher Associate Professor in Sustainable Finance and ESG, Kyushu University	AI and greenwashing, how next-gen algorithms are changing sustainable finance
Prof Ilan Noy Chair in the Economics of Disasters and Climate Change; Professor of Applied Economics, Victoria University of Wellington / Gran Sasso Science Institute	Who bears the climate-change-attributable impacts of extreme weather, and who may pay for it?
Dr Angel Hsu Director, Data-Driven EnviroLab; Associate Professor of Public Policy and the Environment, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	Can We Trust AI for Climate Action? Evidence, Integrity, and the Net-Zero Transition
Prof Darren McCauley Professor of Environmental & Social Justice, Newcastle University	Unifying Dimensions of Just Transitions
Prof Veronika Fikfak Professor of Human Rights and International Law; Co-Director, UCL Institute for Human Rights, University College London	Just Transition and Compliance Minimalism: Lessons from Human Rights Cases
Prof Lorenzo Cotula Principal Researcher and Head of the Law, Economies and Justice Programme; Visiting Professor, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) / Durham Law School	Towards a Just Transition Roadmap: Top Level Recommendations
Prof Glenn McGregor Professor of Climatology, Durham University	Towards a Just Transition Roadmap: Top Level Recommendations

For the full conference programme, please view our brochure: 3rd Annual International Conference brochure.pdf.

Pricing

Standard rate - £250 per delegate

Attendance is free for presenters and for staff and students from host institutions (Durham University and Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg). Attendance is also free for PhD students from any institution worldwide.

Just Transitions to a Net Zero World: Third Annual International Conference