On the evening of April 17, 2021, the academic lecture on climate change in the courts in the fifth lecture court of "New Horizons Overseas" of Civil, Commercial and Economic Law School, China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL) went smoothly through Tencent Meeting. This lecture consists of two parts: lecture and discussion. During the meeting, Dr. Lu Mengxing and Mr. Tang Ke from Civil,Commercial and Economic Law School, CUPL provided Chinese and English translations.

First, the moderator Prof. Wang Canfa made an opening speech. Prof. Wang Canfa talked about the role of climate change litigation in coping with climate change, then introduced the position of the speaker Prof. Robert Percival and the academic exchanges with China and China University of Political Science and Law, and thanked Prof. Robert Percival on behalf of the Institute of Environmental and Resources Law of CUPL. Prof. Wang Canfa also introduced three discussants, namely Prof. Cao Mingde and Prof. Hu Jing from the Civil,Commercial and Economic Law School, CUPL and Prof. Benoit Mayer from the Law School of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Finally, Prof. Wang Canfa announced the commencement of the lecture.

(Moderator Prof. Wang Canfa)

The first part is the lecture session. Focusing on climate change in the courts, Prof. Robert Percival affirmed the increasing trend of international climate change litigation, and pointed out that climate change litigation in the US has some shortcomings. Climate change litigation in other countries shows a positive trend, and judges make full use of judicial activism. In the US, climate change litigation has brought great challenges to administrative branch. With the change of judges, the influence of typical cases is weakening, and climate change litigation may not be ideal. However, there is a new trend in the US, which proves the subject qualification of climate change litigation by means of product-related fraud litigation. With the Biden administration coming to power, the climate change litigation situation in the US may be improved.

(Speaker Prof. Robert Percival)

The second part is the discussion. Prof. Cao Mingde believes that justice plays an important role in coping with climate change. There are also cases of climate change litigation in China, and judicial initiative is increasing. Under the vision of carbon neutrality and carbon peaking put forward by China, China is expected to do more in climate change litigation. Prof. Hu Jing mentioned that climate change litigation can make grand issues concrete and provide information for details of climate change and legislation or decision-making, while emphasizing that NGO play an important role in climate change litigation. Prof. Benoit Mayer believes that scholars should improve the knowledge related to climate change litigation on the basis of facts, and need to objectively consider the effectiveness of different legal arguments. The success of some climate change litigation cases may bring adverse effects to people's lives.

(Discussant Prof. Hu Jing)

(Discussant Prof. Benoit Mayer)

After the lecture and discussion, Prof. Yu Wenxuan, director of the Institute of Environmental and Resources Law, CUPL, thanked Prof. Robert Percival again on behalf of the Institute. Finally, Prof. Wang Canfa summed up the main contents of the lecture, thanked the speaker, discussants and participants, and declared the lecture over.

(Prof. Yu Wenxuan)

At this point, the academic lecture on climate change in the courts in the fifth lecture court of "New Horizons Overseas" of Civil,Commercial and Economic Law School,CUPL has been successfully concluded.