Annalisa Savaresi

About/Bio

Annalisa Savaresi is Associate Professor of International Environmental Law at the Center for Climate Change, Energy and Environmental Law, University of Eastern Finland. She is an expert in environmental law and on the interplay between human rights and environmental law, with 20 years’ experience working with international and nongovernmental organizations. Before embarking on an academic career, she worked with non-governmental organisations and think-tanks, focussing on human rights-based approaches to environmental protection. Since turning to academia in 2009, she has authored more than 40 peer-reviewed publications on climate change law, emissions from land uses, and rights-based approaches to environmental law and policy, which have been widely cited, including by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. She has furthermore contributed to numerous law and policy reports prepared for governments and international organisations. Annalisa has previously taught environmental law at the Universities of Edinburgh and Stirling in the UK, and at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. She holds guest professorial roles at the University of Bologna, Italy and at the University of La Sabana, Colombia. Annalisa is Associate Editor of the Review of European, Comparative and International Environmental Law and currently serves as Director for Europe for the Global Network on Human Rights and the Environment. She is member of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law and since January 2021, she serves on the Board of Environmental Standards Scotland, the body entrusted to review public authorities’ compliance with environmental law after the UK's exit from the EU.

Recently Published

Beyond COP26: Time for an Advisory Opinion on Climate Change?

The recent Glasgow Climate Change Conference (COP26) provided a stark reminder of the gap between states’ planned greenhouse emission reductions and the global temperature goal enshrined in the Paris Agreement. The conference also dramatically showcased once more the plight of vulnerable nations faced with the devastating impacts of rising sea levels and extreme weather events.

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The UN HRC recognizes the right to a healthy environment and appoints a new Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Climate Change. What does it all mean?

On Friday 8 October, the UN Human Rights Council adopted Resolution 48/13, recognising for first time that having a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a human right and calling on UN Member States to cooperate to implement this right. On the same day, the Council adopted Resolution 48/14, establishing a Special Rapporteur on…

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The Philippines Human Rights Commission and the ‘Carbon Majors’ Petition

The adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015 has been followed by a burgeoning strand of climate change litigation, with test cases being heard all over the world (see Columbia Law School database). Amongst others, litigants have argued that emissions are the proximate cause of adverse climate change impacts, thereby giving rise to specific liability. One…

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