Litigating Climate Change at the 2025 Oxford Comparative Moot in German Law
In 2025, the Oxford Comparative Moot in German Law was hosted again by the Institute of European and Comparative Law (IECL) with the generous support by Dr Martin Mekat and his colleagues from Freshfields PartG mbB. Organised by Dr Johannes Ungerer with the help of Elisabeth Müller, this year’s Moot brought together students, academics, and practitioners interested in climate change litigation from a German-English comparative perspective. The panel was chaired by Professor Katja Ziegler, who is the Sir Robert Jennings Professor at the University of Leicester; Rechtsanwältin Stefanie Fay, a partner at Freshfields; and Dr Ungerer.
The Moot required students from the University of Oxford studying Law with German Law and exchange students from Munich and Bonn to analyse an ongoing climate change case before the Oberlandesgericht Hamm in Germany and to respond to questions about how the principles employed in this case can also play a role in English law.
In the Moot’s case study, a farmer from Latin America sued a manufacturing company in England for the contribution to climate change, causing the farmer’s land to flood. This raised questions about the available cause(s) of action, issues of causation, the question whether legally permitted emissions can lead to liability in private law, and the question whether private liability is the right response to problems arising from climate change. The case study thus gave the participants an opportunity to explore the intersections of public and private responsibility for handling the contributions to and consequences of climate change. One team approached the questions from the farmer’s perspective while the other team represented the company. The panel was impressed by the students’ passion for arguing for their respective sides and the level and depth of their submissions. Especially when it came to causation the students were able to put the specific problems of the case in the context of the overarching purpose and policy considerations of German and English law.
The Moot participants received feedback from the panel as well as certificates and prizes. The event culminated afterwards in a celebratory drinks reception and dinner at St Hilda’s College, where all attendees enjoyed the opportunity to engage in further conversation.
