One woman in particular helped shaping today's climate law: Christina Voigt, the winner of this year's Hans Sigrist Prize. The German-Norwegian professor of law at the University of Oslo is a pioneer in her field. "Climate law is at an inflection point," Voigt said in her presentation at the Symposium. She referred to the growing number of legal cases in which courts base their rulings on international climate agreements such as the Paris Agreement. For example, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) recently clarified that climate protection measures are a legal obligation for states and not a political preference.
Despite such successes, Voigt warned against relying solely on the courts to protect the climate. She emphasized that the challenge posed by climate change requires the strength and wisdom of society as a whole to overcome it: "Even the law has its limits."
