ICLQ Annual Lecture 2025: "The 'Highest Possible Ambition' on Climate Change Mitigation as a Legal Standard"
Event Details
The International and Comparative Law Quarterly (ICLQ) Annual Lecture showcases an outstanding article published in the Journal during the preceding year, chosen by the Editorial Board.
The 2025 ICLQ Annual Lecture will be given by Professor BenoÎt Mayer of the University of Reading, based on his article 'The 'Highest Possible Ambition' on Climate Change Mitigation as a Legal Standard', published in Vol 73(2) ICLQ.
The Parties to the Paris Agreement have committed to communicate successive 'nationally determined contributions' (NDCs) to the global response to climate change. Each NDC is expected to reflect the Party's 'highest possible ambition' (HPA) on the mitigation of climate change—a concept that requires countries to pursue the most aggressive and effective measures feasible under current technological, economic, and political conditions to limit global warming. While this standard may seem vague, it is argued that, on some occasions, HPA can be an effective legal standard, informing the interpretation of due diligence obligations on climate change mitigation. It can be implemented as a standard of internal consistency, relying on a Party's own determination of what level of ambition is 'possible' in the light of its national circumstances. Beyond this, the HPA standard can also enable political or even judicial processes that shed light on a Party's ability to take more ambitious action.
The event, chaired by the ICLQ General Editor Professor Alex Mills, will also provide the opportunity to present this year's Early Career Prize to Dr Alexander Wentker, for his article 'The Armed Attack Exception to Neutrality in International Peace and Security Law' published in Vol 73(4) ICLQ. Dr Wentker is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Potsdam, a Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law and a Research Affiliate at Humboldt-University Berlin. He will present his article and his wider research in conversation with Professor Mills and will be presented with a certificate along with £250 worth of Cambridge University Press books of his choice.
The Lecture will be followed by a drinks reception generously sponsored by our publisher, Cambridge University Press.
Event convened by Anna Riddell -Roberts, ICLQ Managing Editor, BIICL
The event is free to attend, but pre-registration is required. Book your place below.