Matthias Petel
mpetel.bsky.social
Matthias Petel
@mpetel.bsky.social
Researching on climate politics & litigation, sovereign debt and climate reparations (Harvard Law and ULB)
If you want to join us to discuss rights-based environmental governance👇
Myself, @mpetel.bsky.social and Allison Bishop are seeking presentations for our panel on rights in environmental governance at #POLLEN2026 in Barcelona, June 29th - July 3rd 2026. Fancy joining us? Submit your abstract here by 5th December: nomadit.co.uk/conference/p... @pollenetwork.bsky.social
November 7, 2025 at 3:23 PM
In my post for the Sabin Center’s Climate Law Blog series on climate reparations, I argue for a structural approach of reparations focusing on dismantling the financial subordination of the Global South embedded in debt relations

blogs.law.columbia.edu/climatechang...
Toward Structural Climate Reparations? A Legal Agenda to Address the Financial Subordination of the Global South - Climate Law Blog
Legal scholarship on climate reparations has so far focused almost exclusively on financial compensation whereby wealthier nations provide funding to cover the costs of climate-induced disasters in de...
blogs.law.columbia.edu
October 28, 2025 at 12:04 PM
My contribution to the @verfassungsblog.de and @sabincenter.bsky.social joint symposium on the ICJ’s climate advisory opinion is out!

In short : the Court insists on cooperation but avoids defining what a fair allocation of burdens requires
🔗 blogs.law.columbia.edu/climatechang...
Cooperation Without Justice? On the Elusive Differentiation of Responsibilities in the ICJ’s Climate Advisory Opinion  - Climate Law Blog
Climate change is both a global crisis that binds humanity to a shared fate – a “common concern for humankind” – as well as the revealer of historical inequalities on the international stage, rooted i...
blogs.law.columbia.edu
October 1, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Here is for a friendly ecosocialist critique of rights of nature. Let's work on a political approach to rights of nature that recognizes that environmental degradation is rooted in power assymetries within human societies.

www.openglobalrights.org/beyond-the-c...
Beyond the critique of anthropocentrism: Rethinking the rights of nature
The ecological crisis is not the reflection of a human-centered mindset, but the outcome of deeply unequal power relations within human societies.
www.openglobalrights.org
June 16, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Delighted about this prize ! Thank you so much to the reviewers, the editors, the jury and all my friends and colleagues who had to suffer me talking, talking and talking about this project.
🏆 The 2024 #TEL Best Article Prize is awarded to Matthias Petel for his article 'The Illusion of Harmony: Power, Politics, and Distributive Implications of Rights of Nature' bit.ly/445fgkL

Congratulations! 🥳
March 27, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Happy to share a new piece co-authored with Sam Bookman that examines how climate justice—addressing the unequal distribution of burdens and benefits in climate action—is integrated into climate litigation in Europe. Would love to hear your thoughts! 🌱
Climate Litigation & Climate Justice : The Distributional Implications of Rights-Based Climate Actions in Europe | Global Justice : Theory Practice Rhetoric
www.theglobaljusticenetwork.org
December 11, 2024 at 1:52 PM