César Soares de Oliveira (cesar.soares.de.oliveira@uef.fi)
César Soares de Oliveira is a legal scholar who specializes in applying theoretical debates within public international law to specific areas in international environmental law. In particular, his research interests lie in the Law of the Sea, the Law of Treaties, Polar Law, and the study of coherence and consistency within international environmental regimes. He also has a general interest in comparative legal history and in Ecological Law.
Soares de Oliveira has a background in international relations and also holds a master’s degree in International and Comparative Law (MICL) from the University of Eastern Finland (UEF). He is currently pursuing his doctoral degree at UEF in association with the Law in Water and Environmental Governance Research Group at the Centre for Climate Change, Energy, and Environmental Law (CCEEL).
Kaisa Huhta (kaisa.huhta@uef.fi)
Dr. Kaisa Huhta is an Associate professor of European law, especially energy law at the UEF Law School and at the Centre for Climate Change, Energy and Environmental Law. She also holds a part-time professorship at the European University Institute’s Florence School of Regulation. Her research focuses on EU energy law. She has produced publications on State aid law, free movement law, competence and institutional issues in EU law, the regulation of new energy technologies and energy investment, security and consumers in EU law. Her broader research objective is understanding the roles of law in governing the energy sector and the low-carbon energy transition in the EU. Dr. Huhta is the Principal Investigator in the EUJUST project (2021-2024), funded by the Academy of Finland, which studies EU law as an instrument for energy justice. She is also a work package leader in the RELIEF project (2023-2026), funded by the Strategic Research Council, which studies the role of law in sustainability transformations.
Dr. Huhta has published in top level international journals such as the European Law Review, the International and Comparative Law Quarterly and Global Environmental Change. In total, she has published more than 70 peer-reviewed journal articles, books, book chapters, expert statements and other publications. Previously, she has been a visiting researcher at the University of Oxford, the European University Institute (EUI), the University of Tilburg, the University of Iceland and the University of Waikato.
Dr. Huhta’s lecturing responsibilities at the UEF Law School has covered courses in general EU law as well as energy law. She supervises Master’s theses in energy law and EU law. She also teaches research methodologies to doctoral researchers. She is available to supervise doctoral candidates in the field of energy law.
Dr. Huhta is an expert member of the Finnish Market Court and actively carries out consultancy work in the field of EU and Finnish energy law. In addition to her research and consultancy work, Dr. Huhta frequently speaks at international conferences, seminars and training events.
Kateryna Holzer (kateryna.holzer@uef.fi)
At UEF, Kateryna Holzer leads a project on Regulatory Cooperation on Carbon Standards (RECOSTA), a work package in a project on Voluntary carbon offsetting in (climate) action: Perception coalitions, representations, and regulation (OFFCORR) and a Joint Nordic Master’s Programme (NOMPEL) course on International Economic Law and Green Transitions.
She has been working in climate change and energy research, teaching and consultancy since 2009, with a focus on trade rules and measures stimulating green economy transition and sustainable development. Kateryna is a member of the Climate Change and International Environmental Law research group at the Center for Climate Change, Energy and Environmental Law (CCEEL), the Platform on International Energy Governance, Climate Strategies and a board member of the Swiss Energy Law Association.
She was formerly a visiting scholar at the WTO Trade and Environment Division and worked as a postdoc at the World Trade Institute in Bern and as an assistant professor at the Academy of Foreign Trade in Kyiv. Kateryna holds a PhD in Law and a Master of International Law and Economics from the University of Bern, as well as a PhD in Economics from Ukraine, a Master of International Management from the Ukrainian Academy of Foreign Trade and a Bachelor of Economics from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Raihanatul Jannat (raihanatul.jannat@uef.fi)
Raihanatul Jannat is a doctoral candidate at the UEF Law School, supervised by Dr. Yulia Yamineva and Dr. Seita Romppanen. Her PhD research explores the role transnational environmental law (TEL) can play in building climate resilient development (CRD) of women. Through her research, Raihanatul aims to conduct comparative case studies on Bangladesh and the Finnish Arctic. Raihanatul is also the coordinator of the Center for Climate Change, Environment, and Energy Law (CCEEL) and is a member of the Climate Change and International Environmental Law research group from CCEEL. Raihanatul’s other research interests include climate justice, environmental justice and minority and human rights.
Reza Maddahi (reza.maddahi@uef.fi)
I am Reza Maddahi, a doctoral researcher in international climate change law at CCEEL, law department. I mainly work on the legal frameworks of climate technologies such as CCS technologies as well as climate litigation, market based mechanisms, article 6 of the Paris Agreement…..
Seita Vesa (seita.vesa@uef.fi)
Dr. Seita Vesa is a Professor of Environmental Law (especially sustainability transition) at the University of Eastern Finland Center for Climate Change, Energy and Environmental Law (CCEEL) and a Research Professor at the Finnish Environment Institute’s Climate Solutions Unit (SYKE).
Within the UEF Law School, Professor Vesa serves as both the Head of Research and the Head of the UEF Doctoral Programme in Law. Her extensive academic research portfolio encompasses a range of topics in international and EU environmental and climate law. This includes, i.e., the legal framework of the LULUCF and effort sharing sectors, renewable energy, forests and bioenergy, sustainability transitions, environmental protection, and Arctic environmental law. Her theoretically oriented research delves into the capacities of law in sustainability transition and decarbonisation, the evolution of EU climate law and its intersections with fields like environmental and energy law, and the nexus between law and science, emphasizing various aspects of legitimacy.
Actively involved in research projects, Professor Vesa is the vice-PI for SRC RELIEF from 2023 onwards. She also plays a significant role in the advancement of UEF’s strategic research, acting as the Vice Director for one of UEF RC’s initiatives, RESOURCE, which is dedicated to fostering a Sustainable Resource Society centered on Circular Economy, Energy, and Raw Materials.
Her teaching portfolio is primarily centered on EU environmental and climate law, and she supervises both PhD researchers and Master’s students. With her experience, she has been instrumental in the development and management of international Master’s programmes in law.
Beyond her academic endeavors, Professor Vesa has collaborated extensively on an international scale, encompassing research, teaching, and project work. She holds expert positions in different national and international working and steering groups and has received appointments to scientific evaluation panels. Furthermore, she offers her expertise as a consultant in environmental law.
Yulia Yamineva (yulia.yamineva@uef.fi)
My primary area of expertise is climate law and governance, where I have worked on a variety of topics, including:
- International climate law and governance, UN climate negotiations, climate finance;
- Law and governance of mitigating emissions of non-CO2 GHGs; short-lived climate pollutants; climate – air quality policy integration;
- Governance of climate tipping points;
- Climate law and climate modelling;
- Science-policy interface, especially Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change;
- Climate policies in national and regional contexts: EU, Arctic, Russia, China.
My approach to research is interdisciplinary, drawing on the fields of climate and environmental law, policy and governance, and, sometimes, science & technology studies. I closely collaborate with climate and atmospheric scientists.
At the UEF Law School, I am also Co-Director of the Master’s Degree Programme in Environmental Policy and Law, responsible for its major in climate law, as well as Director of the UEF-UNEP Course on Multilateral Environmental Agreements.
Prior to academic work, I worked for the UN Climate Change Convention Secretariat, supporting intergovernmental negotiations on climate finance, and International Institute for Sustainable Development – Earth Negotiations Bulletin. I hold PhD in International Studies and MPhil in Environmental Policy, both from the University of Cambridge. I am proud of my Bashkort heritage: Bashkort people are an ethnic group indigenous to Southern Urals in Russia.
Current projects:
Principal investigator of the project consortium ‘ClimAirPathways: Science-based legal pathways to reduce black carbon emissions in the EU and China: Towards integrated climate – air quality approaches’ (Research Council of Finland, 2023-2027)
Current PhD students:
- Raihanatul Jannat “Building climate-resilient development of women in Bangladesh through adaptation: A study on the potential of global environmental law” (2020)
- Saga Eriksson ‘EU sustainable finance legislation: Towards creation of green markets and agency?’ (2022; UEF Law School funding)
- Moritz Petersmann ‘Fit for governing modern wicked problems? International science-policy interfaces under scrutiny’ (2022; Kone Foundation grant)
- Katri Varis ‘Role of scientific advisory bodies in EU climate law and policy’ (2023)
- Camille Bertaux ‘WHO guidelines & environmental law in a moving context – from mere reference to conclusive influence?’, UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles, Centre for Environmental Law (Member of the supervisory committee with Prof Misonne and Prof Peeters; 2022)
- Niklas Löther ‘From fragmentation to integration in legal responses to climate change and air pollution: A transnational investigation of pathways and obstacles to integrated environmental lawmaking in the European Union’ (2023; funded by ClimAirPathways project)