Dr. Seita Vesa is a Professor of Environmental Law, with a focus on sustainability transformation, at the University of Eastern Finland’s Center for Climate Change, Energy, and Environmental Law (CCEEL). At UEF Law School, Professor Vesa serves as the Head of Law School. In addition, they are affiliated as a Principal Researcher at the Finnish Environment Institute’s Climate Solutions Unit (SYKE).

Their research spans international and EU environmental and climate law, covering topics such as the legal frameworks governing the LULUCF and effort sharing sectors, renewable energy, forests and bioenergy, sustainability transitions and transformation, environmental protection, and Arctic environmental law. Their theoretically oriented work examines the capacities of law in sustainability transition and transformation and decarbonization, with particular attention to the development of EU climate law and its intersections with environmental and energy law. A further core focus is the relationship between law and science, including questions of legitimacy.

Professor Vesa is actively involved in research projects and has served, for example, as co-Principal Investigator of the SRC RELIEF project since 2023.

Their teaching focuses primarily on EU environmental and climate law. They supervise both PhD researchers and Master’s students and have extensive experience in developing and managing international Master’s programmes.

Beyond academia, Professor Vesa is actively engaged in expert and advisory roles at the national and international levels. They contribute to policy-relevant and decision-supporting processes through participation in working and steering groups, are regularly appointed to scientific evaluation and expert panels, and provide consultancy in environmental law to public and other institutional actors.