--- title: "New endowed professorship for climate law" description: "With support from the Bloom Foundation, the University of Bern establishes an Endowed Professorship for Climate Law, affiliated with the Oeschger Centre (OCCR)." url: https://unibefoundation.ch/en/news/new-endowed-professorship-climate-law updated: 2026-09-16 --- # New endowed professorship for climate law > With support from the Bloom Foundation, the University of Bern establishes an Endowed Professorship for Climate Law, affiliated with the Oeschger Centre (OCCR). News 11. June 2025 # New endowed professorship for climate law Read the original media release [here](https://mediarelations.unibe.ch/medienmitteilungen/2025/medienmitteilungen_2025/neue_stiftungsprofessur_fuer_klimarecht/index_ger.html) (in German). *Fostering legal innovation and developing new approaches to effectively combating climate change: in addition to teaching and research, this is the aim of the new Endowed Professorship for Climate Law. The Bloom Foundation is supporting the development of the professorship for a period of ten years.* Legal systems regulate coexistence and the functioning of society at national and international level, and they steer individual behaviour. Climate law therefore plays an important role in climate protection. However, there is still a lack of legal expertise to use climate law to create frameworks for reliable and fair solutions for dealing with climate change. The Endowed Professorship “Climate and Law” at the University of Bern aims to help close these gaps. The professorship will be based at the Institute of Public Law of the Faculty of Law and affiliated with the Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR) of the University of Bern. The aim of the professorship is to build up expertise in climate protection law – in Switzerland as well as in international and interdisciplinary contexts. Such comprehensive expertise is needed to address the upcoming problems related to climate protection. The knowledge developed by the new professorship will be relevant for legislation in the coming years and will serve as legal know-how for court proceedings. Until now, Switzerland has lacked such a focus in research and teaching on climate law. The “Sustainable Law Programme” at Oxford University serves as a successful and exemplary model. **Interdisciplinary collaboration creates ideal conditions** “The need for legal solutions is growing, as interests traditionally protected by law, such as human health, public infrastructure, property and the natural environment, are threatened by climate change,” explains Virginia Richter, Rector of the University of Bern: “We are proud to be able to do fundamental work in this field with the Bloom Foundation’s new endowed professorship.” Thanks to its interdisciplinary orientation, the Rector of the University of Bern says, the Oeschger Centre is predestined for building up expertise in climate law. How the various research areas at the OCCR work together in the context of a climate lawsuit was demonstrated in the case of the KlimaSeniorinnen (Senior Women for Climate Protection) before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), in which a research team from the OCCR provided the court with scientific evidence and legal advice. Founded in 2024, the Bloom Foundation aims to promote forward-looking approaches for a healthy, biodiverse and regenerative world. In particular, it seeks to support projects that research and implement effective solutions for climate protection and the preservation of biodiversity. “In our view, the further development of climate law is a key lever for effectively advancing climate protection,” explains Ines Najorka, President of the Bloom Foundation. “In the University of Bern and the Oeschger Centre, we have found strong partners and a promising environment for the work of the endowed professorship.” The endowed professorship will be advertised nationally and internationally. The appointment is planned for spring 2026. ### The Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR) [\#](#the-oeschger-centre-for-climate-change-research "Direct link to The Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR)") The Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR) is one of the strategic centres of the University of Bern. It brings together researchers from 14 institutes and four faculties. The OCCR conducts interdisciplinary research at the cutting edge of climate science. The Oeschger Centre was founded in 2007 and bears the name of Hans Oeschger (1927-1998), a pioneer of modern climate research who worked in Bern. [Further information](https://www.oefre.unibe.ch/) ### Institute of Public Law [\#](#institute-of-public-law "Direct link to Institute of Public Law") The Institute of Public Law covers the entire field of public law in teaching, research and services. Its main areas of focus include fundamental and human rights, constitutional law on state organisation, general and special administrative law, public procedural law and international law. 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