Joana Setzer

Joana Setzer is an Associate Professorial Research Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She leads the Climate Change Laws of the World project since 2020 and served as a Contributing Author for the IPCC AR6. Her research focuses on climate litigation and global environmental governance.

• PhD and MSc in Environment and Development from LSE
• Masters in Environmental Science from University of Sao Paulo
• Bachelor of Law from Catholic University of Sao Paulo

Joana's research explores climate litigation as a policy driver, examining its effectiveness through comparative case studies across Brazil, Germany, US, and China. She investigates subnational climate diplomacy, transnational governance mechanisms, and human rights dimensions in climate cases, with recent work analyzing the European Court of Human Rights' 2024 ruling on Switzerland's climate obligations.

Her publications include 15 recent articles spanning corporate accountability (OECD guidelines analysis), financial market impacts (firm value econometrics), and constitutional climate obligations (global comparative study). Key trends show litigation shaping corporate behavior, state-company net-zero alignment, and transboundary liability frameworks.

• Scientific awards: British Academy Post-Doctoral Fellowship (2016-2019), LSE Impact Prize (2025)

Joana advises governments and NGOs, contributes to international climate law debates, and leads LSE's Mobilising legal, political, and governance systems sustainability theme. She co-chairs the Climate Accountability working group within the Climate Social Science Network.