Report: Malta Legal Forum

On 22-23 May 2017, the yearly Malta Legal Forum on Adaptation to Climate Change took place in Leuven. The Malta Legal Forum is co-chaired by Kurt Deketelaere and Simone Borg and brings together experts who come together on a regular basis to discuss the broad range of topics associated with climate change. Marleen van Rijswick and Cathy Suykens of the Utrecht Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law (UCWOSL) are active members of the Forum.

This year, the workshop focused on developments in climate change policies after Paris and Marrakech. A series of experts from Taiwan and Europe gave presentations on issues ranging from energy liberalisation in Taiwan, sustainable use of forests and climate change, property rights in the light of climate change and water management. UCWOSL’s Cathy Suykens presented on the topic of adaptation in shared waters, explaining critical success factors in river basin management drawn from case studies of the Delaware basin in the US and the Scheldt river in the EU.

With a total of 18 hot topic presentations, the meeting has amounted to an intense and fruitful exchange of good and bad practices and new insights stemming from the various levels of governance globally and specifically, in Europe and Taiwan.