The IALLJ holds this seminar in the context of its annual (now online) meeting. The online format is an opportunity for researchers with an interest in this topic, to attend our academic open session. Climate change is a major issue for our globe. It is concerned with the need for drastic change. The year 2020 has given us an unprecedented milestone challenge, with covid-19. But we will be using our new and also past experiences (and will thus make the bridge) to asking ourselves key-questions on climate change: are we capable of making a drastic shift, and who should do what? Our scholarship remains currently rather modest on how labour law relates to global warming or climate change. This subject merits more attention in our academic labour law field.

We have identified a time-frame which should make the seminar as inclusive as possible for all attendees around the world, knowing that for some participants it will be very early and for others quite late (a real night shift).

Please feel free to participate.
If you wish to participate, please send an e-mail to iar@kuleuven.be and you will get a link to the ZOOM meeting.

Start time of the public session:
8h00 Chicago (CDT)
15h00 Brussels (CEST)
22h00 Tokyo (JST)
23h00 Sidney (AEST)
Info on time zones: https://www.timeanddate.com/time/map/
Registration:
For all participants, we ask you to register by sending an e-mail to: iar@kuleuven.be
Set-up via “Zoom”:
It is an online seminar, purely digitally, with all participants staying ‘home’. We have decided to use the software “Zoom”, as most people are familiar with it. Participation can be easily done by simply clicking on a web-link that will be sent to you by e-mail. It gives all possibilities for speakers to use audio/video/powerpoint sharing. Participants can use audio and/or the chat function. Ms. Sara Huybrechts (student-assistant at KU Leuven) will deliver administrative and assisting support during the whole session (sara.huybrechts1@student.kuleuven.be).
The set-up of the seminar is that we have two sessions with short introductions (10-12 minutes per speaker). We will then have a discussion with those who wish to speak, or wish to comment via the chat function.
Programme: “The labour law ‘green deal’. From covid-19 to climate change”
[an IALLJ internal pre-meeting is held at 14.00h CEST just before this open session]

15h00h (CEST): First Session : Covid-19 and labour law: early lessons
· This session is based on the special issue of the European Labour Law Journal (member of the IALLJ – link to the papers: https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/ella/current) on this topic coordinated and edited by David Mangan (Maynooth University), Elena Gramano (Bocconi University), Miriam Kullmann (Vienna University of Economics and Business). The session presents overall findings on country’s responses and challenges for labour law. The session will be informative but can also be used to make a bridge to the climate change discussion.
· Presentations, introduced by David Mangan:
- “An unprecedented social solidarity stress test” by Miriam Kullmann (Vienna University of Economics and Business)
- “Covid-19 and labour law in Italy” by Marco Biasi (University of Milan)
- “Covid-19 and labour law in German” by Adam Sagan (University of Bayreuth)
16h15: Comfort break
16h30: Second Session: Climate change and labour law: approaches and goals
· The session deals with methodological issues and with labour law topics, relations between labour market findings on climate change and labour law, as well as the role of social partners and the collective bargaining dimension.
· Presentations, introduced by Frank Hendrickx:
- “A Law of Just Transitions? Putting Labor Law to Work on Climate Change” by David Doorey (York University) [Link to the paper: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2938590 ]
- “Climate change and collective bargaining” by Paolo Tomassetti (University of Bergamo)
17h45: Closing/End