Program Overview

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Introduction to the LLM in Global Environment and Climate Change Law

The LLM in Global Environment and Climate Change Law is designed to provide students with an advanced, multidisciplinary knowledge of the legal issues and techniques related to environmental protection, with special emphases on climate change and the marine environment.

Programme Overview

During the programme, students will evaluate the historic and on-going development of international, European, and national law for environmental protection, exploring the inter-relations between these different levels of law making. Students will develop the skills required to analyse the activity of international and supranational legal and political institutions, national governments, and domestic courts, NGOs, and businesses in the private sector, which are working in environmental protection and natural resources management.

Why Study Global Environment and Climate Change Law?

Environmental Law is a dynamic, fast-developing, and globally important area of law that requires not only specialist legal knowledge but also understanding of underpinning political, economic, and scientific issues. The programme has been designed to address demand for this specialist knowledge and to serve as a gateway to employment and research opportunities in environmental law, protection, and regulation.

Career Opportunities

Many graduates go on to make a difference in exciting and relevant roles for organisations and businesses all over the world. Examples include:

• Sustainable Development Advisor, Royal Dutch Shell, The Hague
• Transatlantic Fellow, the Ecologic Institute, Berlin
• Foreign Services Officer, Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Intern, Secretariat of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), Bonn
• Research Assistant on Fossil Fuel Subsidies, Overseas Development Institute, London
• Judicial Department of the Chilean Environmental Impact Assessment Agency

Research Environment

Edinburgh offers a thriving network of climate and environmental researchers and postgraduate students working and studying across many disciplines, including law, political science, geoscience, and development studies.

Seminars and Guest Lectures

There are regular opportunities to engage with leading environmental law practitioners through co-taught seminars, professional development sessions, and public lectures.

Programme Structure

The programme can be taken full-time over one year or part-time over two years, subject to visa restrictions. It offers a wide range of subjects that deal with various aspects of environmental and climate change law from an international perspective, with the possibility of choosing additional courses to tailor the programme to meet specific interests.

Compulsory Courses

Students must take the following courses:

• International Environmental Law (40 credits, two-semester)
• International Climate Change Law (20 credits, must be taken in semester 1)

Core Courses

Students must select between 20 and 60 credits from the following courses:

• Energy Transition and the International Economic Legal Order: Governance, Challenges and Innovations (20 credits)
• International Ocean Governance and the Protection of the Marine Environment (20 credits)
• The Law of Carbon Management: Regulating Carbon Dioxide Removals and CCS (20 credits)
• New Perspectives on International Law and the Environment (20 credits)
• Transnational Waste Law and Circular Economy (20 credits)
• Climate Change Litigation: Practice and Theory (20 credits)
• Issues in Law and Sustainable Development (20 credits)
• Sustainability in Food Supply Chains: Law and Policy (20 credits)
• International Law of the Sea (20 credits)
• Climate Law Formation: Movement Building, Lawmakers, and Equity (20 credits)

External School Courses

Students have the option to take between 0 and 40 credits from the following courses from outside of the School:

• Global Environment: Key Issues (20 credits)
• Marine Ecosystems and Policies (20 credits)
• Public Participation in Policy (20 credits)
• Sustainable Marine Development (20 credits)
• Environmental Justice and Development (20 credits)
• Values and the Environment (20 credits)

Law School Optional Courses

Students have the option to take between 0 and 40 credits from the following courses from different subject areas offered by the Law School, depending on availability and with the express permission of the programme director:

• Advanced Comparative Constitutional Law (20 credits)
• Economic and Social Rights (20 credits)
• Fundamental Issues in International Law (40 credits)
• Global South Actors in International Relations and International Law, 1945-present (20 credits)
• International Intellectual Property Law (20 credits)
• International Investment Law (20 credits)
• International Law of the Sea (20 credits)
• Law and Development (20 credits)
• Legal Decision-Making (20 credits)
• Making International Law (20 credits)
• Outer Space Law and Policy (20 credits)
• Sustainable Finance and the Law (20 credits)
• WTO Law 1 (20 credits)
• WTO Law 2 (20 credits)

Dissertation

Having successfully completed 120 credit points of courses within the LLM, students will be ready to move onto a single piece of independent and in-depth research. The 10,000-word dissertation allows students to focus on a preferred topic from within the field of environmental and climate change law, normally based on a subject studied in one of the courses during the programme.

Staff

The staff teaching on the core courses of the LLM in Global Environment and Climate Change Law are experts in their field and are actively involved in cutting-edge research in various areas of international, environmental, and climate change law.

Entry Requirements

We require a minimum 2:1 honours degree from a UK university, or its international equivalent, in law. We may also consider a UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in a social science subject. Entry to this programme is competitive. Meeting minimum requirements for consideration does not guarantee an offer of study.

Supporting Your Application

• Relevant work experience is not required but may increase your chances of acceptance.
• Relevant professional qualifications will be considered.
• Preference will be given to those with grades above the minimum requirements due to strong competition for places on this programme.

International Qualifications

You can check whether your degree qualification is equivalent to the minimum standard before applying.

English Language Requirements

Postgraduate study in the field of law requires a thorough, complex, and demanding knowledge of English, so we ask that the communication skills of all students are at the same minimum standard.

Application Deadlines

Due to high demand, this programme operates a gathered field approach to admissions, with two application deadlines.

Selection Deadlines

• Round 1: Application deadline - 15 December 2025, Decisions by - 19 March 2026
• Round 2: Application deadline - 04 May 2026, Decisions by - 30 June 2026

Your Application

Applications are made online via the University Application Service. Please follow the instructions carefully and make sure that you have included the following documentation with your application:

• A personal statement of around 500 words, outlining your academic history and relevant experience.
• Degree certificates showing award of degree.
• Previous academic transcripts for all past degree programmes.
• Evidence of English language proficiency, if required.

After You Apply

After your application has been submitted, you will be able to track its progress. Application processing times will vary; however, the admissions team will endeavour to process your application within four to six weeks of submission.