Harvard meets Heidelberg: Cass Sunstein visits the HCE
Cass Sunstein, one of today’s most influential legal scholars, is coming to Heidelberg. In his lecture “Climate Justice,” he addresses one of the most pressing issues of our time: What responsibility do wealthy nations bear in the fight against climate change—toward the Global South and future generations?
When it comes to climate change, everyone must be counted equally, regardless of when they live or where they live—which means that wealthy nations, which have disproportionately benefited from greenhouse gas emissions, are obliged to help future generations and people in poor nations that are particularly vulnerable.
Cass Sunstein zu seinem Buch Climate Justice (MIT Press)
Cass R. Sunstein is one of the world’s most influential legal scholars and currently holds the Robert Walmsley University Professorship at Harvard University. His research combines constitutional, administrative, and environmental law with behavioral economic approaches, thereby significantly shaping the analysis of modern policymaking.
He gained international recognition in particular with the bestseller *Nudge* (co-authored with Richard H. Thaler), which popularized the concept of “gentle nudging” in politics and society. In addition, he has published numerous influential books, including *The Cost-Benefit Revolution*, *How Change Happens*, *Too Much Information*, *Sludge*, and *Climate Justice*. With his book *Climate Justice: What Rich Nations Owe the World – and the Future,” he sparked a widely noted debate on global justice and climate policy.
Sunstein served as Director of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs from 2009 to 2012 and also advised administrations under Barack Obama and Joe Biden, as well as international organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, and the European Commission. Most recently, he served as Senior Counselor at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and was awarded the Distinguished Public Service Medal in 2024.
For his scholarly work, he received the prestigious Holberg Prize in 2018, which is often regarded as the counterpart to the Nobel Prize in the humanities and social sciences.
When: June 10, 2026, at 5:00 p.m.
Where: Lecture Hall of the Marsilius Kolleg at Heidelberg University
Topic: Climate Justice
No registration is required; admission is free.
