Linn Pfitzner
Thesis title: Towards a Holistic Understanding of Climate Harm: An Empirical Inquiry of Intangible Loss in International Law
PhD supervisors:
Background
Linn is an interdisciplinary researcher in international climate law, with an interest in critical legal approaches to the study of global environmental challenges. Their doctoral research examines modes of accounting for and repairing intangible climate harm (non-economic loss and damage) within international law, funded by a College Research Award from the University of Edinburgh.
Prior to joining Edinburgh Law School for their PhD in 2025, Linn contributed to climate policy and legislative development at the EU and domestic levels on topics like capacity building and corporate accountability. Outside of academia, they advocate for evidence-based climate action and participatory legal governance as part of the global campaign World's Youth for Climate Justice (WYCJ). Linn is proficient in legal and policy analysis, project management, knowledge dissemination, and cross-disciplinary communication, amongst others.
Qualifications
LLM Global Environment and Climate Change Law - University of Edinburgh (United Kingdom)
BSc (Hons) Politics, Psychology, Law and Economics - University of Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Research summary
Linn is interested in leveraging research insights for establishing legal accountability for climate impacts. For their PhD research, they combine doctrinal and empirical methods to develop holistic responses to intangible climate harm within international law, emphasising community-led approaches as the starting point for repairing contextual values like cultural heritage, Indigenous knowledge systems, or self-determination. Linn's PhD project geographically focuses on the Pacific as the region most acutely exposed to a wide range of intangible losses whilst also exhibiting unparallelled leadership in shaping multilateral and legal efforts to address climate impacts. Overall, their research aims to support the design of legal strategies which are responsive to lived climate realities and contribute to the articulation of just climate futures.
Current research interests
international environmental law, climate change litigation, law of the sea, climate-related mobility, human rights, decolonial legal theory and methodologies, socio-legal approaches, empirical legal research.Conference details
Edinburgh Global Law Conference (2026), European Association of Climate Law Annual Conference (2025), Environment and Climate Mobilities Network Annual Conference (2025)
Invited speaker
Association of Social Anthropologists PeopleFest - "Climate Catastrophe and the Mundane" (2026), Edinburgh Earth Initiative COP Café - "An Introduction to International Climate Change Law and the COP Process" (2025)