Global Environment and Climate Change Law LLM

You must complete 180 credits of study – 60 credits are taken in the compulsory dissertation and the remaining 120 credits are taken in taught courses.

You will experience a range of teaching styles on these courses, led by members of Edinburgh Law School academic community and experienced legal and industry practitioners.

You are expected to prepare in advance by reading the required materials and by reflecting on the issues to be discussed, and your participation in classes will be assessed.

For the dissertation you will have a supervisor from whom you can expect guidance and support, but the purpose of the dissertation is to allow you to independently design and conduct a piece of research and analysis.

Please note that due to unforeseen circumstances or lack of demand for particular courses, we may not be able to run all courses as advertised come the start of the academic year.

• Find out more about the programme and course structure

Find out more about compulsory and optional courses

We link to the latest information available. Please note that this may be for a previous academic year and should be considered indicative.

By the end of the programme, students will have acquired an in-depth understanding of concepts, innovations and challenges characterising the law on environmental protection, natural resource management and responses to climate change, at the international, European and national level.

Students will also develop the critical skills necessary to carry out independent analysis of the activity of international and supranational legal and political institutions, national governments and domestic courts, NGOs and the private sector in this field.

Openness to different scholarly approaches within law will be encouraged, by offering the opportunity to complement specialised law courses with courses offered by the School of Social and Political Science, the Business School and the School of Geosciences addressing questions related to the scientific and socio-economic aspects of environmental protection.

The programme is suitable to prepare students for the increasingly broad range of specialised job opportunities offered at the national and international level by the public and private sector, as well as for advanced research.

The Global Environment & Climate Change Law programme is a gateway to graduates finding careers as specialised legal drafters, government advisers, international negotiators, legal advisers to private companies and NGOs, international civil servants, specialised researchers in academic and think-tank institutions and independent consultants.

The University of Edinburgh's Careers Service offers support to students to identify internship opportunities in international and non-governmental organisations, academia and think-tanks. Recent graduates are now working in legal roles internationally, including in India, Mexico and the Netherlands, and for the European Commission.

These entry requirements are for the 2025/26 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. Entry requirements for the 2026/27 academic year will be published on 1 Oct 2025.

A UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in law.

We will also consider candidates with a degree in a related discipline which includes relevant prior study.

In evaluating your application for postgraduate study, greater emphasis may be placed upon results of prior learning in subjects relevant to the intended degree programme.

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.

Students from China

This degree is Band A.

• Postgraduate entry requirements for students from China

International qualifications

Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:

• Entry requirements by country

English language requirements

Regardless of your nationality or country of residence, you must demonstrate a level of English language competency which will enable you to succeed in your studies.

English language tests

We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:

• IELTS Academic: total 7.0 with at least 7.0 in writing and 6.5 in all other components. We do not accept IELTS One Skill Retake to meet our English language requirements.
• TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 100 with at least 25 in writing and 23 in all other components.
• C1 Advanced (CAE) / C2 Proficiency (CPE): total 185 with at least 185 in writing and 176 in all other components.
• Trinity ISE: ISE III with passes in all four components.
• PTE Academic: total 73 with at least 73 in writing and 65 in all other components. We do not accept PTE Academic Online.
• Oxford ELLT: 8 overall with at least 8 in writing and 7 in all other components.

Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE, in which case it must be no more than two years old.

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:

• UKVI list of majority English speaking countries

We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries (non-MESC).

• Approved universities in non-MESC

If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than five years old at the beginning of your programme of study.

Find out more about our language requirements:

• English language requirements

Deposit

If you receive an offer of admission, either unconditional or conditional, you will be asked to pay a tuition fee deposit of £1,500 (within 28 days of receiving your offer) to secure your place on the programme.

Find out more about tuition fee deposits:

• Tuition fee deposit policy

Living costs

You will be responsible for covering living costs for the duration of your studies.

Tuition fee

Funding for postgraduate study is different to undergraduate study, and many students need to combine funding sources to pay for their studies.

Most students use a combination of the following funding to pay their tuition fees and living costs:

• borrowing money

  • taking out a loan

  • family support

• personal savings

• income from work

• employer sponsorship

• scholarships

Explore sources of funding for postgraduate study

UK government postgraduate loans

If you live in the UK, you may be able to apply for a postgraduate loan from one of the UK’s governments.

The type and amount of financial support you are eligible for will depend on:

• your programme
• the duration of your studies
• your tuition fee status

Programmes studied on a part-time intermittent basis are not eligible.

• UK government and other external funding

Other funding opportunities

Search for scholarships and funding opportunities:

• Search for funding