News

Phosphorus, Scarcity of Natural Resources, and the Law

During the last years, the Research Unit Sustainability and Climate Policy has done a lot of research on questions of phosphorus and scarcity of natural resources, as well as on land-use and climate change - from a transdisciplinary point of view. See, among other papers, here.

Felix Ekardt on various international conferences

Since 2007, Felix Ekardt has given speeches and presentations on some 50 international conferences on questions of sustainability, climate change, justice, human rights, phosphorus scarcity, land-use, etc. For details and also for forthcoming speeches, see the list of presentations.

Universalism and Discourse Ethics

The Research Unit Sustainability and Climate Policy has done a lot of research on the normative grounds of sustainability - respectively on the theoretical basis of both ethics and law. The most informative is the big German volume "Theorie der Nachhaltigkeit", but there is also a number of English papers. See, among other papers, here.

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Projects and Members of the Research Unit Sustainability and Climate Policy

The Research Unit Sustainability and Climate Policy works on research projects that focus on climate policy or climate protection law and problems of sustainability. The list includes all current projects as well as all concluded doctorate projects. The project that appears first on the list is also the main working field and the respective doctorate project. Former members of the research group and finished doctorate students often still participate in the research group. For undergraduates, the first project in the respective list identifies the started doctorate thesis.

Current Third Party Funds

Felix Ekardt
  • Optimization of German Climate Law (funded by the Federal Environmental Agency)
  • Biotech Law and Biodiversity Law (funded by the Bundesamt für Naturschutz and the NABU)
  • European Law, Conservation Law, and Judicial Review (funded by BUND e. V.)
  • International Resource Politics (project with Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, Energy, funded by Heinrich-Böll-Foundation)
  • Social distributive justice in climate policy (funded by the Hans-Böckler-Foundation)
  • Climate Protection and Planning Law (funded by the Land Nordrhein-Westfalen)
  • Climate Protection, Planning Law, and Coal Power Plants (funded by the Land Nordrhein-Westfalen)
  • Land-use and Climate Law (funded by AcaTech/ Bioökonomierat/ Federal Ministry for Education and Research)
  • Climate Change and Social Distributive Justice (funded by Misereor and Konrad Adenauer Foundation)
  • Climate Change, Human Rights, and Balancing (funded by Solarenergie-Förderverein Deutschland e.V.)
  • World trade law and social state (funded by the Hans-Böckler-Foundation)
  • Solar Energy and the Fundamental Right to Property (funded by Solarenergie-Förderverein Deutschland e.V.)
Anne-Katrin Exner
Bettina Hennig
Christian Heitmann
  • A socially just tax policy and its relationship to climate policy (funded by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and through a research assistant job at the University of Rostock and a student assistant job)
  • Legal problems of renewable energy: The ‘perspective 2050’/renewable energy heat act (EEWärmeG) as well as tax and subsidies aspects (German Federal Ministry for Environment)
Swantje Meyer-Mews
Larissa Steffenhagen
  • Legal problems of renewable energies: the ‘ perspective 2050’/aspects of WTO law and human rights (student assistant job financed by the German Federal Ministry of Environment)
  • Sanctions and legal protection in global climate protection law (student assistant job at the University of Bremen)
  • Water law and coal power plants (funded by BUND e. V.)
  • EU Emissions Trading System 2013 (student assistant job at the University of Rostock; Rechtsreferendarin)
  • Ethical and Strategical Issues of a „Turnaround“ in Environmental Protection (funded by BUND e. V.)
Patrick Kim Schmidtke
Municipal climate protection (funded by the lawyers office Schmitz; now lawyer)
Raphael Weyland

Further Doctorate Projects (and former Third-Party Funds)

Hartwig von Bredow
Legal problems of energy efficiency (lawyer)
Nina Hehn
Legal problems concerning the transition to a climate neutral town (lawyer)
Andreas Heym
Internal administrative law and nature protection law (assistant at the Bundesamt für Naturschutz)
Nadine Holzapfel
Waste law, soil protection law, and water law (lawyer)

Research Projects as Prequels to Doctorate Projects

Hilke van Riesten
Legal problems of carbon dioxide sequestration (student assistant job funded by the German Federal Ministry of Environment; Internship at the German Parliament)

Projects of Former Members

Dr. Klaus Beckmann
Interim measures and suspensive effect (retired official)
Anika Bruns
Legal problems of energy-heat-linkage (student assistant job funded by the German Federal Ministry for Environment)
Dr. Daniel Buscher
Reform of German federalism and the future of ‘town states’ (Rechtsreferendar)
Frederik D. Franz
Freedom of information and administrative procedural law (attorney)
Jan Goedelt
European and German environmental liability law (judge at the court for social law affairs)
Mareike Heering
Antonia von Hövel
  • Usage of land in global and European climate protection law
  • Foundations of a global Marshall-plan/planetary contract (contract financed by the BUND e.V.)
Anna Hyla
  • Legal problems of renewable energies: the ‘perspective 2050’/aspects of WTO law and human rights (student assistant job financed by the German Federal Ministry of Environment)
  • Balancing in Climate Protection and Health Care System (student assistant job at the University of Bremen; contract financed by the BUND e.V.)
Daniel Kornack
Dr. Henrike-Uljane Kruschinski
Legal problems of bio-gas plants (employee at EWE AG)
Andrea Schmeichel
Legal problems of renewable energy: the ‘perspective 2050’/renewable energy act (EEG) and the EC directive (research assistant job funded by the German Federal Ministry for Environment)
Heiko Sabatzki
Public private partnership, competition law, public procurement law (University of Bremen, faculty of law)
Dr. Jan Seidel
Threshold values in soil protection law (lawyer)
Dr. Davor Šušnjar
Martin Wilke
Biotech law, protection of nature, and association rights (funded by Bundesamt für Naturschutz and NABU)
Ulrike Will
  • Bottom-Up versus Top-Down in Environmental Policy (funded by BUND e.V.)
  • Global climate protection after Copenhagen
  • The limits to growth
Ines Zager
  • Climate protection and emission trade (funded by Frankfurter Rundschau; now lawyer)
  • Emission trade and the German allocation act (funded by BUND e.V.)
  • Freedom of speech and Danish cartoon fight (student assistant job)

Moreover, there exist concluded projects on public procurement law, building law, terrorism and security, and on principles of international public law (second opinions) as well as finished BUND-projects on global justice (Nina Neumann), rationing in health care systems and the adaption to climate change (Verena Lessmann), and a university financed project on the every day culture of law students with a migration background in liberal states (Cornelia Richter), on the Aarhus Convention (Katharina Pöhlmann), on adaptation to climate change (Nina Senkbeil), on development policy and climate policy (Sibylle Albrecht), on perception of environment in a historical perspective (Anna-Sarah Hennig), and on multiculturalism and integration as a human rights problem (Monique Radtke).