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TGL (2019-2022)

 

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 845118

TGL (2019-2022) Realizations

Realizations 2022

  • January 20, 2022, Michael Livermore, Professor (University of Virginia School of Law): Reviving Rationality: Saving Cost-Benefit Analysis for the Good of the Environment and Our Health Youtube video
  • February 17, 2022, Cymie R. Payne, Associate Professor (Rutgers University, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and School of Law): Governing Climate Change and Marine Biodiversity Loss: Can We Walk and Chew Gum at the Same Time? Youtube video
  • March 17, 2022Daniel Magraw, Professor (Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies): The Right to a Healthy Environment Youtube video
  • March 22, 2022, Michael P. Vandenbergh, Professor (Vanderbilt University Law School): Governance by Contract: The Growth of Environmental Supply Chain Contracting   Youtube video   
  • April 5, 2022, Daniel E. Walters and Andrew N. Kleit, Professors (The Pennylvania State University): Grid Governance in the Energy Trilemma Era: Remedying the Democracy Deficit Youtube video

  • April 14, 2022, Michele Okoh, Professor (Duke University School of Law): Forgotten Waters Youtube video

  • May 5, 2022, Smita Narula, Professor (Pace University Elisabeth Haub School of Law): Can a Right to a Healthy Environment Deliver Climate Justice? Youtube video
  • May 13, 2022,  Transition énergétique : les échelles de gouvernance | Colloque TGL (dir. sc. Bernadette Le Baut-Ferrarese et Aubin Nzaou) Youtube video

  • May 19,2022, Deepa Badrinarayana, Professor of Law (Chapman University, Fowler School of Law), The Pursuit of Environmental Justice Youtube video

  • June 2, 2022, Katrina Wyman, Professor (New York University School of Law): The US Struggle to Establish a Comprehensive Legal Framework to Address Climate Change  Youtube video

  • June 9, 2022, Cary Coglianese, Professor (Edward B. Shils Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science; Director, Penn Program on Regulation): Litigating EPA Rules: A Fifty-Year Retrospective of Environmental Rulemaking in the Courts  Youtube video

⇒ All future and past programs can be found on the EENR website at: https://www.law.uh.edu/eenrcenter/MarieSklodowska-Curie/homepage.asp

 

Realizations 2021

  • December, 14-17, 2021

Salil Sen et Aubin Nzaou, Policy Issues Related to Renewable Energies, SoLEM Program: Solar Energy, Law, Economics and Management, Chambéry, université Savoie Mont-Blanc (Polytech Annecy-Chambery, Institut d'Administration des Entreprises and School of Law)

Uma Outka et Aubin Nzaou, Energy Law and Energy Burdens, SoLEM Program: Solar Energy, Law, Economics and Management, Chambéry, université Savoie Mont-Blanc (Polytech Annecy-Chambery, Institut d'Administration des Entreprises and School of Law)

Melissa K. Scanlan et Aubin Nzaou, Non-State Actors and Renewable Energy: Cooperatives and Sustainability, SoLEM Program: Solar Energy, Law, Economics and Management, Chambéry, université Savoie Mont-Blanc (Polytech Annecy-Chambery, Institut d'Administration des Entreprises and School of Law)

  • November 15, 2021 : Tibisay Morgandi, Prof. Tracy et Aubin Nzaou, Energy Security in International Law, Environment Energy and Natural Resources Center, University of Houston Law Center, Houston Youtube video
  • November 10, 2021: Professor Jan Laitos, University of Denver, Sturm College of Law, Rethinking Environmental and Energy Law: Why Laws Should Conform to the Laws of Nature Youtube video
  • October 28, 2021: Professor Joe Aldy, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Learning How to Build Back Better: The Role and Potential of Clean Energy Policy Evaluation  Youtube video
  • June 17, 2021: Professor Lisa Benjamin, Lewis & Clark Law School, Evolving corporate climate liability - perspectives from the US and Europe Youtube video
  • May 19, 2021: Professor Rebecca Bratspies, CUNY School of Law, Renewable Rikers : Making a Just Energy Transition Youtube video
  • May 11, 2021: Environmental Social Governance (ESG): Major Mover Towards Sustainable Energy Future: The virtual conference will feature a special keynote speaker on Energy Justice in the Biden Administration by Shalanda Baker, Deputy Director of Energy Justice, U.S. Department of Energy.
  • April 29, 2021 :  Professor Uma Outka, University of Kansas School of Law, Energy Law, COVID, and Energy Burdens Youtube video
  • March 12, 2021 : Professor Joshua Galperin, University of Pittsburgh School of Law,  discussing about ‘Uncommon Law : Judging in the Anthropocene’  Youtube video
  • February 16th, 2021 : Professor Alexandra Klass, University of Minnesota Law School, discussing Eminent Domain Law as Climate Policy. Youtube video
  • January 21st, 2021 : Professor Roy Partain, University of Aberdeen, School of Law, discussing Offshore Methane Hydrates - The Biggest Hidden Issue in Energy Law    Youtube video

⇒ All future and past programs can be found on the EENR website at: https://www.law.uh.edu/eenrcenter/MarieSklodowska-Curie/homepage.asp


Realizations 2020

USMCA, Energy, Environment, and Health Challenges

Virtual Symposium on Global Energy Transition Law and Policy

Non-Profit Energy Cooperatives as the Catalyst of the Movement of People to Renewable Electricity

Non-State Actors and Energy Transition. Prospects on the Role of Private Sector in the UN Agenda 2030

Books in Press

1. NON-STATE ACTORS CLAIMS AND CLIMATE CASE LAW (20-21) forthcoming at the University of Houston Collection Law, Policy and Society.

2. (eds.) Conference Proceedings on GLOBAL ENERGY TRANSITION IN A CLIMATE CONSTRAINED WORLD (20-21) forthcoming at the University of Houston Collection Law, Policy and Society.

Edited Works

1. (eds.) ENERGY TRANSITION RESEARCH MATERIALS 160 pp. (Dec. 2019).

Articles

1. Environmental and Energy Law and Policy Review in the African Union in 30 Oxford Yearbook of International Environmental Law (2020).

2. Editor’s Foreword, in 1 Energy and Climate Law Quarterly (2020).

3. (with Benjamin Boumakani) Les nouveaux aspects de la protection de l’environnement dans les codes des hydrocarbures des pays d’Afrique subsaharienne” in Michel Prieur et alii. (eds.) DROIT, HUMANITE et ENVIRONNEMENT Bruylant (2020).

4. Editor’s Foreword, in 2 Energy and Climate Law Quarterly (2020).

5. Environmental and Energy Law and Policy Review in the Republic of Congo, in 30 Oxford Yearbook of International Environmental Law (2020).

6.. Legal Case of Non-State Actors in Climate Litigation, in 3 Energy and Climate Law Quarterly (2020).

6.. Economic Sovereignty and Oil and Gas Law. Essays on Normative interactions between International Law and Constitutional Law” in Alfonso Lopez de la Osa et alii. (eds.) LIBER AMICORUM ZAMORA, University of Houston Collection Law, Policy and Society (2020) (forthcoming).

7. Editor’s Foreword, in 3 Energy and Climate Law Quarterly (2020).

8. La souveraineté comme vecteur d’interactions normatives entre le droit international et le droit constitutionnel, in 2 Energy and Climate Law Quarterly (2020).

9. (with Marceleau Biankola) Mining Law and Environmental Issues in Africa in 4 Energy and Climate Law Quarterly (2020).

10. (with Marceleau Biankola) Droit international et souveraineté monétaire. Les problèmes actuels de la tutelle internationale du franc CFA et la crise de l’égalité souveraine, in DROIT INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC EN AFRIQUE, (Paris, LGDJ) 2020.

11. Editor’s Foreword, in A. Nzaou-Kongo et alii (eds.), The Energy Transition Research Materials, 2019.

12. Editor’s Foreword, in 4 Energy and Climate Law Quarterly (2020).

13. Public Property of State and National Patrimony in Oil and Gas Law, 1 Energy and Climate Law Quarterly (2020).

14. Non-State Actors Role in the Governance of Energy Transition as a Subject Matter, in A. Nzaou-Kongo et alii (eds.), The Energy Transition Research Materials, 2019.

15. The African Union, Yearbook of International Environmental Law, vol. 31(1), 2021

Book Review

EU Renewable Electricity Law and Policy by Tim Maxian Rusche, Cambridge : Cam­bridge University Press, 2015. pp. ii, 272. Index, in 1 Energy and Climate Law Quarterly (2020).

Climate Change Litigation. Regulatory Pathways to Cleaner Energy, by Jacqueline Peel and Hari M. Osofsky, Cambridge : Cam­bridge University Press, 2015, pp. ii, 351. Index, in 2 Energy and Climate Law Quarterly (2020).

The Prevention Principle in International Environmental Law by Leslie-Anne Duvic-Paoli, Cambridge : Cam­bridge University Press, 2020, 2020, pp. ii, 360. Index, in 3 Energy and Climate Law Quarterly (2020).

Climate Change, Disasters, and the Refugee Con­vention by Matthew Scott. Cambridge : Cam­bridge University Press, 2020. pp. ix, 184. Index. in 4 Energy and Climate Law Quarterly (2020).

Case Notes

Court of Appeal Civil Division, February 27, 2020, C1/2019/1053, C1/2019/1056 and C1/2019/1145, in 1 Energy and Climate Law Quarterly (2020).

High Court of Justice Queen’s Bench Division Planning Court, June 22, 2020, Case No : CO/3409/2019, in 2 Energy and Climate Law Quarterly (2020).

Conseil d’Etat of France Assembly, July 10, 2020, n° 428409, in 3 Energy and Climate Law Quarterly (2020).

Supreme Court of Ireland, July 31, 2020, Appeal No : 205/19, in 4 Energy and Climate Law Quarterly (2020).

Non-State Actors on Climate Litigation: Les Amis de la Terre France and the Coalition that Made the State Look Bad, Carbon & Climate Law Review, vol. 15 (4), 2021

Communications

Presentation on “Le Sénégal et le Nouveau Défi Energétique. Entre Droit et Politique de l’Energie ?”, Colloque international sur « Les Hydrocarbures au Sénégal », UFR Science Juridique et Politique, Université Gaston Berger, Saint-Louis, Sénégal (December 2019-Postponed).

Presentation on “Non-State Actors and Energy Transition. Prospects on the Role of Private Sector in the UN Agenda 2030,” Lecture at the International Environmental Law Program with Prof. Victor Flatt, Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Center, University of Houston Law Center (February 2020).

Presentation on “Non-State Actors and Energy Transition Project Overview and Discussion,” during EENR, UH Energy and GEMI’s Faculty Lunch, Convened by the Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Center, University of Houston Law Center (January 2020).

Discussion at the Symposium on “Sustainable Energy and Energy Workforce,” C.T. Bauer College of Business and the Gutierrez Management Institute, Houston, university of Houston (February 2020-Postponed).

Presentation on “What Trends and Prospects for Oil and Gas in a Global Energy Transition’s Backdrop ?” Lecture the International Law Program with Professor Roland Adjovi, at the Department of Historical and Political Studies, Arcadia University, Pennsylvania (March 2020-Postponed).

Presentation on “The Normative Interactions between Climate Change and Human Rights Law ?” Lecture with Professor Roland Adjovi Department of Historical and Political Studies, Arcadia University, Pennsylvania (March 2020-Postponed).

Presentation on “Non-State Actors Claims in Climate Litigation,” at the 3rd Conference of the Platform on International Energy Governance, “Governing the Energy Transition : Local Action, International Ambition,” Co-sponsored by King’s College London with Energy Charted Secretariat, Brussels/Belgium (March 2020-Postponed).

Chair of the virtual panel on “Energy Democracy and Deep Decarbonization”. Conférence sur le « Non-Profit Energy Cooperatives as the Catalyst of the Movement of People to Renewable Electricity », with Professors Melissa Scanlan (Vermont Law School/Boston College Law School) and Gabe Pacyniak (University of New Mexico, School of Law), convened by Environment Energy and Natural Resources Center, University of Houston Law Center (April 2020).

Presentation on “International Organizations and the Promotion of a Global Approach of Energy Transition,” at the Virtual Symposium on Global Energy Transition Law and Policy, 1st Annual Conference, convened by the Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Center, University of Houston Law Center (April 2020).

Round Table on “Covid-19 and Transition to Low-Carbon Economy ?” at the Virtual Symposium on Global Energy Transition Law and Policy, 1st Annual Conference, convened by the Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Center, University of Houston Law Center (April 2020).

Presentation on “Economic Sovereignty and Energy Law. Normative interactions between International Law and Constitutional Law,” workshop at the African Institute of Legal and Critical Thinking, Chicago (June 2020).

Short Presentation on "Environment, Energy, and COVID-19", at the NACLE 2020 Annual Conference "USMCA, Energy, Environment, and Health Challenges", Center for US and Mexican Law, University of Houston Law Center (November 2020).

Chair of the virtual panel “USMCA, Energy, Environment, and Health Challenges” at the NACLE 2020 Annual Conference "USMCA, Energy, Environment, and Health Challenges", with Thomas Burelli (University of Ottawa), Louis de Fontenelle (Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour) and Eric Goodchild, at the Center for US and Mexican Law, University of Houston Law Center (November 2020).

Co-Chair of the virtual lecture on “The Role of Supply Chain Management in Environmental Governance,” with Professor Lee Paddock (George Washington University Law School) and Victor Flatt (University of Houston Law Center), convened by the Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Center, University of Houston Law Center (December 2020).


The North American Consortium on Legal Education USMCA, Energy, Environment, and Health Challenges : A Legal Context in the Complex Times of COVID-19

November 13, 2020

08:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. CST

Venue : Online via Zoom

3 Panels : English, French, and Spanish

Sponsored by the Center for U.S. and Mexican Law at the University of Houston Law Center, Dalhousie University ; McGill University ; University of Ottawa, CIDE : ITESM ; UNAM ; Universidad Panamericana, George Washington University ; Southwestern Law School ; and University of Arizona.

8:45am : Welcoming Remarks

9:00am-10:00am : USMCA workshop - in English-

Moderator : David A. Gantz

Clayton Fellow, Mexico Center/Baker Institute, Rice University

Samuel M. Fegtly Professor of Law Emeritus, The University of Arizona Anthony van Duzer Professor / Professeur Hyman Soloway Chair in Business and Trade Law /Chaire Hyman Soloway du droit des affaires et du commerce Faculty of Law / Faculté de droit Common Law Section, University of Ottawa / Université d’Ottawa

Guillermo García Sánchez

Associate Professor, Texas A&M University School of Law

Dalia María Vargas

Alvarado Student, Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey México

10:00am - 11:00am : Atelier sur l’énergie, l’environnement et le COVID-19 - en français-

Modérateur :

Aubin Nzaou Research Fellow, Center for U.S. and Mexican Law University of Houston Law Center, U.S.A Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow, European Commission

Thomas Burelli Professeur adjoint, Droit International de l’environnement Université de Ottawa, Canada

Louis de Fontenelle Maître de conférence en droit public

Titulaire Chaire partenariale E2S UPPA “MOVE” Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour, France

Eric Goodchild Law Student, Dalhousie Schulich School of Law, U.S.A. (in English)

11:00am - 12:00pm : COVID-19 : Salud, Energía y medio ambiente - Taller en Español -

Moderador :

Alfonso Lopez de la Osa Escribano Director, Centro de Estudios Jurídicos México-Estados Unidos, Facultad de Derecho, Universidad de Houston, Estados Unidos de América

Valentín Bocco Parreira, alumno, Facultad de Derecho, InstitutoTécnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, México

Emilio Adrián Gutiérrez Terrones, alumno, Facultad de Derecho, Instituto Técnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, México

Omar Sánchez García, alumno, Facultad de Derecho, Instituto Técnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, México

12:00pm -12:15pm : NACLE Students Writing Competition Awards recognition

Closing remarks


4th Annual North American Environment, Energy, & Natural Resources Conference (Special Webinar Edition)

August 18, 2020

The New Energy Landscape : COVID-19, Climate Change and Diversification

REGISTER

In a few short weeks between the beginning of February and the middle of March 2020, the world saw an unprecedented drop in demand for energy, particularly for transportation fuels. Though the immediacy and scale of the drop are invariably related to the COVID-19 pandemic, other factors, such as increasing Russian and Saudi production as well as continued climate concerns have also had an effect. This same period saw some of the world’s largest energy companies propose future carbon neutrality targets, continue diversification of their business model from fossil fuels, and increase their investment in negative emissions technology startups. Despite the pandemic, renewable buildout continues. Energy businesses also face a reckoning over environment, social, and governance policies and their commitments to anti-racism.

Join University of Houston energy and climate law experts, energy general counsel, negative carbon technology business entrepreneurs and Blank Rome attorneys as we take stock and make sense of the new post-COVID world of energy in our Special 2020 North American Conference Webinar Edition.

The future as seen by energy company general counsel

Discussion of the first survey on energy workers return to work

The latest from the leaders in negative emissions technology

Sponsored by Blank Rome, LLP, the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources (EENR) Center of the University of Houston Law Center, UH Energy, the University of Calgary Faculty of Law, and the Universidad Nacional Autonoma De Mexico (UNAM)

AGENDA

8:45 A.M. 

Welcome to our Changed World

Gina Warren, UH EENR Center Faculty Co-Director

Susan Bickley, Blank Rome, Houston Managing Partner

9:00 A.M. 

Technological Innovation and Energy

Ramanan Krishnamoorti, moderator and speaker : UH Energy

Energy Investment in Direct Air Capture and Other technologies

Steve Oldham, CEO, Carbon Engineering

Jeremy Friesen, Senior R&D Engineer, NET Power

Innovations in low carbon emissions and IP innovation,

Joshua Sarnoff, DePaul University, IP issues and negative emissions technology

Sean McDermott, Blank Rome

10:30 A.M.

Discussions with Dean Leonard Baynes : Carbon Neutrality, COVID-19, The Economy, Black Lives Matter and the 2020 Election.

Corporate General Counsel Panel :

Kay McColl, Noble Environmental Power

Ken Neikirk, Helix Energy

Kelly B. Rose, ConocoPhillips

Tony Trevino, Lewis Energy

William Turcotte, Noble Corporation

11:30 A.M.

Roundtable : The Business and Policy Future for North American Energy-Lessons from COVID

Victor Flatt, EENR Center Faculty Co-Director – Moderator

Praveen Kumar, UH Bauer GEMI

Alfonso Lopez de la Osa Escribano, UHLC US-Mexican Law Center

Dr. Christiane Spitzmueller, UH Center for Applied Psychological Research (creator of The Energy Workforce Return to Work Survey)

Margaret Hill, Blank Rome

12:30 P.M.  Wrap Up and Questions

12:45 P.M.  END


April 17th, 2020

1st Annual Conference Global Energy Transition Law and Policy

WEBINAR April 17th, 2020 - Houston, TX - 9:00a.m. - 12:30p.m. (CDT)

Register

Program :

The Energy Transition in European and Comparative Law : Towards a New Shift and a Democratic Perspective

Alfonso Lopez de la Osa Escribano (University of Houston Law Center - EENR - US-MEX LAW)

Aubin Nzaou (University of Houston Law Center- EENR - US-MEX LAW) - Recent Developments in Energy Transition Law and Policy

Leslie-Anne Duvic-Paoli (King’s College London) - Energy Policy in Citizens’ Climate Assemblies

Louis de Fontenelle (University of Pau et des Pays de l’Adour, France) - Energy Communities in the European Union

Bernadette le Baut-Ferrarese (University of Lyon) - Europeanisation of the Development of Renewable Energy in Transition

The Energy Transition as an Integrative Approach in Global Law and Economic Policy

Moderator - Victor B. Flatt (University of Houston Law Center - EENR)

Raphael J. Heffron (University of Dundee) - Finance and Risk Policy for The Just Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy

Rafael Leal-Arcas (Queen Mary University of London) - A Sustainable and Prosperous Future : The Role of Climate Clubs and International Trade

Tade Oyewumni (Vermont Law School) - Decarbonization Options for Gas and Electricity Systems : Power-to-Gas and Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage

Luis Serra (Tecnologico de Monterrey) - Incorporation of DMDU decision-making under deep uncertainty) Framework into Energy Policy

COVID-19 provides Warning about the Transition from Fossil Fuels

Krishnamoorti Ramanan (University of Houston – UH Energy)

Victor B. Flatt (University of Houston Law Center - EENR)

Aubin Nzaou (University of Houston Law Center - EENR - US-MEX LAW)

Alfonso Lopez de la Osa Escribano (University of Houston Law Center- EENR - US-MEX LAW)

 


April 3, 2020

CONFERENCE TOPIC : NON-PROFIT ENERGY COOPERATIVES AS THE CATALYST OF THE MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE TO RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY

Conference Venue : University of Houston Law Center, Environment, Energy and Natural Resources (EENR) Center.

Convener : Environment, Energy and Natural Resources (EENR) Center and the Center for U.S. and American Law.

Panel’s Universities : University of Houston Law Center, Vermont Law School, University of New Mexico and Jean Moulin University – Lyon 3.

Webinar Format

The renewable energy revolution poses a once in a lifetime opportunity for co-benefits of democracy, bringing electricity to those who lack it, and equity. This transition has the potential for widely shared prosperity, not just a decrease in suffering. To unlock that potential, however, we also need to disrupt business as usual in the dominant business model. The co-benefits are more likely if the institutions that lead the way are democratically owned and managed with the explicit goal of bringing the benefits of ownership to those who have been traditionally marginalized by the current economic and energy system. The talk will sketch the pathways to sustainable development and deep decarbonization of energy at the global level.

First, Professor Melissa Scanlan will discuss research on non-profit energy cooperatives she is leading, which demonstrates how different aspects of the transition are already underway. Each case study, from a comparative perspective of Spain and the U.S., includes an overview of the cooperative’s history, type, and economic sector ; context based on its industry and country ; best practices in environmental sustainability ; and its governance and cooperative legal structure. The panel will discuss Spanish renewable energy cooperatives involved in various points in the energy system and a US electricity cooperative in the politically conservative Deep South that is leading the transition to renewables.

Second, Professor Gabe Pacyniak will discuss how the rural electricity cooperative model in the United States also presents some challenges when it comes to shifting to a lower-carbon electricity grid. The over 900 electricity cooperatives in the United States have generally been slower to shift to lower-carbon electricity in comparison to other types of utilities. Pacyniak will share research that identifies structural and institutional factors for this lag, and will also highlight opportunities to strengthen cooperative supports and oversight to accelerate the shift to a low-carbon electricity system.

Panelists :

 Melissa K. Scanlan,

Visiting Professor, Boston College Law School,

Director, New Economy Law Center, Law Professor, Vermont Law School ;

 Gabe Pacyniak,

Assistant Professor of Law, University of New Mexico ;

 Aubin Nzaou, Ph.D.

Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow in Law and Energy Policy,

University of Houston Law Center.


2019

December 17th – 10:00 am CST as part of our Energy Transition and Climate Governance Webinar Series.

Topic : The Role of Supply Chain Management in Environmental Governance.

The webinar will feature Professor Lee Paddock, Distinguished Professorial Lecturer of Environmental Law, George Washington University Law School.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTuoct96P5E&feature=youtu.be

 

TGL (2019-2022) The Project

Transition Governance and Law (2019-2022)

This project entitled "NGOs & Transition Governance in Law", or abbreviated "TransGov & Law" or TGL, aims to study the role of NGOs in the governance of the energy transition from a legal point of view.

In international law, the energy transition appears implicitly in Article 2 of the Paris Agreement on Climate, as one of the viable solutions likely to favor the realization of the long-term objective of limiting the rise of the average global temperature to 2° C compared to the pre-industrial level. This Agreement calls for, particularly about Articles 10 to 16, the establishment of a Global Partnership between the various actors involved in the fight against climate change. The TGL project is part of this perspective by focusing specifically on the issue of the participation of civil society (NGOs) in the implementation of the energy transition.

The energy transition is part of the European Union's realization of an "Energy Union", which is one of the ten priorities of this organization for 2014-2019, based on three pillars. However, the success of this transition depends on the participation of all stakeholders, whether public (States, local authorities ...) or private (civil society, NGOs, companies, etc.).

The study of the phenomenon of climate change and its consequences for the future of the planet mobilizes the researchers of the exact sciences as much as those of the human and social sciences. Lawyers must take their full part, especially in international law (seeing that it is a global problem), but also in European law and in French and comparative law. It is important to reflect on the role of the various actors, particularly the NGOs, the rules adopted or to be adopted, the areas covered and the modalities for implementing the energy transition. I engaged in such research as part of my PhD thesis, in which I demonstrated that although the reconciliation of environmental and economic goals remains of great interest in the context of the exploitation of natural resources, it must nevertheless now be integrated into a larger framework of the energy transition. I wish to develop this reflection by orienting it on the role of the NGOs in the governance of the energy transition; a theme that is only very little explored by the legal doctrine, but appearing fundamental for its success.

The TGL project aims to identify, question, and examine the role of NGOs in, at the same time, the manufacture and implementation of energy law resulting from the energy transition commitment. The new energy system, which must be set up at the international, European and national levels, derives from the legal rules. The energy transition is, in other words, mainly a legal transition. The question of the governance of this transition therefore arises. It first raises the question of the emergence of an energy democracy: should States be the only ones to participate in this transition? It then raises the question of the reciprocal role of soft law and hard law, as well as their possible interactions in the governance of the energy transition. Based on the observation that the implementation of the latter depends to a large extent on the involvement of NGOs, the TGL project intends to show that this involvement can only be effective if certain mechanisms are put in place to this effect. Most of these mechanisms are directly related to State action, which should be verified. It is in light of these mechanisms that the analysis of the role of NGOs, as responsible partners of governments in the implementation of a sustainable transition, can be identified. But again, it is questionable whether, since the Paris Climate Agreement, States have put in place formal procedures and mechanisms for the involvement of NGOs at all levels, both in terms of rules only for the application of these rules. Finally, in the event that measures have been taken, is there a framework for dialogue or public debate conducive to the expression, training and contribution of NGOs in this process, and then favorable to the constitution of a network of exchange and institutional partnership on the energy transition? My work will finally lead to reflect on the role of NGOs in the implementation stricto sensu of the energy transition. From this perspective, it will be necessary to find out whether the NGOs have put in place instruments for evaluating public policies on energy transition, likely to affect the whole process. In this context, it will also be asked whether the NGO-specific instruments of action promote the formation of advisory groups and take into consideration the jurisdictional procedures that guarantee the public interest, or private interests, in the area of energy transition. This analysis will also focus on the ambivalent role of NGOs in energy transition, especially when it comes to lobbies for sensitive issues.

Dr. Aubin NZAOU

__________

Supervisors :

Professor Victor B. Flatt: Dwight Olds Chair in Law and Director of the Center for the Environment, Energy and Natural Resources (EENR) at the University of Houston

Professor Bernadette Le Baut-Ferrarese: Member of the Center for European Studies (CEE) at University of Lyon, Director of the Master Degree "Climate Change Law" and co-director of the Master Degree "European Business Law", where she teaches in European energy law; member of the "Pau Droit Energie Consortium", a partnership network of public and private actors in the energy transition, as well as the French Association of Energy Law (AFDEN)

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 845118