Environmental Law (level 6, 15 credits)

• Credit value: 15 credits at Level 6
• Coordinator: Giulia Claudia Leonelli
• Assessment: a 4000-word essay (100%)

This module provides an exhaustive overview and a critical insight into environmental law and environmental governance. It will focus on environmental regulation and case law, analysing their evolution, aims and overarching principles.

The first part of the module will introduce you to the notions of environmental protection, environmental justice, ecology and sustainable development. It will also explore the impact of different regulatory frameworks and models of governance, as well as the shifting balance between individual - trade-related - rights and collective - environmental - stakes.

The second part of the module will take a closer look at discrete areas of environmental law and policy-making, including air pollution, industrial emissions, waste regulation, Environmental Impact Assessment, water regulation and nature and biodiversity protection.

Indicative module syllabus

• Environmental Law: an Introduction
• Environmental Law in the EU: What Is At Stake?
• The Judiciary and EU Environmental Law
• WTO Law and the Protection of the Environment
• Towards a New Paradigm: ‘Ecology and the Law’
• Air Pollution and Industrial Emissions
• Waste Regulation
• Water Regulation
• EIA and SEA Directives and Nature and Biodiversity Protection
• Climate Change: an Introduction

By the end of this module, you will:

• have an in-depth knowledge of environmental law and environmental governance
• be able to analyse and understand case law on environmental law and environmental protection
• have legal research and problem analysis skills
• understand the notions of ‘environmental justice’, ‘sustainability’ and ‘ecology’
• be able to critically assess different regulatory frameworks and governance arrangements.