This lecture features three presentations by EUI PhD researchers on the challenges that environmental lawyers face in understanding, using and communicating scientific knowledge.
EUI PhD researchers Annika Frosch, Rebecca Williams and Justine Muller will each present on the scientific concepts they are using in their PhD research and reflect on the challenges they are facing in using these. Details on the presentations are found below:
‘Ocean acidification, more than just another CO2 problem’ by Annika Frosch
Ocean acidification, or as it is often referred to, the evil twin of climate change or the other CO2 problem has gained more attention in recent years. However, the use of these names alone shows that the acidification problem is thought of, as yet another side effect of climate change. It will be seen during the presentation that it is just not quite that simple. Determining and understanding the exact causes, stressors and repercussions of ocean acidification is essential in order to identify the possibilities the law offers to handle this newly arising issue. Without a profound knowledge of the problem, it is difficult to choose the relevant fields of law and tackle the problem at its roots. Therefore, the presentation will provide an overview for the non-scientist reader of what Ocean Acidification is and what consequences it will most probably have. The presentation of the problem aims to reflect the current state of research in a simplified way, so that it can be easily understood and used by lawyers and policy makers. It can then, hopefully, provide a basis for further research on law and governance in relation to Ocean Acidification.
‘Using Science in the Law: Examples from Agri-climate Law’ by Rebecca Williams
This presentation seeks to spark discussion about some of the practical issues of navigating scientific literature in a legal context and offer some potential strategies to overcome these. Using real life examples from integrating agri-climate scientific literature into a legal PhD, issues are raised such as: access to resources, navigating scientific complexities as a non-scientist and addressing uncertainty or empirical literature gaps.
‘The Wicked Witch of the West: is biodiversity too complex for law?’ by Justine Muller
The presentation will explore how the complexity and unpredictability of biodiversity can be a barrier to science-based law. The presentation will briefly define biodiversity and ecosystems and introduce some of the theoretical frameworks developed in the literature to integrate a scientific approach to biodiversity in legal thinking. The presentation will then give examples of questionings and challenges faced when using a thorough scientific definition of biodiversity in the trade law context.
The event is organised by the Environmental Law and Governance Working Group.