Kompetenznetzwerk "Zukunftsherausforderungen des Umweltrechts"

Department for Environmental and Planning Law
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research
Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig
+49 341 6025 1232 wolfgang.koeck@ufz.de

Website UFZ Wolfgang Köck

Wolfgang Köck is a distinguished member of the Advisory Council on the Environment of the Federal Government of Germany (SRU). Since 2001, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Köck has served as Professor of Environmental Law at the University of Leipzig's Faculty of Law. He also led the Department of Environmental and Planning Law at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ in Leipzig from 2004 to 2024. His research encompasses European and national environmental law, with particular expertise in water legislation, nature conservation, immission control, and hazardous substances. In planning law, his focus includes regional planning, urban land use, and infrastructure planning. Additionally, Prof. Köck has extensive experience in legal issues related to energy, agriculture, and the environment. He is Co-Chief Editor of the Zeitschrift für Umweltrecht (Journal of Environmental Law, ZUR) and has served as joint managing editor since 2003. He also sits on the Editorial Board of the Journal for European Environmental and Planning Law (JEEPL) and the Management Board of the European Environmental Law Forum (EELF).

Department of Conservation Biology & Social-Ecological Systems
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research
Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig
+49 341 6025 2438 elisabeth-veronika.henn@ufz.de

Website UFZ Dr. Elisabeth Veronika Henn

Elisabeth Henn is a post-doctoral researcher at the UFZ and was coordinator of the Network of Competence on Future Challenges of Environmental Law (2019-2023). Her working areas are international, European and German environmental law, international law and human rights law. She focuses on food security and biodiversity, soil, forest and water law and access to justice.

More info: Website

More info: Website

De-Extinction technologies in European Union Law. Reflections on the innovation and the precautionary principle

The interdisciplinary research project examines reproductive technologies for the protection of biodiversity from the perspective of EU environmental law and is at the same time a contribution to the innovation and precautionary principle. De-extinction refers to the process of creating an organism as a functional equivalent of an extinct species through biotechnological processes. This “proxy” shall subsequently be released into the environment with a view to achieving conservation benefits by restoring certain ecological functions and processes, that have been lost through the original species’ extinction. De-Extinction thus reveals itself to be an innovative approach to combatting the loss of biodiversity through the deliberate manipulation of the environment. De-Extinction does not only illustrate the far-reaching human possibilities as a result of technical innovations, but also emphasises the role assigned to humanity in the geological age of the Anthropocene. While technological progress is generally considered to be destructive to nature and the environment, in the Anthropocene, innovative technologies however depict an opportunity. This raises new perspectives and questions, particularly in law, regarding the opportunities of De-Extinction, taking into account the associated risks. Against this background, the research project examines whether proactive nature conservation measures, which are aimed at the technical manipulation of the environment, fit into the contemporary EU environmental law framework, and which legal obligations, regulatory obstacles and challenges arise for De-Extinction efforts.

The European Union’s responsibility to regulate extraterritorial investments in agricultural land for environmental conservation purposes

Large-scale transboundary investments in agricultural land are globally on the rise. This development increasingly encroaches on human rights and the environment, especially in low-income countries. Investors gain control over large areas of farmland through purchase or long-term lease. This ensures a.e. the production of food and access to water and other resources. In addition, the land serves as object for investment and speculation. This approach is critically being referred to as ‘land grabbing’, as local land users often face displacement or lose access to land and resources. Moreover, the investment processes frequently result in massive environmental destruction as small-scale agriculture is replaced by large agri-businesses. Adverse effects are amplified by the fact that investments in agricultural land are generally considered necessary to fight hunger and poverty and to ensure food security for the growing world population. Accordingly, direct investments in agricultural land need to be controlled, so the rights of local land users are safeguarded and the environment is protected.

Currently, transboundary investments in agricultural land are not sufficiently regulated. National law in the host countries is not effectively implemented, transnational regulatory approaches are only just emerging and comprehensive regulations on the part of the home states of investors are missing. As a result, the people and the environment in investment areas are left mostly without legal protection.

The EU can and should regulate foreign direct investments of its economic agents to prevent land grabbing in non-EU countries. The objective of my study is to provide a normative justification why the EU should take responsibility for the extraterritorial effects of large-scale investments in agricultural land. It will be further analysed, whether an EU regulation would be in conformity with international and EU primary law how it should be designed with regards to content, and which entities it should.

Intervention Powers under Environmental Law as Structural Regulatory Law?

Under the title "Intervention Powers under Environmental Law as Structural Regulatory Law?", this study aims to systematize existing insights into the intervention powers under environmental and regulatory law. By identifying the similarities and differences between various intervention powers, the study will clarify the extent to which the roots of environmental law in police and regulatory law still influence it today.

The focus of the investigation is on five core intervention powers within German environmental law, namely those in the fields of immission control law, water law, circular economy law, nature conservation law, and soil protection law. These norms will be compared to a model of regulatory law, which will be developed primarily based on the general clauses of police and administrative authorities. Key elements of the model will include the tasks of the respective authorities, protected interests, thresholds for intervention, and legal consequences.

The resulting segment of the German model of environmental law enforcement will then be compared to the US model of environmental law enforcement. At the center of the US model is the independent regulatory authority, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which follows a political and formative approach, enforcing self-imposed rules and standards. This concept is foreign to German environmental law. Nonetheless, both legal systems face similar challenges in law enforcement, making it interesting to see how each model addresses these issues.

The Preliminary Reference Procedure under Art. 267 TFEU in Environmental Law

The dissertation project addresses the European Court of Justice’s (ECJ) preliminary ruling procedure under Article 267 TFEU. In the past, European institutions have repeatedly referred to the preliminary ruling procedure as the main vehicle of the European legal protection system; it aims to ensure the uniform interpretation and effective application of EU environmental regulations in the legal systems of Member States. By means of reference procedures from the field of environmental law, it will be worked out how the reference mechanism mediates between the legal systems of the EU and its Member States, and why this type of procedure is of particular importance for environmental law. The core of this mechanism is the dialogue between the ECJ and the national courts. This dialogue requires a cooperative relationship between the interacting actors. Yet it also causes tensions, since the courts and the ECJ must reconcile the European and national interests and perspectives in the further development of Union law. The project therefore examines how the preliminary ruling procedure is used in practice, and how the actors are motivated when submitting a preliminary reference request, refraining from doing so or following up on received responses. The study of the functioning of the legal protection by dint of Art. 267 TFEU then leads to an enhanced understanding of the preliminary ruling procedure and its conceptualization.

Rights of Nature

In the 1970s, Christopher Stone surprised the world (of legal sciences) with a fundamentally new concept: the recognition of rights of nature. Today, rights of nature are recognized in 23 countries, either at the national or local level. The reason for this development is often the influence of indigenous communities, as in the case of Ecuador, which was the first country to recognize rights of nature in 2008. Rights of nature are implemented in different ways, as the following examples show: recognized are rights for ’Nature‘ as a hole or for parts of nature represented by everyone or by determined trustees via the law or courts.

The thesis will analyse two questions especially:

Is there an added value to the rights-of-nature approach compared to current European and German environmental law, and if so, what is the added value of that approach? Three areas will be examined with regard to the possible added value of rights of nature. Firstly, the connection between transformation and law, specifically rights, is analysed. Secondly, substantive law is examined. The scope and status of regulations aiming at the protection of nature is compared to the scope and status of the rights of nature. The effects of potential differences, for example, regarding a conflict of interests is further analysed. In addition, how both systems regulate environmental damages and the compensation for violations of environmental standards or rights of nature respectively is compared. Thirdly, procedural law is examined. The individuals and environmental organisations’ rights of action are compared with the rights of actions of nature.

How can rights of nature be implemented? The possibility of a recognition by European, national or local law as well as a by courts through the interpretation of existing law is illuminated.

Forest Law under Review: Sustainable Forest Management in the Context of Climate Change

Forests contribute significantly to both climate protection and climate adaptation, a contribution that must be sustainably secured according to the German Federal Forest Act. Given the extent of the current forest damage situation, this doctoral research project addresses the question of how to appropriately fulfill the legislative mandate under the conditions of climate change. The study is based on the fundamental assumption that adaptive forest management law is required, one that embeds elements of consistent risk management within the forestry legal framework and provides it with a generally stronger "risk management legal orientation." The focus of this study is thus less on the mitigation level and the legal framing of climate-neutral forest development, and more on the adaptation level, specifically on ensuring and enforcing climate-resilient forest development.

The first part of the dissertation aims to determine the actual need for action. In this context, it examines what is meant by the "tried and tested" guiding principle of multifunctional, integrative, and sustainable forest management, what goal conflicts are associated with it, and what climate change-related challenges it faces. The second part of the study addresses the need for legal modifications. The previously restrained design of usage rules and usage concepts is partly due to the assumption that sustainable forest development is in the intrinsic interest and liberal realm of responsibility of forest owners. While this may be true regarding the stabilization of raw material production, it does not equally apply to securing biodiversity as a prerequisite for the self-regulation capacity of forest ecosystems. In any case, this assumption has recently led to a "normative insufficiency" in forestry law, which needs to be addressed under the climate change conditions.

Ziele und Instrumente der deutschen Klimaschutzrahmengesetzgebung

Eine Analyse unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der spezifischen völkerrechtlichen, europäischen und verfassungsrechtlichen Anforderungen sowie der vertikalen Lastenverteilung im Bundesstaat

Legal Requirements for National Greenhouse Gas Pricing Models in the USA and Germany

Human-induced climate change is a central issue of our time, demanding the complete reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the near future. In jurisprudence, it has long been recognized that economic instruments for environmental protection serve as a means to support additional climate protection measures. However, for these instruments to be successful, they must be implemented in a legally compliant manner to provide affected parties with planning security and ensure positive acceptance. Recent proposals for implementing pricing instruments no longer solely focus on adopting basic economic concepts but now consider hybrid systems that combine design options from various instruments. This study aims to examine not only traditional models of environmental taxes and emissions trading schemes but also the various combinatorial possibilities to offer recommendations on the choice of pricing instruments and their legally secure design. The analysis will focus on the existing frameworks in the USA and Germany, shaped by European Union law, to explore different design options. This comparative legal approach will also examines whether a unified model recommendation can be made for both countries or if the choice of instruments must vary due to different legal requirements in their legal systems and regulations.

Vermeidung von Einwegkunststoffartikeln im Recht der Kreislaufwirtschaft
Eine Untersuchung aus unionsrechtlicher und rechtsvergleichender Perspektive (Deutschland – Frankreich)

Dr. Janna Ringena' research was published in 2024 in the publication series "Umweltrechtliche Studien – Studies on Environmental Law" of Nomos-Verlag.

Regulierte Selbstregulierung und hybride Rechtsdurchsetzung

Die Entwicklung der Zentralen Stelle im Verpackungsrecht

Dr. Lukas Preiß' research was published in 2024 in the series "Product Compliance" (Volume 1) by Nomos-Verlag.

Der wasserrechtliche Vollzug im Dilemma zwischen Einheit und Vielfalt - Zulässigkeit und Grenzen unterschiedlicher Vollzugsniveaus bei der Ausführung der Wasserrahmenrichtlinie

Dr. Lena Vitt' research was published in 2023 in the publication series "Das Recht der Wasser- und Entsorgungswirtschaft" of Carl Heymanns-Verlag.

Die EU-Verordnung über die Wasserwiederverwendung (WWVO) und deren Integration in das deutsche und schwedische Recht

Ein Beitrag zu einem hohen Umweltschutzniveau und einer integrierten Wasserbewirtschaftung?

Dr. Linda Schönfelder' research was published in 2024 in the publication series "Leipziger Schriften zum Umwelt- und Planungsrecht" of Nomos-Verlag.