Prof. Rosa Giles discusses the implementation of the Paris Agreement by the European Union. In particular, the regulatory activity in the internal sphere, which go hand in hand with the an intense foreign diplomatic and negotiating activity to coordinate aspects not included in the Paris Agreement and which require coordinated action at the international level.
Prof. Eduardo Trillo studies the issue of the conditionality of European Union development cooperation in relation to international environmental protection, and more recently, to the growing concern about the consequences of climate change, all in line with the UN 2030 Agenda and the 2015 Paris Agreement.
This course explains European climate change legislation in an accessible way to both people with or without deep law knowledge. The programme includes an approach to EU climate policy, circular economy regulations, EU Emissions Trading System, legislation on energy efficiency, low-emission agricultural policy and the EU Green Deal.
Especially recommended for graduates in Environmental Sciences, it provides credit recognition by the Faculty of Sciences (Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences) and by the Faculty of Law (Bachelor’s degree in Law).
The course includes all necessary teaching materials for study, video-classes, self-assessment questionnaires, and other means of distance pedagogy through the Alf platform (Lifelong Learning).
Tuition fees have public prices, discounts of up to 30% are foreseen for specific groups and tuition scholarships financed with the sponsorship of the EU Jean Monnet program are available.
Prof. Nuria Pastor Palomar analyzes in this document the prohibition of reserves that is included in the instruments related to climate change. This conventional technique is not suitable for treaties seeking to protect community interests, with normative obligations and a universal vocation. The formulation by the Parties of other unilateral declarations, at the time of signing or expressing their consent to be bound by the Paris Agreement, refers to some specific aspects of this type of treaty, which have resorted to other flexibility mechanisms, other than those reservations, more suitable for this area.
Interview with Valvanera María Ulargui Aparicio, General Director of the Spanish Office of Climate Change (Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge), by Justo Corti Varela.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the POPs, Conferences of the Parties on Climate Change, aim to achieve the stabilization of greenhouse gas concentration levels. The agreements reached have to be transferred to the internal legislation of each State. In the European Union, the transfer goes first through the Union’s law, before reaching national laws. This is the case, for instance, of the Spanish draft Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition. We talk with the Director of the Spanish Office of Climate Change, the person in charge of the mentioned issues at the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.
Airdate: March 4, 2021 (Radio 3)
The Joan Monnet Modules and Chairs are part of the European Union Erasmus+ Programme that encompass actions whose objective is to promote teaching and research in the field of EU studies.
The Joan Monnet module on European Climate Law aims to be the first milestone of a long-term project to create a Pole of Excellency specialized on EU Climate Law at UNED. It comprehends teaching, research and dissemination activities including life-long learning, summer and e-learning courses; seminars joining experts, organized civil society and policy makers, radio broadcasts, working papers, and academic and general public target publications. Pivoting on EU Climate Law the module has been designed to build bridges among disciplines (Law, Education, Journalism, Economics, Political Science, Environmental Engineering); students and young professionals in those disciplines; and academics, practitioners, policy makers and civil society. A good example is presented with the European Green Deal, the cornerstone of the process of ecological transformation taking place in the EU.
Airdate: March 5, 2021 (Radio 3)
Interview with Mariano Bacigalupo Sagesse professor of Administrative Law (UNED), counselor of the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC), member of the Board of Appeal of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) of the European Union, by Justo Corti Varela.
The European Union’s clean energy legislative package of December 2018 shows an important step towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions and carrying out a just, committed and social energy transition, to achieve a significant reduction in emissions by 2030. The transformation towards sustainable development is dependent on major changes in public agendas and policies, including the way in which we consume energy. The energy consumed from renewable sources accounts for barely the 20% of the total energy and it is not possible to expand its consumption without the introduction of new roles, as it is the case of renewable energy self-consumers. Tensions are inevitable in this transition, that affects not only the market, in which new actors and communities appear; but also has an impact on strategic interests, such as the need to guarantee supply, currently largely dependent on imports from fossil sources. The transition must be a source of progress and economic growth, as showed by the European Green Deal and the direction taken with the European Union’s recovery funds.
Interview with Manuel Kindelán Barañano, General Director of SIGRAUTO (Spanish Association for the environmental treatment of out of use vehicles), by Alvaro Jarillo Aldeanueva.
The circular economy and waste management are key aspects of the European Union’s Green Deal. Talking with the General Director of the Spanish Association for the Environmental Treatment of Out of Use Vehicles (SIGRAUTO), we get closer to a paradigmatic area of the circular economy. Community legislation on end-of-life vehicles establishes the legal framework for their recycling, and points out the importance of implementing preventive measures from the design and assemblement stage in order to improve environmental protection efficiency. The figures on processing and recycling of vehicles endorse Spain’s commitment towards recycling and environmental protection.
Airdate: March 13, 2021 (Radio 3)
Justo Corti Varela
Course’s director.
This video introduces the process of European integration, its institutional structure and the way in which Union law is created. Subsequently, it is explained how environmental policy arises in the EU, and within it, EU climate policy, also drawing influences and parallels between intra-European regulation and international negotiations. Finally, the video deals with the splitting of climate policy (and its law) in the Treaty of Lisbon, as well as how it has become a strategic axis of integration since the von der Layen Commission (2019).