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Project

Research on the development of a (constitutional?) principle of climatological responsibility. Is there a wind of change blowing through the Flemish renewable energy policy?

With regard to permits for wind turbines in the Flemish Region, I recently wrote a practical handbook, in which an attempt was made to create a practical manual for authorities that have to deal with permits for wind turbines in the Flemish Region. In conclusion of the above-mentioned handbook, which by no means can be considered as an exhaustive academic work, a twelve point plan was suggested in order to facilitate the authorization of wind turbines in the future, without elaborating on these suggestions in detail. In line with the aforementioned twelve point plan, which serves as a starting point and will be further explored, I propose to conduct a doctoral research into the Flemish wind energy policy as such, in which all relevant sore points of the aforementioned policy, but also of the existing legal and regulatory framework, will be closely scrutinized and explicitly evaluated within the framework of the envisaged energy transition. More specifically, I propose to outline a Flemish wind energy policy for the future in which alternatives are offered for the current stumbling blocks and in which proposals are formulated to make today’s policy legally and technically ready for the climate-neutral society of the future. The main theme of this research will be the compatibility of the existing policy and legal framework with the climate and renewable energy objectives, taking into account the views expressed by the Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights in their case law on energy and climate. It will also examine (1) how initial policy concepts such as 'sustainable development' and 'energy optimisation' evolved into legal principles that must be observed today and (2) the extent to which national and European climate case law are already influencing the policy and legal framework, and may do so even more in the future. More specifically, I will try to answer the question of whether the above-mentioned policy concepts and climate jurisprudence have given rise or should give rise to a 'principle of climatological responsibility' stemming from article 23, paragraph 3, 4° of the Constitution, which should be taken into account by the government in the form of a 'sustainability-oriented climate test' on the legislative and regulatory levels, as well as in the context of individual administrative decisions.

Date:30 Apr 2021 →  Today
Keywords:wind energy, climate, principle of climatological responsibility
Disciplines:Environmental law, Administrative law
Project type:PhD project