Event series 15 years School of Sustainability: The Role of Sustainability Law in Sustainability Governance
26. Nov
We are celebrating 15 years School of Sustainability at Leuphana with a series of events during the anniversary semester WS 2025/26.
Date: 26.11.2025, Time: 15:00-16:30, Location: HS 5
This panel offers perspectives on the past, present and future of the role of law in sustainability governance. It discusses the development and status quo of environmental law and the evolution of what could be termed ‘sustainability law’. We will critically examine the contribution that law has made to a (more) sustainable world so far and whether and how law can be a tool to support the transformation to sustainability in the face or persistent and unresolved environmental challenges such as biodiversity loss, pollution and climate change.
If you are unable to attend in person, you can also follow the event via Zoom: https://leuphana.zoom.us/j/91053005409?pwd=AyTf9gwSqicSMywwFK2SmKiNQOGbVi.1 (Meeting-ID: 910 5300 5409 / Passcode: 057676).
1. From ‘Environmental’ to ‘Sustainability’ Law (15 Min.)
Thomas Schomerus
Environmental law has achieved considerable success in recent decades: The sky above the Ruhr region is blue again (Federal Immission Control Act), you can swim in the waters of the Elbe (Water Resources Act), and many habitats have been placed under protection (Federal Nature Conservation Act), to name just a few examples. However, traditional environmental law is failing in the face of global threats such as climate change and biodiversity loss. As sharply captured by Klaus Bosselmann (Losing the Forest for the Trees), we managed to protect some environmental resources, but in doing so we are losing the earth as a habitat. What is needed is a comprehensive sustainability law that looks beyond the immediate temporal and spatial horizon and takes a more consistent approach to existential threats.
2. Reckoning with the Status Quo: ‘Strong’ or ‘Weak’ Sustainability in European Marine Environmental Law? (15 Min.)
Valentin Schatz
After decades of marine environmental regulation by the European Union and its predecessors, it is time to take stock. Key instruments such as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and the Common Fisheries Policy Regulation have failed to reach their targets. The European Commission’s MSFD Evaluation Report of 2025 claims that the MSFD provides for a “strong sustainability” perspective which “acknowledges that ‘economic goals can only be pursued if the basic societal needs are fulfilled which, in turn, can only be achieved within the limits of a healthy environment’”. But is this understanding really reflected in the interpretation of the relevant standards of EU marine environmental law, such as the ecosystem-based approach, by the European Commission and the EU Courts in practice? And if not, what is the cause? The law or its implementation?
3. At the Crossroads: Will International Law Shape or Miss the Sustainability Transformation? (15 Min.)
Jelena Bäumler
International law faces a profound crisis, most visibly in the international economic order, which is increasingly questioned and disregarded. At the same time, global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and resource depletion demand fundamental shifts in global production and consumption patterns. We are at a crossroads: international law will either remain on the margins of these transformations or be reimagined to positively shape the future of the global sustainability transformation. This talk asks how far international law must change in order to fulfil this role.
4. Comment
Jens Newig (10-15 Min.)
Afterwards, we invite you to stay to chat over coffee and cake.