The Clinic: Environmental justice and ecological transition (jete)

The French Biodiversity Office (OFB) is a public institution, created in 2020, under the supervision of the french Ministry of Ecological Transition. Among its many missions, the environmental police is aimed at preventing and punishing environmental damage. Still unknown, it is nevertheless the regular target of actors who see it as an infringement in the exercise of their professional activities, such as farmers or fishermen.

The OFB has called on the Environmental Justice and Ecological Transition' Clinic to conduct research on the contribution of the environmental police to the ecological transition and its perception by the stakeholders concerned. Based on two case studies (hedges and the Iroise marine national park), the research is built on the laws in force but also on field visits allowing to assess concretely the effectiveness and role of the police of the environment. 

The study will feed reflections within a symposium organized by the OFB on issues of application of environmental norms by the police. The report prepared throughout the year will complement the conclusions of this symposium.

• Partner: Office Français de la Biodiversité (OFB)
• Tutors: Camille Fromentin and Alice Messin-Roizard 

• Partner: Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change/ CMCC
• Tutor: Jean-François Benoit  

The project this year is part of the development of the Access to Land network, which aims to engage new members in Eastern Europe.

With the goal of contributing to the creation of legal tools that facilitate land access for young farmers in Europe, the network has turned to the Clinic to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms at play in Eastern European countries. Their aim is to propose tools tailored to the specific social, economic, and land-related conditions of this region.

This year, the students are tasked with mapping the dynamics at work in Poland and Bulgaria. By examining both the historical and legal specifics of these member states, they will provide network members with insights into the key issues of the region, as well as possible avenues of action that could be mobilized to facilitate land access for young farmers.

However, it is very challenging to fully grasp a situation through academic literature alone. Therefore, this year's project takes on a much more practical dimension: the students plan to conduct interviews with stakeholders who are directly engaged with these issues in their daily and professional lives.

• Partner: Réseau A2L et la Fédération Terre de Liens
• Tutors: Manon Bajard et Eve Aubisse 

In partnership with Client Earth, this action-research project prepares a report on the conditions for the effectiveness and efficiency of framework climate laws in nine countries selected for their comparative interest. The project focuses in particular on the financial guarantees provided -or not- by laws governing the decarbonization of the countries' economy. 

• Partner: ClientEarth 
• Tutor: Anaïs Morin Guerry, PhD

The Economic, Social and Environmental Council (ESEC) constitutionally the third assembly of the French Republic, brings together representatives of 84 civil society organizations working in the economic, social and environmental fields.

On 14^th March 2023, the ESEC unanimously adopted a report and opinion entitled “Gender inequalities, climate crisis and ecological transition.”  This opinion includes 24 recommendations aimed at the public authorities responsible for these areas, and therefore at public policies. The work was carried out by the ESEC’s Delegation for Women's Rights and Equality.

These recommendations are based on a comprehensive report on the apprehension of the subject in public policies and will enable students to gain a better understanding of the subject.

https://lecese.fr/travaux-publies/inegalites-de-genre-crise-climatique-et-transition-ecologique

For the past year, the report's co-rapporteurs have been assigned by the ESEC to convey the report and its recommendations to public and private players.

As part of the project for the year 2024-2025, the project team is helping to convey three of the report's recommendations: 

• n° 5 “Integrate the gendered dimension and the exposome into public health-environment research”, which the students have chosen to address, in particular by integrating the problems of overseas populations
• n° 21 “Integrate environmental justice from a gender perspective into environmental education at school”. 
• n° 24 “Make citizen participation more inclusive”

The principal aim of this project is to ensure that gender inequalities are better taken into account in the development and implementation of public policies on climate change and ecological transition.

• Partner: Conseil Economique Social et Environnemental (CESE) 
• Tutors: Mathieu Rateau, Hugo Fernandes, Selma Baradat and Léa Charbonneau

There are few legal literatures about the legal framework of the voluntary carbon market, and even less on the prevention and repression of possible frauds. This is mainly due to the lack of a specific legal framework for this market. However, the term of carbon offsetting has become commonplace in corporate communications. Today, this market is booming and attempts are being made to regulate it at the European level (see, for example, the Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming, “CRCF”, regulation).

Screening the fight against fraud on the voluntary carbon market requires, firstly, to describe its historical context following the creation of the regulated carbon market. Then, in order to analyse fraudulent behaviour, it is necessary to map the numerous players in this market and the potential criminal behaviours from the creation of carbon credits to the communication by companies on their offsetting operations. Analysing the repressive framework means listing the potential offences, particularly through consumer law, stock market criminal law and general criminal law, and describing the frameworks for judicial and administrative investigations.

This study will combine research work and interviews with the main players involved in the future detection and penalties on fraud in the voluntary carbon market. Finally, the report will contain key recommendations to help prevent and punish such fraud.

• Partner: Gendarmerie Nationale 
• Tutor: Laura Monnier 

This project is led by Grégoire Lunven (head of legal affairs at Jimmy Energy) and Marc Léger (former head of legal affairs at CEA). It relates to the adaptation of the legal framework applicable to small modular reactors (SMRs) to the characteristics of these facilities.

SMRs are low-power nuclear installations, factory-built in the form of modules to be assembled on site and capable of producing electricity or heat. As the regulations stand at present, the legal framework governing them, which was mainly designed for high-power pressurized water reactors, appears unsuitable in many respects.

After highlighting the specific issues raised by the construction and operation of SMRs, the project aims to put forward proposals and recommendations to enable the development of these facilities, while considering nuclear safety, the environment and public health.

• Partner: Jimmy Energy SAS
• Tutor: Paul Peyret 

The Association Française d’Agriculture Urbaine Professionnelle (AFAUP) is the French national network for professionals in urban agriculture. It facilitates the exchange of models and practices among actors of the sector while contributing to the development of all forms of urban agriculture.

For the third time, the AFAUP participates in Sciences Po's Law school clinic. This year, the goal is to explore the role of local authorities in the development of urban agriculture, taking advantage of the timeline of the 2026 municipal elections. Students working on the project will be analyzing the legal obstacles and opportunities faced by local authorities in the local development of urban agriculture. 

Through bibliographic research, interviews, and their participation in key association events, they will also be working on the creation of a "legal guide to the nourishing city," primarily from an urban law perspective. This guide will offer several support measures for urban agriculture for local authorities, enriched with concrete examples of successes, to inspire future candidates for the 2026 municipal elections and inform their electoral programs.

• Partner: Association Française de l'Agriculture Urbaine Professionnelle (AFAUP)
• Tutors: Coline Grimée and Anaëlle Cathelineau 

Bloom is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated entirely to protecting the ocean and those who live off it. Bloom's work is multi-faceted: on one hand, the NGO carries out advocacy work and educational activities; on the other, it has set up a research institute with the aim of developing independent scientific research.

Bloom called on Sciences Po Clinic as part of its work on financing granted to the fisheries sector, and more specifically to conduct research on the carbon and biodiversity credit markets. The research includes an analysis of the regulations in force as well as carrying interviews with experts to provide a critical analysis of these markets. 

This project is being carried out in the context of the United Nations Conference on the Ocean (UNOC) that will be held in Nice in June 2025, a conference that Bloom will attend. The project will lead to the formulation of recommendations and proposals that will feed into Bloom's thinking on these issues.

• Partner:  Bloom
• Tutor: Morgane Fouillen