Environmental Sciences

1. General Concepts • Environment, Pollution; the Different Levels of Legal Protection 2. International Environmental Law • Sources: Customs, Principles, Treaties, Soft Law • Historical Evolution: From the Stockholm Conference to the Rio Conference; the Millennium Declaration - the Johannesburg Summit - Rio+20; the UN 2030 Agenda. • Principles: Prevention, Precaution, International Liability for Environmental Damage; Sustainable Development, Common but Differentiated Responsibility, Intergenerational Responsibility. • The Polar Regions: The Antarctic Treaty and the Protocol on the Environment; the Arctic Council. • The Convention on the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. • Climate Change: The Framework Convention, the 2015 Paris Agreement. • The Convention on Biological Diversity. • Protection of the Marine Environment. 3. European Union Environmental Law • Sources: treaties, regulations, directives, decisions, action programmes, recommendations • Historical development: from the Single European Act to the Lisbon Treaty. EU Action Plans and the Green Deal • Principles: prevention, precaution, remediation, liability for environmental damage (polluter pays); sustainable development, integration • Habitats Directive and Birds Directive. • The European Convention on Human Rights - Environmental protection at the European Court of Human Rights. 4. Domestic Environmental Law • Sources: Constitution, laws, decrees, strategies, and plans; the Environmental Code. The reform of the Constitution. • The implementation of international and EU law in the Italian legal system. • Institutional environmental governance: the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security; ISPRA; the National Strategy for Sustainable Development. • Protected areas - National parks. • Environmental damage. • Environmental impact assessment (EIA). • Corporate social responsibility.

Classes will be held twice a week, for a total of 4 hours. They will be held from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM on Tuesdays and Wednesdays each week, in the Giacomini Aula.

The following are essential elements for the oral exam: - knowledge of regulatory sources at all levels: international, European Union, and Italian law; - knowledge of the basic principles of environmental law; - knowledge of the basic regulatory framework regarding climate change, the depletion of ozone layer, and biological diversity; - knowledge of the primary provisions (constitutional law) regarding environmental matters in the Italian legal system; - knowledge of national legislation regarding protected areas and natural parks.

Classroom/traditional teaching: Lessons (48 hours in total) will be held in the classroom. Multimedia presentations will be used to clarify and facilitate focus on the topics covered.