Emma Flevaud-Dufau
About me
My research concerns the role of law in protecting the climate function of coastal and marine ecosystems – synergies and dysfunctions between climate and biodiversity law.
The scientific starting point of my legal research is based on the consensus that, first, coastal and marine ecosystems are crucial components of climate change mitigation; and second, these ecosystems are increasingly stressed and degraded, suffering from all forms of marine pollution, including climate change. As a result, they are becoming less resilient to its impacts and are struggling to provide their essential services and functions, such as sequestering carbon.
The legal framework is particularly necessary for resolving such biodiversity protection issues, as it establishes minimum standards for biodiversity protection, creates mechanisms for their accountability and enforcement. However, marine biodiversity law primarily emphasizes the ecological and biological value of these ecosystems—specifically, their contribution to marine life—while giving limited attention to their role in climate mitigation. On the other hand, climate law mainly focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, while insufficiently integrating biodiversity protection considerations.
The aim of my research is to evaluate the capacity of the legal system to provide an integrated, holistic and cohesive approach to the protection of coastal and marine ecosystems in the context of climate change, applying a functional approach to marine biodiversity conservation. The research will assess how biodiversity consideration related to the protection of these ecosystems are integrated into existing legal frameworks addressing climate change and marine governance. It will also explore the integration and harmonization of climate and biodiversity law, as well as the divergence, alignment and mutual influence of International and EU law on this protection.
My research will primarily focus on International and EU law, and the interaction between these two governance levels, supplemented by interdisciplinary case studies in the Baltic Sea.
Key words: Climate change, Climate resilience, Coastal and marine ecosystems, Functional approach of biodiversity conservation, Integration within legal frameworks, United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Paris Agreement, Convention on biological diversity (CBD), Habitat and Bird Directives, Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), Nature Restoration Law.