Please find below a short introduction from our three new RAs - where they will share what they will work on the next year as a research assistant, and what drew them to the project and the research group Sustainability Law.
Susanne Haaland
Research assistant in Futuring Nordics
I find the green transition and sustainability deeply interesting. An internship at the Norwegian institution of human rights inspired me and made me realise the power law can have in fighting climate change. I am delighted to be a part of a research group that takes on this challenge. Hopefully, the coming year will be exiting and educational.
In my thesis, I investigate how the Norwegian tort law system may be used to hold limited liability companies responsible for their emissions. The groundbreaking Shell verdict is the backdrop of the thesis. The oil and gas company was ordered to cut their emissions across all activities by 45% by 2030. Could a similar result be expected in Norwegian law?
Ove Kenneth Nodland
Research assistant in connection with the UiO pilot project on sustainable public procurement of catering
A decade working at the intersection of sustainability, innovation and public-private
partnership taught me two things: no one really knows what getting it right on sustainability requires; and the time to get it right is quickly running out. There’s ample room to think differently.
I feel both privileged and excited to be part of a research group brave enough to question some of our most deeply entrenched ideas about the relationship between law and sustainability. Law is distinguished from other social institutions less by what it does, than by how it does it: through the creation, recognition and application of rules. When a legal rule seems perverse, it is not necessarily the fault of the legislator; sometimes the cause of the problem is thoughtless interpretation. And the best way to correct the law is not necessarily to enact a new law, but to challenge the rule in front of the courts.
My own work challenges the pervasive belief that sustainable public procurement is a matter of administrative discretion. If this were true, EU law holds contracting authorities to a lower standard of care than private companies. If false, public procurement can finally become the sustainable marketplace Europe's most innovative companies expect it to be.
Kirsten Daae Wiig
Research assistant in Circular Economy
Progress and development are some of my greatest motivations. The possibility to contribute to increased knowledge about challenges and possibilities towards sustainability, was a great inspiration for me when I sent my application. It is a privileged to be part of the Sustainability Law research group. I am really looking forward to both the PhD seminar on Sustainability Law in October and the Risk of Unsustainability in December and to learn more about this interesting field of law.
I am currently writing my thesis in the Circular Energy project about the possibilities within the duty of care as an enabler of repair in the transition toward a sustainable circular economy. Both exploring the duty of care in the Norwegian product control act, as well as some of the upcoming EU proposals such as Right to repair.