Jaap Waverijn presented his research at 1.5 degree conference in Oxford

The Environmental Change Institute of the University of Oxford organised the conference '1.5 Degrees: Meeting the challenges of the Paris Agreement' celebrating its 25th anniversary, bringing together scientists from many disciplines to discuss where science stands on the question how the 1.5 degree warming target as agreed in Paris can be met. The International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) has been asked to create a special report addressing this issue. Co-chairs of all three IPCC Working Groups and many authors of previous reports were present sharing their research and insights.

Jaap Waverijn presented his research on legal issues in energy and climate finance, using the European offshore wind sector as an example. The discussed issues included legal certainty, the possibilities to establish financial security for debt attracted to finance offshore wind farms, the bidding system used for licensing and the impact of these matters on investments. For example, both the bidding system and increasing legal security can both increase investments and reduce the cost of projects. In the case of offshore wind, this also means that government subsidies are lower. This emphasizes the general point that law can and should lower the costs of such energy projects where possible, while keeping quality standards the same.

This article was published by the Faculty of Law.