Energy Transition: Opportunities and Challenges - Legal, Policy and Practical

Edinburgh Law School host the Charles Smith Memorial Lecture, which this year takes the form of a discussion panel to mark the 30th anniversary of the Brodies Environmental Law lecture series. 

The United Kingdom has set ambitious legal targets to reach net zero by mid-century.  A key part of its strategy to achieve net zero is a transition away from fossil fuels to alternative sources of energy and the scaling up of technologies for decarbonising homes, power, industry and transport.  The legal and policy framework for energy consenting and regulation is undergoing a process of significant reform to support this transition as well as to accelerate investment and decision-making related to clean energy development.  At the same time, challenges remain for balancing competing objectives and ensuring that decisions are made in a transparent and inclusive manner, whilst taking into account the environmental and social implications of new policy directions. This discussion panel of legal and industry experts will explore opportunities and challenges related to the energy transition and how the legal and policy framework should respond.

About the Speakers

Prof Sanja Bogojević, Oxford University Sanja Bogojević is Fellow and Professor of Law at Lady Margaret Hall and the Faculty of Law at the University of Oxford. Her research interests lie in Environmental Law and EU Law more broadly. This includes research on the role of markets in environmental law, environmental rights adjudication, and the interlinks between climate action, populism and the rule of law. Bogojević is currently involved in several large-scale research projects, including co-leading legal investigations as part of the UK's national research hub on greenhouse gas removal technologies (funded by UKRI); studying the constitutional implications of emergencies, and foremost the notion of a 'climate emergency' (funded by Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation); and phasing out coal along the Belt and Road (funded by the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong). She is also writing on just transition, and the legal implications of critical minerals mining as a climate action pathway. Prof Bogojević is also the General Editor of the Journal of Environmental Law and a Board Member of Climate Strategies.

Robin Winstanley Robin has worked in renewable energy for 5 years and is the Sustainability and Community director for OnPath Energy. OnPath develop and operate large-scale onshore wind, battery, solar and flexible generation technologies across the UK.  Robin’s expertise in sustainability is creating a new generation of energy projects which re-think the way infrastructure delivers for communities and society through iterative design and local context. Prior to this role, Robin spent 15 years in retail in North America and Europe with IKEA in a range of senior commercial and sustainability roles.  Robin studied Law at Edinburgh University and currently lives in Glasgow with his wife and 2 children.

Rachel McEwen Rachel McEwen is Chief Sustainability Officer at SSE. Rachel joined SSE in 2007 and has been responsible for sustainability, including its climate change strategy, since 2013. She is also a member of the Just Transition Commission.

This event will be followed by a reception in the Playfair Library.