International Environmental Law Conference
Mr. Kuhbier,
Mrs. König,
President Lenzen,
Senator Blankau,
Members of the Consular Corps (gespr. Cor),
Judges of the international Tribunal
for the Law of the Sea,
Honorable Members of German Bundestag
and Hamburg Bürgerschaft,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Welcome to the Senate reception for the first International Environmental Law Conference in Hamburg. I am more than pleased about this initiative on the part of the Association and that so many well-known speakers have been willing to travel to Hamburg. Their participation will shape what is to be an ambitious conference program.
As far as the importance of international environmental law, for this audience, there is certainly no need for me to sell coals to Newcastle, as they say in England. For that matter, neither to the English nor the Australian Newcastle, which has become the worlds major port for coal shipping.
I am probably correct in assuming that many people living in Newcastle, Australia, observe carefully the expansion of the loading and unloading facilities and the possible environmental effects. They will not accept anything that does not fully comply with the standards set by national and international environmental law.
This is no different in Hamburg, even though our port to pursue this example has long since been converted to container handling. Its ongoing development and improvement, however, will continue to raise new legal questions; this has been the case for decades. At the moment, the questions centre around the fairway deepening project die Fahrrinnenanpassung of the Elbe, our river. Hamburg is more than a hundred kilometres from the sea, and it is a continuous challenge and vital to the city for the port to be accessible to the increasingly larger container ships.
This presents an immense challenge to both politicians and engineers, for the lower reaches of the Elbe and its estuaries, along with the harbour area, form a hydrologically complex ensemble, one which is affected by the changing of tides and is of great ecological and scenic value.
Reaching solutions that are in the interest of all involved is a fascinating and extremely difficult task. Without the advice and the corrective influence of international environmental law, we would be lost. This is especially true because, as part of the European Union, we must naturally comply with its legal norms. And we are dependent upon its support.
The objectives of many environmental protection objectives and projects can, of course, only be achieved through cross-border collaboration. Here I should mention the Wadden Sea, into which the Elbe flows. With the portion near Hamburg and those in the neighbouring regions, it has recently been put under special protection as part of the UNESCOs World Heritage List.
There is no doubt about the decisive role international and national law plays in projects like this one. I believe that a key role can be played by the International Environmental Law Conference in this context, especially as it is to take place every two years in the future. As an academic conference, it will support the work of the political bodies and the existing legal networks. And it will serve as a forum that will facilitate debates and understanding between various interest groups and discussion of shared legal frameworks.
The Association is well represented by the outstanding members of its Scientific Advisory Board, including Prof. König (Bucerius Law School) and Prof. Koch (Research Centre for Environmental Law, University of Hamburg). I am convinced that Hamburg has good reason to consider itself a strong site for the judicature. Many institutions encompass sources of highly-qualified professional environmental knowledge.
It is obvious that the Environmental Law Conference is interested in more than the status quo of environmental law. Your objective is to set legal guidelines on certain topics for the future. I am certain that, as professionals and multipliers, you will be feeding back much of what is discussed here into your own countries. And that members of the Hamburg legal community will contribute to this.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
The two concrete topics to be discussed at this first International Environmental Law Conference are maritime conservation, including the risk of maritime accidents, and climate protection law. I believe that Hamburg is the right place for this discussion: First, because we are constantly involved in these topics for example, with our ambitious climate protection program. And second, because we want to maximize the opportunities we have this year as the European Green Capital, as the European Commission has named us an honour which includes both recognition and obligation.
Most of all, I hope that you, as participants, will enjoy the meaningful discussions you will have. But also that you will have enough time to take a look at some of the beautiful parts of the European Green Capital so that you can see for yourselves the concrete results of environmental law. In this spirit, I wish you a very pleasant stay in Hamburg.
Es gilt das gesprochene Wort.