Topics

Based on our interdisciplinary approach, we integrate our various thematic focal points into INa's research and public relations work. We would like to give you a brief insight into the topics of sustainable economics, sustainability management, corporate social responsibility, business ethics, climate protection law, environmental law and socio-ecological transformation processes.

Sustainable economics is still in its infancy. It is developing from economics and sustainable science (in particular ecological economics and new environmental economics). We define it as the ‘economic theory of sustainable development, taking into account the transdisciplinary foundations’. At the centre of this are the questions of how sufficiently high economic, socio-cultural and ecological standards can be achieved within the limits of natural carrying capacity and how the principle of intra- and intergenerational justice can be realised. The Sustainable Economy Network has agreed on ten core statements that form the theoretical basis of the sustainable economy.

You can find more detailed information here.

Corporate sustainability management means systematically organising all business activities in such a way that environmental impacts are reduced in an economically efficient manner and desired social and societal impacts are increased to such an extent that the commitment to social issues becomes part of the company's value creation, so that it contributes to social and ecological improvements as well as to the company's success in a comprehensible and sustainable manner.

Overall, sustainability management encompasses both market and non-market issues, as economically relevant environmental and social issues are not only market but often non-market in nature. To summarise, it means a major transformation, as sustainability management involves ‘change management’ in the form of accepting the changes that have long been taking place in the environment and society and wanting to proactively help shape them.

Corporate social responsibility means that company members and the company declare themselves responsible for the impact of their decisions and activities on society and the environment. Based on applicable law and in accordance with ethical considerations and international standards of behaviour, decisions should be made in such a way that they simultaneously take into account the economic goals and expectations of relevant stakeholders and thus create sustainable value for the company and society.

This requires the integration of social and ecological concerns into objectives, values, strategies and processes as well as the creation of structures that promote responsible behaviour and make it meaningful. Corporate social responsibility therefore affects all levels and functions within the company and, not least, requires the development of resources and competences that can combine responsible and value-creating management.

Organisations in the private or public sector can influence their bio-physical and social environment in a variety of ways through their actions. Ethical reflection helps to analyse and evaluate the effects. For example, with regard to public service organisations, it can prove beneficial to ask not only whether employees are behaving in a legally correct manner, but also whether they are behaving ethically.

For a corresponding investigation, it is first necessary to clarify which specific ethical points of orientation are considered relevant in an organisation, occupational group or profession, in order to then pursue the question of which factors promote or inhibit ethically oriented behaviour. On this basis, measures in the area of personnel or organisational development can be derived if necessary.

Environmental law has only existed as an independent area of law for a few decades. While it was initially primarily concerned with limit values and technical requirements for environmentally significant installations, today the focus is on the legal conceptual level - with the central question of how sustainability goals can be moulded into legal instruments. This is an extraordinarily demanding challenge in the tight political multi-level network between federal domestic law, constitutional law, EU law and international treaty law.
 

Alongside climate change adaptation law, climate protection law forms a pillar of climate law. Climate protection law comprises those norms that are intended to protect the climate from man-made (anthropogenic) impacts through prevention and/or restoration. It is a classic cross-sectional matter whose standards are not bundled in a uniform legal system, but are spread across various laws at international, European and national level that interact with each other. In particular, the climate protection guaranteed by the Federal Climate Protection Act (KSG) is embedded in a transnational multi-level system. Strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions are of key importance in climate protection law. The majority of legal norms relevant to climate protection are therefore primarily aimed at reducing CO₂ emissions. Accordingly, climate protection measures serve to avoid the generation of greenhouse gas emissions and prevent their release.
 

Climate change, the erosion of biodiversity, the trend towards the depletion of fossil resources and the conflicts surrounding the energy transition indicate that we are in the midst of a ‘great transformation’. Which direction this transformation will take, to what extent it will increase or decrease social inequality and how it should be organised is a controversial issue. In the thematic field of ‘socio-ecological transformation processes’, the conflicts surrounding the definition and handling of environmental and energy problems are analysed. The aim is to gain a better understanding of the social power and domination relationships that underlie these problems and to identify ways to achieve a democratic, socially just and ecologically sustainable society.