Political Transformations of Energy and the Environment

Economic processes always involve the consumption or conversion of energy. Historically, the composition of primary energy sources has changed significantly. Since the emergence of the environmental movement and mounting concerns about global resource limits in the 1970s, the relation between economy and ecology has become a central social and political concern. Recently, its relevance has become even more pronounced due to the effects of climate change. How did national governments and international organizations try to ensure sufficient energy supplies? How did they, as well as non-governmental organizations, try to control and mitigate the negative ecological consequences of energy consumption?

Forschung

Projekte

Signature of the Agreement Establishing the IEA, 18 November 1974. Left to right: Ulf Lantzke, Special Counsellor for Energy to the OECD Secretary-General; Etienne Davignon, Belgian Foreign Ministry, Chairman of the IEA-OECD Governing Board; Emile Van Lennep, OECD Secretary-General; Charles Wootton, OECD Deputy Secretary-General, (Photograph: OECD)

The International Organisation of National Energy Policy
Great Britain and Western Germany in the International Energy Agency (IEA), 1974–1993

Henning Türk

Research project

This DFG-funded research project scrutinises the relevance of international organisations for national policy-making since the 1970s, using the example of energy policy.

Coal-fired power plant in Herne, Photo: Ra Boe, Flug Rom Düsseldorf Hamburg 2013, CC-BY-SA-3.0

Expecting Limits and Limiting Expectations – Economic Expertise, Environmental Policy and Consumption, 1970-2000

Rüdiger Graf

Research project
Project-Leader: PD Dr. Rüdiger Graf
Within the DFG Priority Program on “Experience and Expectation: Historical Foundations of Economic Behavior,” the project analyzes the importance of economic expertise for environmental policy-making.Laura Kaiser, PhD Project 1: Economic Expertise and Environmental Regulation in West German since the 1970s
Thomas Lettang, PhD Project 2: Regulating energy consumption in the Federal Republic of Germany, 1970-2000

 

Nuclear energy, international organisations and the law

Jan-Henrik Meyer

Associated Reseach Project

Based on the history of the international, European and national legal regulation of nuclear power, the project deals with central questions of historical research: the role of international organisations and their experts; politics, law and regulation; environmental protection and energy use; and the handling of technologies and their risks.

Political Transformations of Energy and the Environment

Economic processes always involve the consumption or conversion of energy. Historically, the composition of primary energy sources has changed significantly. Since the emergence of the environmental movement and mounting concerns about global resource limits in the 1970s, the relation between economy and ecology has become a central social and political concern. Recently, its relevance has become even more pronounced due to the effects of climate change. How did national governments and international organizations try to ensure sufficient energy supplies? How did they, as well as non-governmental organizations, try to control and mitigate the negative ecological consequences of energy consumption?

Forschung

Projekte

Signature of the Agreement Establishing the IEA, 18 November 1974. Left to right: Ulf Lantzke, Special Counsellor for Energy to the OECD Secretary-General; Etienne Davignon, Belgian Foreign Ministry, Chairman of the IEA-OECD Governing Board; Emile Van Lennep, OECD Secretary-General; Charles Wootton, OECD Deputy Secretary-General, (Photograph: OECD)

The International Organisation of National Energy Policy
Great Britain and Western Germany in the International Energy Agency (IEA), 1974–1993

Henning Türk

Research project

This DFG-funded research project scrutinises the relevance of international organisations for national policy-making since the 1970s, using the example of energy policy.

Coal-fired power plant in Herne, Photo: Ra Boe, Flug Rom Düsseldorf Hamburg 2013, CC-BY-SA-3.0

Expecting Limits and Limiting Expectations – Economic Expertise, Environmental Policy and Consumption, 1970-2000

Rüdiger Graf

Research project
Project-Leader: PD Dr. Rüdiger Graf
Within the DFG Priority Program on “Experience and Expectation: Historical Foundations of Economic Behavior,” the project analyzes the importance of economic expertise for environmental policy-making.Laura Kaiser, PhD Project 1: Economic Expertise and Environmental Regulation in West German since the 1970s
Thomas Lettang, PhD Project 2: Regulating energy consumption in the Federal Republic of Germany, 1970-2000

 

Nuclear energy, international organisations and the law

Jan-Henrik Meyer

Associated Reseach Project

Based on the history of the international, European and national legal regulation of nuclear power, the project deals with central questions of historical research: the role of international organisations and their experts; politics, law and regulation; environmental protection and energy use; and the handling of technologies and their risks.