JUR1525 – Sustainable Business, Finance Circular Economy

Course content

The elective introduces a research-based concept of sustainability and the emerging multilevel framework of sustainability-oriented law and policy (on international, regional and domestic levels), as the context for an analysis of the role of the EU internally and as a global actor. The course proceeds with an analysis of the position of sustainability in the overarching objectives in the EU Treaties and the EU Treaty rules seeking to ensure policy coherence in EU law, including horizontal integration provisions, as well as in the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. This introductory part forms the basis for an in-depth analysis of three areas of EU business-related law and policy where the EU is seeking to integrate sustainability: business, finance and circular economy. 

Business: Company law and corporate governance is the core of the regulatory infrastructure of the dominant form for organising business: the company. This form is therefore what the course will concentrate on, after a brief introduction to the variety of business forms and their relevance in the course context. There is an inherent tension in law’s focus on the legal form of the individual company as a creature of national law and the cross-border organization of business through global value chains. In the EU, there is an increasing and unprecedented interest in discussing the regulation of business with several new initiatives being proposed adopted in the 2020s.

Contributing to the debate on how to regulate companies, is also the international trend of lawsuits against European businesses for alleged harm in their global value chains, challenging established company law principles of limitation of liability. The course will draw on extensive comparative company law and corporate governance research as a basis for analysing and discussing these developments in the EU. 

Finance: Financial market law and bank regulation are key areas to shift finance towards sustainability. Informed by the emerging recognition of the financial risks of unsustainability, the EU’s Sustainable Finance Initiative of 2018 has opened up a previously much siloed field to sustainability analysis. The Initiative was quickly followed up through the adoption of several legislative instruments, including the Disclosure Regulation of 2019 and the Taxonomy Regulation of 2020. The emphasis of this field is very much on environmental aspects of sustainability and especially climate, although it also does to some extent engage with social issues.The field has concentrated on financial market law and less on key aspects of banking, especially relevant for the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). As a part of the regulatory analysis is a number of complaints under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, as well as court cases, against investors and banks. The course will present and analyse this field and its relevance for channelling private as well as public capital to sustainability and for governance changes towards sustainable business. 

Circular economy: Circular economy is at the centre of the EU’s approach to moving away from linear and unsustainable modes of production and consumption and towards circular and sustainable business models. The EU’s 2015 and 2020 Circular Economy Packages emphasise holistic approaches, including product lifecycle perspective and improving the efficiency of production and waste management. Also in this field, there has been much emphasis on environmental issues and very little on social issues. Further, there is much emphasis on increasing efficiency of production, and limiting the wasteful use of resources, while not so much on a broad approach to shifting towards sufficiency in material consumption. Through the 2020 Package, there is an increasing focus on broadening the sectorial scope and empowering private consumers as well as public procurers, which is followed up under the 2022 Sustainable Product Policy. The course will analyse and discuss the current developments in Circular Economy policy and law and the extent to which they serve to integrate sustainability in European business. 

The course will explore the interconnections and possible gaps and incoherencies between these three areas, their interconnections with and influence on international law and policy developments as well as their implementations in Member State laws and policies. The course will conclude with a course-room discussion of the state-of-the-art of ensuring sustainability through EU law, through the lens of the research-based concept of sustainability as an overarching societal goal.

For students enrolled in Rettsvitenskap (jus) (master - 5 år): Have you considered a specialization as part of your degree? The course is part of the profile Selskap, transaksjon og finans. 

This subject is taught at Bachelor 's level. The subject is also taught at Master's level (10 ECTS credits), see JUS5525 – Sustainable Business, Finance & Circular Economy. 

Learning outcome

See learning outcome for JUR1525

Admission to the course

You may register for this course if you have admission to a study programme at UiO or the faculty's exchange programme.  

International applicants, if you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures for international applicants. 

Nordic applicants can apply for admission to Single courses on Bachelor's level. 

When your admission is in order you must register for courses in StudentWeb. 

Recommended previous knowledge

Please note that lectures and curriculum for this course is aimed at students at master degree level.

However, the learning outcome is adjusted for students who take the subject at bachelor degree level.

Overlapping courses

• 10 credits overlap with JUS5525 – Sustainable Business, Finance & Circular Economy.

Teaching

Students are given the opportunity to give a short group presentation in the course room, with the topic selected from a list of possible themes.

This course has mandatory requirements.

All students must submit a blog-style essay of maximum 1000 words (approved/not approved), which may be on or related to the topics presented in the course room, to be submitted and assessed after the lectures. The essay may be submitted by individual students or a group of students (maximum five).

All students will have the opportunity to have their blog-style essay selected for further guidance towards a blog post on Blogging for Sustainability.

Examination

Students are graded on the basis of a 24  hour written home exam.

You submit your answer in the exam system Inspera. Read about how to submit your answer.

Mandatory requirements must be approved before one can sit for an exam.

Maximum length for written home exam on bachelor’s level is 2000 words. Front page, contents page (optional) and bibliography are not included. If footnotes are used in the text (at the bottom of each page), they are included in the 2000 word limit. 

Papers that exceed the 2000 word limit will be rejected, and not sent to grading.

You must familiarize yourself with the rules that apply to exam support materials, and the use of sources and citations. If you violate these rules, you may be suspected of cheating or attempted cheating. You can read about what the university considers cheating, and the consequences of cheating here.

Examination support material

All available exam resources are allowed when answering this exam. Rules for source referencing are crucial for determining whether the use of resources is permitted.

Your exam paper must be an independent work. Exam candidates are not permitted to communicate with other persons about the exam question(s) or distribute draft answers or exam answers.

Language of examination

The examination text is given in English, and you submit your response in English.

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.

This guide is used by examiners for grading elective courses at the Faculty of Law.

Resit an examination

• Illness at exams / postponed exams
• Resitting an examination.
• There are special rules for resitting a passed examination in the master`s programme in Law.

More about examinations at UiO

• Use of sources and citations
• Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
• Withdrawal from an exam
• Illness at exams / postponed exams
• Explanation of grades and appeals
• Resitting an exam
• Cheating/attempted cheating

You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.