Dr. Stephan Sina

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Dr. Stephan Sina

Rechtsanwalt (Lawyer)

Senior Fellow
Coordinating In-house Counsel

Team
Topics

Dr. Stephan Sina is a Senior Fellow at Ecologic Legal and the Coordinating In-house Counsel of Ecologic Institute. He is an experienced project leader working at all levels of environmental law and policy (national, EU, and international). His main areas of expertise are climate legislation, energy law and environmental compliance with a focus on criminal law. Stephan Sina is admitted as a lawyer (Rechtsanwalt) and certified as a specialist in administrative law. A native speaker of German, he also works in English and French.

In the field of climate legislation, Stephan Sina has supported the Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMU) as well as the Environment ministries of Baden-Württemberg and Berlin in the development of framework laws on climate change (Bundes-Klimaschutzgesetz, Klimaschutzgesetz Baden-Württemberg, Energiewendegesetz Berlin). He has also assisted the BMU in negotiations at the European level on issues of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS).

His work on energy law includes an assessment of the Renewable Energy Directive, support for the implementation of European Network Codes in Germany, and a project on the structuring of a comprehensive national energy law. He also supports the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) in an accompanying research process for Germany's major energy research programme SINTEG that showcases innovative solutions for a fully renewable energy system.

Regarding environmental compliance, Stephan Sina has contributed to several studies on environmental criminal law and wildlife crime at the European and national level, inter alia for the EU-funded research project EU Action to Fight Environmental Crime (EFFACE). He has presented project results and recommendations to the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) of the European Parliament and to the experts of the Bund and the Länder on cross-cutting issues of environmental law.

Other areas of expertise include resource governance with a focus on waste law and policy, notably plastic waste pollution.

In addition to his research and consultancy work, Stephan Sina has lectured on environmental law at the Berlin Academy for Administration and has been teaching climate change law in a programme for international students at the Berlin School of Economics and Law (HWR).

Before joining Ecologic Institute, Stephan Sina practiced environmental and energy law at a law firm and worked as a fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg (Germany).

Stephan Sina studied law at the Universities of Freiburg, Bonn, Heidelberg (Germany), and Edinburgh (United Kingdom). With a scholarship from the Cusanuswerk, Stephan Sina obtained his PhD with a thesis on the international status of the Palestinian Autonomous Territories. He has a diploma in comparative law from the University of Strasbourg (France).

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Recent content by Dr. Stephan Sina

Presentation:Speech
 
Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow of Ecologic Institute, held an online speech at the 8th International Forum on Environmental Rule of Law "Climate Change and Carbon Neutral Legal System: International Metropolitan Dialogue" on 6 November 2023 in Shanghai. He gave an overview of Germany's Federal Climate Change Act (KSG), its impact in Germany, and the current revision of the KSG.

An Overview of Germany's Federal Climate Change Act


Dr. Stephan Sina

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Project
 
In a project for the European Climate Foundation (ECF), Ecologic Institute assesses the implementation status and the quality of the national implementing measures of selected provisions of these EU laws in six Member States. Ecologic Institute conducts country fiches on Austria, Bulgaria, France, Germany and Spain, while Reform Institute conducts a country fiche on Poland. The project aims at getting a picture of the challenges of a timely and adequate implementation, also with a view to the recent amendments of the EU legislation within the "Fit for 55" package.

Analysis of the Implementation of EU Provisions for the Clean Energy Transition in Selected Member States

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Presentation:Speech
 
Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow of Ecologic Institute, presented two case studies on German climate change acts at workshops in Beijing, and discussed with Chinese experts from governmental and municipal departments and universities on Chinese and German climate legislation. In addition, he held a lecture on the German Federal Climate Change Act at the Law Faculty of Beihang University and participated in a discussion on potential areas for future cooperation at the Center for German Studies of the University.

German Climate Change Acts

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Dr. Stephan Sina

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Presentation:Speech
 
Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow of Ecologic Institute, gave a lecture on Germany's Federal Climate Change Act (KSG) as part of the TOP Executive Development (TED) Program of the Otto Group in Berlin. He presented the main features of the KSG, the impact of the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court of March 2021, and challenges in achieving the targets of the KSG. . After the presentation, there was a discussion with Dr. Stephan Sina and the audience.

Germany's Federal Climate Change Act (KSG)


Dr. Stephan Sina

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Publication:Report
 
Cover of the report "Umweltdelikte 2021"
This publication provides a quantitative overview of the development and status of environmental crime in Germany between 2010 and 2020, with a supplementary presentation for the year 2021, based on data from the police crime statistics ("Polizeiliche Kriminalstatistik"), as well as statistics from the Federal Statistical Office's criminal prosecution ("Strafverfolgungsstatistik"). The report provides both an overview of general trends and an in-depth account of individual environmental offences. Additionally, the publication contains data on administrative offences relating to the trafficking of protected species. The report was prepared by a team from Ecologic Institute on behalf of the German Federal Environment Agency.

Umweltdelikte 2021

Auswertung von Statistiken

Year

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Presentation:Speech
 
Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, gave a presentation on environmental criminal law at the Transfer Talk on Environmental Crime at the Criminological Research Center (KKF). He gave an overview of statistical developments, structural peculiarities of environmental criminal law, challenges in prosecution and the ongoing amendment of the EU's Environmental Crime Directive.

Environmental Criminal Law for Police Officers in NRW


Dr. Stephan Sina

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Presentation:Speech
 
On 23 November 2022, Dr. Stephan Sina, Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute, participated as an expert in a hearing of the Hessian State Parliament's Committee for Environment, Climate Protection, Agriculture and Consumer Protection on the Government draft of a Hessian Act on the Promotion of Climate Protection and Adaptation to the Consequences of Climate Change. Together with about 40 associations and experts, he commented on the draft law and answered questions from members of parliament.

Hearing on the Government Draft of a Hessian State Climate Act


Dr. Stephan Sina

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Project
 
As part of the implementation of its NDC, the Chinese government is focusing on further developing its climate legislation, which includes the design of a Chinese climate legislation framework. Through the climate legislation workstream of the project "Sino-German Cooperation on Climate Change – Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC)", the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) supports the Chinese side by strengthening exchange between experts and stakeholders from the two countries and providing information on German and EU experience in this field.

Three Studies on German Climate Legislation and Climate Law

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