Emmanuelle Santoire

Bio

Emmnauelle Santoire’s research focuses on a geo-legal approach to contemporary energy issues. A geographer by training, she is passionate about exploring everything from the Energy Code and international trade negotiations to Alpine hydroelectric valleys and the areas surrounding power stations, with a view to understanding the evolution of electrical spatialities in Europe. By conducting research at the intersection of geography and law, she aims to demonstrate the value of spatial knowledge within the ongoing collective discourse on energy justice and to play an active role in its development, by contributing to and fostering public debate. In law, she specialises in French and European energy law, as well as international investment law.

She trained in geography at the ENS in Lyon and through her time at several centres for energy social sciences in England (Exeter, Oxford, LSE, UCL) and Canada (Queen’s), which fostered her interest in interdisciplinary exploration. In her PhD thesis, completed at UMR 5600 EVS (2018–2021), she investigated three areas that shed light on the role of law in shaping energy spatialities: the French concessionary regime for electricity, global trade liberalisation agreements (studying CETA), and the development of European energy law.

Following this, she joined legal research teams at two UMRs (TREE in Pau and then IODE in Rennes) as a postdoctoral researcher, where she participated in several projects on ‘energy justice and the social contract’ and, more recently, on the electricity distribution network as a commons (the JUSCOOP project led by Blanche Lormeteau).

The project she is currently developing at LATTS examines how contemporary investments in electricity in Europe are driven by new legal instruments. More than mere fundraising, these investments herald a new form of governance for the energy system, balancing private and public interests. Yet today, we lack an overall view of these investments, particularly in terms of their spatial distribution. It is therefore not possible to analyse in detail the effects of concentration or, conversely, under-investment in certain regions. This spatial distribution is, however, essential, as it is the primary guarantee of fair access to electricity. This is why her work focuses on two main areas: firstly, the collection and sharing of georeferenced data on investment flows, using open science (with a thorough consideration of the transparency of this data); and secondly, the detailed interpretation of this data using a geo-legal framework.

She is also involved in several scientific networks and programmes such as the Critical Legal Geography network and the European Research Platform on Energy and Climate Law, where she leads a geo-legal working group on European energy regulations in partnership with the Maison française d’Oxford, and in collaboration with the Institute of European and Comparative Law at the University of Oxford.

This year, she is teaching a few hours at ENS-PSL, ENS Lyon and École Polytechnique, in political ecology and the social geography of energy.