Law Commons^™

Climate Change And Indigenous Groups: The Rise Of Indigenous Voices In Climate Litigation, Maria Antonia Tigre

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Climate change’s pervasive human rights impacts on populations worldwide are widespread and now widely known. One avenue to address these human rights impacts is the growth of rights-based climate litigation. There are now hundreds of cases worldwide grounded on human rights claims. However, less attention has been brought to how vulnerable groups are disproportionally affected by climate change. Indigenous groups, in particular, are disproportionately affected by climate change due to their connection to their land and dependence on their ecosystems. To increase global attention and seek legal remedies to address how Indigenous communities are impacted by climate change, Indigenous groups …

Roadmap To Zero-Carbon Electrification Of Africa By 2050: The Green Energy Transition And The Role Of The Natural Resource Sector (Minerals, Fossil Fuels, And Land), Jeffrey D. Sachs, Perrine Toledano, Martin Dietrich Brauch, Tehtena Mebratu-Tsegaye, Efosa Uwaifo, Bryan Michael Sherrill

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

All Africans — whether living in urban or rural areas — need access to affordable, clean, efficient, reliable, climate-proof, and renewable energy for both residential and productive uses to achieve sustainable development objectives. At the same time, the world is moving to decarbonization by 2050, and Africa will be part of this global trend. Prospective oil and gas projects in Africa will no longer be pursued as overseas markets, and financing will shrink. At the same time, Africa’s vast renewable energy potential, in the solar and hydropower sectors especially, will engage increasingly bankable and highly attractive investments. In net terms, …

Going Concerns And Environmental Concerns: Mitigating Climate Change Through Bankruptcy Reform, Alexander Gouzoules

Faculty Publications

This article examines how legislative reforms to the Bankruptcy Code could mitigate the effects of climate change, speed the adoption of renewable energy, and contribute to U.S. compliance with the Paris Agreement of 2015. It analyzes the benefits derived by the fossil fuel industry from Chapter 11, which allows extractive firms to survive boom-and-bust cycles caused by volatile oil and gas prices. Insolvent polluters are preserved as going concerns during price collapses, only to resume and expand production as prices recover.

This article proposes novel legislative reforms to the Bankruptcy Code that would require insolvent fossil fuel producers to liquidate …

Neutralizing The Atmosphere, Shelley Welton

All Faculty Scholarship

“Net zero” has rapidly become the new organizing paradigm of climate change law. In the past few years, thousands of countries, companies, states, and cities have developed pledges that promise by a set date—typically around 2050—that any carbon they emit will be counterbalanced by capturing an equal amount of carbon out of the atmosphere. Collectively, these pledges now cover more than 91% of the global economy. This widespread adoption of scientifically aligned climate policy appears on its surface like a cause for celebration. However, concerns are mounting. To date, critiques of net zero have centered on what this Feature terms …

The Environmental, Social, Governance (Esg) Debate Emerges From The Soil Of Climate Denial, Lawrence J. Trautman, Neal Newman

Faculty Scholarship

It has been almost six decades since Rachel Carson’s ominous warning of pending environmental disaster. During 2019 the United Nations requested urgent action from world leaders, given that “just over a decade is all that remains to stop irreversible damage from climate change.” With every passing year, damage resulting from destructive climate change causes increased pain, suffering, death and massive property loss. During 2020 and 2021 alone, severe weather events have included: destructive fires in California; record breaking freeze, power outage, and threat to the electrical grid in Texas; continuation of disruptive drought in U.S. Western states; and record-breaking high …

International Investment Governance And Achieving A Just Zero-Carbon Future, Ella Merrill, Martin Dietrich Brauch, Lisa E. Sachs

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

As developing countries continue to be the most negatively affected by climate change and the energy transition, it is increasingly critical that they receive foreign direct investment and financial support to build climate resilience, adapt to climate impacts, avoid carbon lock-in and fossil fuel dependence, and leverage their rich endowments of renewable and extractive resources to prepare for the zero-carbon future.

There is a disconnect and fundamental misalignment between international investment law and the international climate change regime, comprising the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement. Existing investment treaties—including their centerpiece, investor–state dispute settlement …

Governing For Transformative Change Across The Biodiversity-Climate-Society Nexus, Unai Pascual, Pamela D. Mcelwee, Sarah E. Diamond, Hien T. Ngo, Xuemei Bai, William W. L. Cheung, Michelle Mei Ling Lim, Nadja Steiner, John Agard, Camila I. Donatti, Carlos M. Duarte, Rik Leemans, Shunsuke Managi, Aliny P. F. Pires, Victoria Reyes-Garcia, Christopher Trisos, Robert J. Scholes, Hans-Otto Portner

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Transformative governance is key to addressing the global environmental crisis. We explore how transformative governance of complex biodiversity–climate–society interactions can be achieved, drawing on the first joint report between the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services to reflect on the current opportunities, barriers, and challenges for transformative governance. We identify principles for transformative governance under a biodiversity–climate– society nexus frame using four case studies: forest ecosystems, marine ecosystems, urban environments, and the Arctic. The principles are focused on creating conditions to build multifunctional interventions, integration, and innovation across scales; coalitions of …

Incorporating Climate Change In Nepa Reviews: Recommendations For Reform, Michael Burger, Romany M. Webb, Jessica A. Wentz

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

The National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) requires federal agencies to conduct an environmental review prior to moving ahead with any major federal project, plan, or program that could significantly affect the environment. As part of the environmental review, agencies must share information with, and solicit feedback from, the public. The goal is to improve federal decision-making by ensuring that agencies take a hard look at the environmental effects of their actions and fully inform the public about those effects.

In guidance issued in 2016, the Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”)—the federal body charged with implementing NEPA—identified climate change as a …

Does Ceqa Need A Rewrite Or Just A Better Public Relations Manager?, Brian Gillis

GGU Law Review Blog

I’ve recently been tempted to blame my existential climate-change-induced dread on a 50-year-old environmental law that may be exacerbating California’s contributions to the climate crisis. The impacts of climate change are here and will only grow more severe. I’m angry, and I am scared for the future because we aren’t doing nearly enough to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change. The climate action pledges taken by many countries are insufficient, and we aren’t even on track to meet these pledges. The calls-to-action are all about urgency: “we need to act yesterday to avoid a climate catastrophe.” So, an environmental …

Fast Fashion: A Price The Planet Has To Pay, Abby Gager

Environmental Law Journal blog

With fashion trends rapidly changing, the fashion industry is placed under pressure to produce new styles quickly and for a cheap price. Although consumers enjoy having the latest trends at their fingertips with the convenience of online shopping, the rise of fast fashion will have a long-lasting detrimental impact on the environment. Fashion is considered “fast” for a variety of reasons; the constant change in trends is fast, the rate of production is fast, the consumer’s decision and methods of buying are fast, delivery is fast, and articles of clothing are worn fast before they are tossed and to never …

North Africa Can Reduce Europe's Dependence On Russian Gas By Transporting Wasted Gas Through Existing Infrastructure, Mark Davis, Perrine Toledano, Thomas Schorr

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Russia's war against Ukraine is a wake-up call to reduce Europe's dependence on Russian oil, gas, and coal. It is also a defining moment to accelerate the energy transition to a net-zero society with more supply diversity, energy security, and resilience. Europe needs to massively invest in a cleaner energy system. In the short term, this crisis should accelerate our focus on reducing waste gas from flaring, venting, and leaking – some 260 billion cubic meters (BCM) globally or 1.7x that of the European Union's gas imports from Russia. By capturing gas from flaring, venting, and leaking in North Africa, …

Climate Action Needs Investment Governance, Not Investment Protection And Arbitration, Columbia Center On Sustainable Investment

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

A response by the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment to the OECD Public Consultation on Investment Treaties and Climate Change.

The Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI) — a joint research center of Columbia Law School and the Earth Institute at Columbia University — explores elements of the international investment legal framework, including the impact of investment treaties, investor–state dispute settlement, and home and host government policies governing inward and outward investment, among many other issues.

Why Aim Law Toward Human Survival, John William Draper

Librarian Scholarship at Penn Law

Our legal system is contributing to humanity’s demise by failing to take account of our species’ situation. For example, in some cases law works against life and supports interests such as liberty or profit maximization.

If we do not act, science tells us that humanity bears a significant (and growing) risk of catastrophic failure. The significant risk inherent in the status quo is unacceptable and requires a response. We must act. It is getting hotter. When we decide to act, we need to make the right choice.

There is no better choice. You and all your relatives have rights. The …

A Call For The Library Community To Deploy Best Practices Toward A Database For Biocultural Knowledge Relating To Climate Change, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Abstract

Purpose – In this paper, a call to the library and information science community to support documentation and conservation of cultural and biocultural heritage has been presented.

Design/methodology/approach – Based in existing Literature, this proposal is generative and descriptive— rather than prescriptive—regarding precisely how libraries should collaborate to employ technical and ethical best practices to provide access to vital data, research and cultural narratives relating to climate.

Findings – COVID-19 and climate destruction signal urgent global challenges. Library best practices are positioned to respond to climate change. Literature indicates how libraries preserve, share and cross-link cultural and scientific knowledge. …

Evaluating Project Need For Natural Gas Pipelines In An Age Of Climate Change, Alexandra B. Klass

Law & Economics Working Papers

As the Biden administration attempts to make climate change the focus of many aspects of its domestic and international agenda, an independent federal regulatory agency—the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)—finds itself at the center of debates over the nation’s energy policies and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Under Sections 4 and 5 of the Natural Gas Act of 1938, FERC has the authority and obligation to ensure that rates, charges, and rules relating to interstate natural gas sales and transportation are just, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory. Under Section 7 of the Natural Gas Act, FERC also has the authority to grant certificates …

Delegating Climate Authorities, Mark P. Nevitt

Faculty Articles

The science is clear: the United States and the world must take dramatic action to address climate change or face irreversible, catastrophic planetary harm. Within the U.S.—the world’s largest historic emitter of greenhouse gas emissions—this will require passing new legislation or turning to existing statutes and authorities to address the climate crisis. Doing so implicates existing and prospective delegations of legislative authority to a large swath of administrative agencies. Yet congressional climate decision-making delegations to any executive branch agency must not dismiss the newly resurgent nondelegation doctrine. Described by some scholars as the “most dangerous idea in American law,” the …

Beliefs, Information, And Institutions: Public Perception Of Climate Change Information Provided By Government Versus The Market, Cherie Metcalf, Jonathan R. Nash

Faculty Articles

Despite scientific consensus over the threat posed by climate change, governmental actions remain modest or stalled, often because of profound societal polarization: more liberal individuals tend to accept climate change as real, anthropogenic, and as posing a substantial (if not existential) threat, while more conservative individuals tend to doubt such assertions. The standard explanation for this phenomenon is that liberals tend to believe government-provided information—as information about climate change tends to be—while conservatives tend to doubt it. Commentators suggest that market-generated climate change information would more likely sway conservatives.

But this assertion lacks any empirical support. This Article explores this …

Grid Reliability Through Clean Energy, Hannah Jacobs Wiseman, Alexandra Klass, Joshua Macey, Shelley Welton

Journal Articles

In the wake of recent high-profile power failures, policymakers and politicians have asserted that there is an inherent tension between the aims of clean energy and grid reliability. But continuing to rely on fossil fuels to avoid system outages will only exacerbate reliability challenges by contributing to increasingly extreme climate-related weather events. These extremes will disrupt the power supply, with impacts rippling far beyond the electricity sector.

This Article shows that much of the perceived tension between clean energy and reliability is a failure of law and governance resulting from the United States’ siloed approach to regulating the electric grid. …

Adapting To A 4°C World, Clifford Villa

Faculty Scholarship

The Paris Agreement’s goal to hold warming to 1.5°-2°C above pre-industrial levels now appears unrealistic. Profs. Robin Kundis Craig and J.B. Ruhl have recently argued that because a 4°C world may be likely, we must recognize the disruptive consequences of such a world and respond by reimagining governance structures to meet the challenges of adapting to it. In this latest in a biannual series of essays, they and other members of the Environmental Law Collaborative explore what 4°C might mean for a variety of current legal doctrines, planning policies, governance structures, and institutions.

Prospects For A Unified Approach To Housing Affordability, Housing Equity, And Climate Change, Stephen R. Miller

Articles

No abstract provided.

The Injustice Of 1.5°C–2°C: The Need For A Scientifically Based Standard Of Fundamental Rights Protection In Constitutional Climate Change Cases, Lauren E. Sancken, Andrea K. Rodgers, Jennifer Marlow

Articles

In 2015, signatories to the Paris Agreement agreed to the goal of keeping global temperature rise this century to well below 2°C above preindustrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5°C. Although the adoption of the Paris Agreement was in many ways a political triumph, seven years later many climate advocates are presenting the Paris target to judicial bodies as the de facto legal standard for fundamental rights protection in climate change cases. Yet, the history leading up to the signatories’ ultimate adoption of the Paris Agreement target suggests that the target is …

Equitable, Affordable And Climate-Cognizant Housing Construction, Shelby D. Green

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The almost universal sentiment by a growing body of physical and social scientists is that climate change--with its floods, drought, heat, and cold-- portend losses of life, communities, property, and the rhythms of living. Some are more vulnerable to these impacts than others: individuals and the poor, who through official government policy and self-interest in the housing markets, have been relegated to live in poorly-constructed and poorly-placed structures--in the wake of ocean surges; in the path of strong winds; near hazardous and noxious facilities; stranded in urban heat islands. Failing to heed climate change omens will lead to a world …

Is Fire Insurable?, Kenneth S. Klein

Faculty Scholarship

The focus of this chapter is on the extant data on the prevalence, causes, and depth of inadequate, unavailable, and/or unaffordable dwelling insurance for fire, and what might be done about it. Whether it is ‘bushfire’ in Australia or ‘wildfire’ in the United States, the frequency, intensity, and cost of fire is increasing, with no reason to expect the upward trend to dissipate any time soon. Most homeowners want to insure their homes for fire and think they both have done so and done so adequately. More often than not, they are wrong. And many are finding that insurance now …

Genetically Engineered Food, Food Security, And Climate Change, Joanna K. Sax

Faculty Scholarship

Malnutrition is the leading cause of death and disease worldwide. Climate change is an existential crisis. We need to feed people and address the role of agriculture in climate change – at the same time. This is problematic, as agriculture inherently creates issues that contributes to climate change. Utilizing science, through genetically engineered crops, is one way to close the harm gap between food security and climate change. This essay addresses the controversial issue of genetically engineered crops with the complicated issues of food security and climate change by analyzing three main issues: (1) how the science of genetically engineered …

Constitutional Authority, Common Resources, And The Climate, Anthony L. Moffa

Faculty Publications

This work sets out to re-examine and challenge the history of the property clause with an eye towards increased congressional reliance on it in the face of daunting threats to our natural environment. No one could seriously question the primary motivations of the Framers, but that does not foreclose the importance of searching for secondary motivations that deepen our understanding of arguably the Constitution’s most explicitly environmental provision. Eugene Gaetke’s work in the 1980’s and Peter Appel’s work twenty years later laid the groundwork for the argument here by pushing back on the originalist argument for a narrow interpretation of …

Global Climate Governance In 3d: Mainstreaming Geoengineering Within A Unified Framework, Gabriel Weil

Scholarly Works

The failure of conventional climate change mitigation to reduce climate-related risks to tolerable levels has spurred interest in more unconventional—and riskier—climate interventions. What currently sounds like science fiction could become a reality in the not-so-distant future: planes blasting particles into the sky to block the sun, vast deserts covered with mirrors, algae sucking carbon into the depths of the ocean. Scholars tend to lump all these unconventional climate measures together in a fuzzy category called “geoengineering,” and set them apart from conventional climate change mitigation. But the characteristics of climate interferences vary across three distinct dimensions, which the mitigation-geoengineering dichotomy …

The Pandemic Legacy: Accounting For Working-From-Home Emissions, Michael P. Vandenbergh, Sharon Shemake

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in millions of employees working from home, a development that is challenging public and private standards for reporting and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Under these standards, corporations disclose the emissions from large buildings and the power plants that supply them with energy, but most do not report other types of emissions. When employees shift from working at an office to working at home, the corporate emissions appear to have decreased even though they have simply shifted beyond the boundary of the reporting requirement. This move creates greenwashing risks--the ability to claim that corporate greenhouse gas …

Panel: Climate Change And Climate Justice, Alice Kaswan, Michael B. Gerrard, Monica Esparza, J.B. Ruhl

Faculty Scholarship

This article is a transcript of a panel discussion from the 2022 Richmond Public Interest Law Review's Symposium on Environmental Justice.

Who Decides Where The Renewables Should Go?: A Response To Danielle Stokes’ Renewable Energy Federalism, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

One of the central tasks in addressing the climate crisis is transitioning from an energy system based on fossil fuels to one that mainly uses renewable energy. In her article “Renewable Energy Federalism,” Professor Danielle Stokes has highlighted one of the key impediments to this transition — delays in state and local permitting of renewable energy facilities. She has proposed a new approach that would give more authority to the federal government. Stokes’ approach has much to commend it. However, I differ on some aspects.

I will begin by describing the magnitude of the problem — the amount …

Three New Federal Laws Aid New York’S Compliance With Climate Goals, Michael B. Gerrard, Edward Mctiernan

Faculty Scholarship

The New York Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of 2019 (CLCPA) requires total statewide greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced 40% from 1990 levels in 2030 and 85% in 2050, with a goal (aided by offsets) of 100% by 2050. It also requires 70% of electricity demand in 2030 to be met by renewables, and 100% from “zero emissions” sources (meaning renewables plus nuclear) in 2040.