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The Law And Science Of Climate Change Attribution, Michael Burger, Jessica A. Wentz, Radley Horton
The Law And Science Of Climate Change Attribution, Michael Burger, Jessica A. Wentz, Radley Horton
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
There is overwhelming scientific agreement that human activities are changing the global climate system and these changes are already affecting human and natural systems. The observational record shows that the planet is getting significantly warmer, with eighteen of the nineteen warmest years on record occurring since 2001. Other observed changes include rising sea levels, ocean warming and acidification, melting sea ice, thawing permafrost, increases in the frequency and severity of extreme events, and a variety of impacts on people, communities, and ecosystems. There are multiple lines of evidence linking these changes to anthropogenic influence on climate.
Bi-Polar And Polycentric Approaches To Human Rights And The Environment, Michael Burger
Bi-Polar And Polycentric Approaches To Human Rights And The Environment, Michael Burger
Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
Within the well-established human rights system, there exist at least three ways to promote environmental ends (each of which is discussed further in Section III below): (1) mobilizing existing rights to achieve environmental ends; (2) reinterpreting existing rights to include environmental concerns; and (3) creating new rights, such as the right to a clean environment. To justify engaging in any one of these processes, an advocate must recognize both their moral legitimacy and legal utility. As one author has argued, "the justification for rights is to be found in the way in which they enable us to address a key …