Law Commons^™

Recent Developments In Climate Justice, Randall S. Abate, Rachel Jean-Baptiste, Maria Antonia Tigre, Patricia Ferreira, Wil Burns

Journal Publications

Climate justice can be defined generally as addressing the disproportionate burden of climate change impacts on poor and marginalized communities. It seeks to promote more equitable allocation of these burdens at the local, national, and global levels through proactive regulatory initiatives and reactive judicial remedies that draw on international human rights and domestic environmental justice theories. Yet, efforts to define climate justice as a field of inquiry remain elusive and underinclusive; a recent book, Climate Justice: Case Studies in Global and Regional Governance Challenges (ELI Press 2016), seeks to fill that void by providing an overview of the landscape of …

The Injustice Of Sea Level Rise: Ethics And Evidence, Lies And Liability--Event Poster, Professor Keith Rizzardi

Lectures and Presentations

The Center for International Law & Justice (CILJ) and the Environment, Development & Justice Program (EDJP) present a lecture by Professor Keith Rizzardi. Professor Rizzardi, an experienced government lawyer and litigator, teaches at St. Thomas University School of Law.

The Injustice Of Sea Level Rise: Ethics And Evidence, Lies And Liability--Text Of Speech, Professor Keith Rizzardi

Lectures and Presentations

The Center for International Law & Justice (CILJ) and the Environment, Development & Justice Program (EDJP) present the Second Annual Climate and Energy Justice Lecture by Professor Keith Rizzardi. Professor Rizzardi, an experienced government lawyer and litigator, teaches at St. Thomas University School of Law.

The Injustice Of Sea Level Rise: Ethics And Evidence, Lies And Liability--Slides And Data Presentation, Professor Keith Rizzardi

Lectures and Presentations

The Center for International Law & Justice (CILJ) and the Environment, Development & Justice Program (EDJP) present the Second Annual Climate and Energy Justice Lecture by Professor Keith Rizzardi. Professor Rizzardi, an experienced government lawyer and litigator, teaches at St. Thomas University School of Law.

Ocean Iron Fertilization And Indigenous Peoples' Right To Food: Leveraging International And Domestic Law Protections To Enhance Access To Salmon In The Pacific Northwest, Randall S. Abate

Journal Publications

Ocean iron fertilization (OIF) is a new and controversial climate change mitigation strategy that seeks to increase the carbon-absorbing capacity of ocean waters by depositing significant quantities of iron dust into the marine environment to stimulate the growth of phytoplankton blooms. The photosynthetic processes of these blooms absorb carbon from the atmosphere and sequester it to the ocean floor. OIF has been criticized on several grounds. including the foreseeable and unforeseeable adverse consequences it may cause to the marine environment, as well as the daunting challenge of reconciling several potentially overlapping sources of international and domestic environmental law, which may …

International Legal Protection For Climate Refugees: Where Lies The Haven For The Maldivian People?, Simran Dolla

Student Works

Climate change and sea level rise are not just mere words for the Maldivian people; they are a grim reality that is consuming their nation. Sea level rise presents one of the gravest dangers for the Maldives because of its already low-lying characteristics. As the levels continue to rise, the nation is sinking into extinction. Some 300,000 people of the Maldives are on the brink of losing their homes and becoming climate change refugees. The existing international laws are not only ill-equipped to provide protections or the much-needed relief, they also make no mention of climate change refugees. Therefore, as …

Advancing Climate Justice In International Law: An Evaluation Of The United Nations Human Rights-Based Approach, Damilola S. Olawuyi

Florida A & M University Law Review

The term “climate justice” has been traditionally deployed by scholars to emphasize the need for international law to provide legal solutions for direct and disproportionate impacts of climate change on human life and survival, particularly in vulnerable communities. However, with emerging patterns of human rights violations, massive land grabs, forced displacements, marginalization, exclusions, and governmental repressions resulting from climate change response measures and projects (particularly clean development mechanism (CDM), and REDD+ projects), climate justice has increasingly gained a more expansive connotation. Human rights violations and climate injustices resulting from climate change projects have resulted in calls for an international approach …

Climate Change Impacts On Ocean And Coastal Law: U.S. And International Perspectives, Randall S. Abate

Faculty Books and Book Contributions

Ocean and coastal law has grown rapidly in the past three decades as a specialty area within natural resources law and environmental law. The protection of oceans has received increased attention in the past decade because of sea-level rise, ocean acidification, the global overfishing crisis, widespread depletion of marine biodiversity such as marine mammals and coral reefs, and marine pollution. Paralleling the growth of ocean and coastal law, climate change regulation has emerged as a focus of international environmental diplomacy, and has gained increased attention in the wake of disturbing and abrupt climate change related impacts throughout the world that …

Submerging Islands: Tuvalu And Kiribati As Case Studies Illustrating The Need For A Climate Refugee Treaty, Rana Balesh

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Commonality Among Unique Indigenous Communities: An Introduction To Climate Change And Its Impacts On Indigenous Peoples, Randall S. Abate

Journal Publications

This special Issue of the Tulane Environmental Law Journal explores how climate change affects the rights of indigenous peoples. Climate change is a global environmental problem caused by greenhouse gas emissions. Indigenous peoples generally contribute very limited quantities of greenhouse gases to the global atmosphere. Although the causes of climate change are global, the adverse impacts of this problem are disproportionately burdening indigenous peoples.

In recognition of the growing global problem of climate change, legal strategies to address climate change through mitigation and adaptation have been undertaken. This Issue recognizes that indigenous peoples are particularly vulnerable to climate change, both …

Third Annual Environmental Law And Justice Symposium Issue: Introduction, Randall S. Abate, Richard D. Schulterbrandt Gragg Iii

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Second Annual Environmental Law And Justice Symposium Issue, Randall S. Abate

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Climate Change, The United States, And The Impacts Of Arctic Melting: A Case Study In The Need For Enforceable International Environmental Human Rights, Randall S. Abate

Journal Publications

Climate change is currently the most significant and daunting international environmental problem, with disproportionate and devastating impacts on indigenous groups. The plight of the Inuit is illustrative of a larger need to recognize and enforce international environmental human rights violations. Part I of this Article examines the evolution of various approaches to environmental human rights theories in (1) United States law, (2) international human rights law instruments, and (3) the laws of other nations. Part II considers the scientific evidence and legal theory underlying the Inuit petition before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and explores how this scenario underscores …