Law Commons^™

The Creation Of A Climate Club For A Sustainable Economic Future: The Role Of International Economic Law Amidst Geopolitical Confrontation, Dyuti Pandya Ll.M., Rafael Leal-Arcas Ph.D

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

As of late July 2023, the month of July 2023 had become the hottest month ever recorded in history. Heads of the governments of small island states have been outspoken about the existential risk their countries face due to rising sea level as a consequence of climate change. Wildfires are more frequent and more negatively impactful than ever before in different parts of the world. It is no wonder that sustainability has become a buzz word in the media, and policymakers all over the world are, more than ever, focusing on trying to achieve a sustainable future.

A sustainable global …

Corporate Climate Litigation And Environmental Justice: How Green Amendments Can Be Used To Advance Accountability And Equity, Noah Hines

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

The term “Green Amendment” was first coined by author Maya van Rossum in her 2017 book The Green Amendment: Securing Our Right to a Healthy Environment, in which she argues that modern environmental protection laws are fundamentally failing the most vulnerable people in society and proposes the creation of new constitutional rights as a solution. The provisions van Rossum argues ought to be added to state constitutions as “Green Amendments” are also sometimes called “Environmental Rights Amendments,” and generally enumerate the right of all citizens to a clean or healthy environment. Green Amendments currently exist in Pennsylvania, Montana, Illinois, Hawaii, …

The Case For Climate Reparations, Scott W. Stern

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Climate reparations are, to employ an old cliché, an idea whose time has come. Of course, calls for reparations have been emanating from the Global South since long before scholars in the Global North started paying attention. The United States has been in the midst of a public debate over reparations for many years. And reparations have become among the more contentious issues pushed by campaigners and even delegates at international climate summits. Yet, although legal scholars have begun to contend with climate reparations, there is hardly a robust body of literature on the matter. The subject deserves—demands— deep scrutiny. …

Weighing The Costs Of, And Authority For, A Mandatory Climate Disclosure Regime, Dean John P. Anderson

Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law

No abstract provided.

The Legal Case For Equity In Local Climate Action Planning, Amy E. Turner

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Over the last half decade, local climate action plans have regularly come to incorporate considerations of racial and socioeconomic equity, recognizing the ways in which low-income communities and communities of color experience earlier and worse consequences from global warming, and these communities are also at risk of being harmed by policies meant to address climate change. Until now, however, the discourse on equity in climate action planning has largely pertained to policy; it acknowledges the disproportionate harm that certain communities experience as a result of climate change and policies to address climate change, and suggests policy tools that can address …

A Fireside Chat With A Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Decommissioning Liability At The End Of Offshore Oil And Gas: A Review Of International Obligations, National Laws, And Contractual Approaches In Ten Jurisdictions, Martin Lockman, Martin Dietrich Brauch, Esteban F. Fresno Rodríguez, José Luis Gallardo Torres

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Offshore oil and gas infrastructure faces an existential threat: the increasingly pressing need to address the climate emergency. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects that GHG emissions from existing and planned fossil fuel infrastructure will push global warming past the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C threshold, and more detailed projections estimate that “nearly 60 per cent of oil and fossil methane gas ... must remain unextracted to keep within a 1.5 °C carbon budget.” The growing urgency of climate action, coupled with the increasing adoption of renewable energy systems and energy-efficient technologies, may strand thousands of offshore oil and gas installations …

State Sequestration: Federal Policy Accelerates Carbon Storage, But Leaves Full Climate, Equity Protections To States, Gabriel Pacyniak

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change—the UN’s expert science panel—has found that limiting climate change to prevent catastrophic harms will require at least some use of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) unless the world rapidly shifts away from fossil fuels and reduces energy demand. There is significant uncertainty, however, about the level of lifecycle GHG reductions achievable in practice from varying CCS applications; some applications could even lead to net increases in emissions. In addition, a number of these applications create or maintain other harms, especially those related to fossil fuel extraction and use. For these reasons, many environmental justice …

Climate Change And Real Estate In California: Can Climate-Related Risk Be A Required Disclosure For Residential Real Estate?, Lindsey Jacques

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

This Article will examine whether liability can extend to residential real estate sellers for non-disclosure of climate change related risk. First, this Article will outline current California statutes and common law regarding disclosures of climate change risk to prospective buyers of real estate. Next, this Article will explore potential routes for expanding liability, then will follow with hypotheticals for specific types of climate-related risk. This Article concludes by considering likely outcomes and routes for sellers and their agents to evade such liability should an expansion of liability prove legitimate.

A Path To Achieve European Energy Security, Nicholas Wolf

Student Theses 2015-Present

The apparatus of Europe’s energy security has collapsed. The Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine, hydrocarbon market turmoil, and the ever-growing threat of climate change has thrust the continent into crisis. As the risks of severe recession, acute energy shortages, and climatic disasters have begun to materialize, the member states of the European Union (EU) have been left scrambling to secure novel energy supplies. In the short-term, these developments pose severe risks to the EU and its member states. Yet, opportunity often presents itself in the midst of hardship, and the European Energy Crisis of 2022 is no different. This essay …

Climate Security Insights From The Covid-19 Response, Mark Nevitt

Indiana Law Journal

The climate change crisis and COVID-19 crisis are both complex collective action problems. Neither the coronavirus nor greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions respect political borders. Both impose an opportunity cost that penalizes inaction. They are also increasingly understood as nontraditional, novel security threats. Indeed, COVID-19’s human cost is staggering, with American lives lost vastly exceeding those lost in recent armed conflicts. And climate change is both a threat accelerant and a catalyst for conflict—a characterization reinforced in several climate-security reports. To counter COVID-19, the President embraced martial language, stating that he will employ a “wartime footing” to “defeat the virus.” Perhaps …

6th Annual Stonewall Lecture 2-2-2023, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

A Wrong Turn With The Rights Of Nature Movement, Noah M. Sachs

Law Faculty Publications

Environmentalists have long dreamed of granting enforceable legal rights to nature, and their vision has recently become reality. Governments in the United States and abroad are enacting Rights of Nature laws, and many scholars have championed this burgeoning movement as one of the best hopes for preserving the environment.

Legal rights for nature seem visionary, but policymakers and scholars are overlooking considerable problems with this approach. This Article spotlights these problems, including the vague and incoherent content of nature’s rights, the difficulty of defining the boundaries of natural entities, the absence of limiting principles for the rights, and the legislation’s …

Utilizing Legal Expertise To Positively Impact Coastal Communities, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Climate Choice Architecture, Felix Mormann

Faculty Scholarship

Personal choices drive global warming nearly as much as institutional decisions. Yet, policymakers overwhelmingly target large-scale industrial facilities for reductions in carbon emissions, with individual and household emissions a mere afterthought. Recent advances in behavioral economics, cognitive psychology, and related fields have produced a veritable behavior change revolution. Subtle changes to the choice environment, or nudges, have improved stake-holder decision-making in a wide range of contexts, from healthier food choices to better retirement planning. But the vast potential of choice architecture remains largely untapped for purposes of climate policy and action. This Article explores that untapped potential and makes the …

Policy Challenges And Responses To Environmental Non-Migration, Mostafa Mahmud Naser, Bishawjit Mallick, Rup Priodarshini, Saleemul Huq, Ajay Bailey

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The scientific literature, media, international summits, and policy forums highlighted enough the people who either move or are willing to move because of environmental reasons. Still, the voluntary environmental non-migrants (ENM), who are assumed to have strong resilience and coping capacity, are inordinately overlooked. The importance of addressing these ENMs has increasingly been emphasised. First, the paper explains the characteristics of ENM, outlining the key distinction between voluntary and forced non-migrants. Second, it emphasises the need to protect populations affected by environmental change and disaster, specifically highlighting oft-neglected ENM policy gaps. Thus, it examines to what extent ENM is addressed …

Climate Migration Beyond The Refugee Framework: Creating Bridges Between Human Rights And International Climate Law, Mara Elisa Andrade

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

The Ends And The Means: Indigenous Sovereignty, Climate-Related Legal Actions, And Frameworks Of Justice, Connor Marcum

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Philosophy professor Timothy Morton uses climate change as his foremost example of what he calls a hyperobject: an object that occupies both more physical space and more time than humans can usefully comprehend. For example, one can understand local meteorological occurrences in isolation without necessarily understanding that a given storm was more severe than it should have been because an overall increase in global temperatures makes for a more aggressive, active hydrological cycle. Environmental organizations focused on raising awareness understand this. Public campaigns to wed the nebulous idea of climate change to specific, concrete images are incredibly memorable: think of …

Law School News: National Housing Advocate Named To Lead Rwu's New Real Estate Initiatives 02/08/2022, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Law School News: The Dean Meets The Governor 01-26-2022, Michael M. Bowden

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Should Missouri Consider The Social Cost Of Carbon In Policymaking?, Matthew Geer

SLU Law Journal Online

The social cost of carbon (SCC) is a tool used by federal agencies to quantify the cost of carbon emissions in policymaking. As concerns surrounding climate change become more pressing, some states have also begun using the SCC in their own policies, rules, and regulations, while other states like Missouri have actively challenged the metric. In this article, Matthew Geer looks at the origin of the federal social cost of carbon and considers its effectiveness as a tool by state governments to guide policymaking that will prevent climate change from causing irreversible harm to Planet Earth.

A Critical 21st Century Role For Public Land Management: Conserving 30% Of The Nation’S Lands And Waters Beyond 2030, Robert L. Glicksman, Sandra B. Zellmer

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

The international goal of conserving 30 percent of the world’s lands and water to stave off the ravages of climate change and widespread species extinctions has come to the United States. The Biden Administration’s 30 by 30 Initiative commits the nation to placing 30 percent of its lands and waters in some kind of protected status by 2030. Because a substantial portion of the nation’s land base is owned by the federal government, 30 by 30 goals will be beyond reach if conservation commitments do not cover federal lands and resources. And because nearly 70 percent of the federal lands …

The Case For Corporate Climate Ratings: Nudging Financial Markets, Felix Mormann, Milica Mormann

Faculty Scholarship

Capital markets are cast as both villain and hero in the climate playbill. The trillions of dollars required to combat climate change leave ample room for heroics from the financial sector. For the time being, however, capital continues to flow readily toward fossil fuels and other carbon-intensive industries. Drawing on the results of an empirical study, this Article posits that ratings of corporate climate risk and governance can help overcome pervasive information asymmetries and nudge investors toward more climate-conscious investment choices with welfare-enhancing effects.

In the absence of a meaningful price on carbon, three private ordering initiatives are trying to …

Law School News: The View From The Statehouse 04-27-2021, Michael M. Bowden

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Rwu Law News: The Newsletter Of Roger Williams University School Of Law 04-2021, Michael M. Bowden, Barry Bridges, Political Roundtable

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Nigeria’S Petroleum Industry Bill: A Missed Opportunity To Prepare For The Zero-Carbon Future, Solina Kennedy, Martin Dietrich Brauch, Perrine Toledano, Tehtena Mebratu-Tsegaye

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

With Nigeria’s National Assembly debating the proposed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) in the first quarter of 2021 – after nearly two decades of attempted reform of the country’s petroleum sector – Nigeria has a unique opportunity to rethink the role of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria’s economy and build out the country’s energy sector and economic capacity for the long term. CCSI’s report Equipping the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for the Low-Carbon Transition, released before the PIB was publicized, advances suggestions on how to do so. The PIB takes notable steps toward much-needed reform of NNPC’s …

Rwu Law Equity Scorecard February 2021, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Institutional Framework For Open Space Conservation, Janice Griffith

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

Finding an effective approach to conserve large-scale, multipurpose open spaces through a coordinated network across jurisdictional boundary lines has proved elusive. Because open space infrastructure serves so many functions ranging from recreational trails to ecological systems protection, decision makers have often treated open space as a subpart of another activity and overlooked its importance. After discussing the benefits of open space conservation, this article analyzes the impediments to its realization. Noting the institutional fragmentation that surrounds open space conservation, the article discusses the governmental and private sector bodies that implement actions designed to achieve it. The article argues that open …

Climate Policy & Environmental Justice Recommendations For Colorado: Environmental Justice And The Climate Action Plan To Reduce Pollution, Kevin J. Lynch, Edwin Lamair, Evan Healey

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

This report was primarily drafted in the Spring of 2019, as the Colorado Legislature considered, and ultimately enacted, HB 19-1261. Since that time, developments have only highlighted the critical importance of considering the justice impacts of any public health and environmental responses to the threat of climate change. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the stark racial and class disparities that environmental conditions have on the health of a community. The same facilities and mobile sources that emit climate pollution also typically emit particulate matter and smogforming pollution that cause respiratory illness in many communities. These underlying conditions are …

Disclosing The Danger: State Attorney Ethics Rules Meet Climate Change, Victor B. Flatt

Utah Law Review

This Article suggests a novel concept in climate change law and attorney ethics law by proposing that many states’ attorney ethics laws could be interpreted to require, or at least permit, attorneys to disclose client activity relating to greenhouse gas emissions. Every state has some form of ABA Model Rule 1.6(b), either requiring or allowing attorneys to disclose client activities that result in death or substantial bodily harm. This Article asserts that precedent surrounding this disclosure rule indicates that the rule could be applicable to harms caused by greenhouse gas emissions. Attorney disclosures, in turn, could impact a wide swath …