Law Commons^™

Climate Change, Corruption, And Colonialism: Solving The Conundrum With Regional Courts, Taylor Nchako

Northwestern University Law Review

It is no secret that climate change is the most pressing issue of our times. Global South countries, especially those in Africa, face challenges mitigating the worst impacts of climate change, adapting technological solutions, and continuing to develop their nation’s infrastructure and industry. Cameroon provides an archetypal example of the challenges many African countries face. Plagued by an economy that both exacerbates climate change and stands to collapse from it, Cameroon struggles with corruption that has roots in colonialism and neocolonialism. This corruption taints not only the forestry service and the executive branch, but the judiciary as well, leaving Cameroon’s …

Challenging Equality: Property Loss, Government Fault, And The Global Warming Catastrophe, Laura S. Underkuffler

Northwestern University Law Review

One of the bedrock principles of American property law is that all property owners and all property are protected equally. We do not believe—when it comes to compensation for loss—that poor owners are compensated rigidly and rich owners are not, or that property in private homes is protected rigidly and property in commercial or industrial structures is not. When it comes to compensation due to public or private fault, we believe in absolute equality. Equal treatment of property is at the heart of the liberal state and is the promise of American property law.

This Essay challenges that bedrock idea. …

Empowering Women's Land Rights As A Climate Change Mitigation Strategy In Nigeria, Cate Baskin

Northwestern Journal of Human Rights

This article focuses on the intersection between gender and land rights as they relate to climate change in Nigeria. Decisions about land use, such as biodiversity management and farming techniques, impact the quality of the land and peoples’ ability to live off it. This article will show that women are better situated to utilize techniques which sustain the land. Despite this, women have historically been denied land rights in Nigeria, creating a disconnect between the women who cultivate the land and the men who own it and leading to unsustainable use of agricultural land in Nigeria. Climate change is only …

Rethinking The Dormant Commerce Clause?: Climate Change And Food Security, Michael Barsa

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

No abstract provided.

Water Security, Rhett B. Larson

Northwestern University Law Review

Climate change, as the dominant paradigm in natural resource policy, is obsolete and should be replaced by the water security paradigm. The climate change paradigm is obsolete because it fails to adequately resonate with the concerns of the general public and fails to integrate fundamental sustainability challenges related to economic development and population growth. The water security paradigm directly addresses the main reasons climate change ultimately matters to most people—droughts, floods, plagues, and wars. Additionally, this new proposed paradigm better integrates climate change concerns with other pressing global sustainability challenges—including that economic development and population growth will require 50% more …

An Inconvenient Lie: Big Tobacco Was Put On Trial For Denying The Effects Of Smoking; Is Climate Change Denial Off-Limits?, Elizabeth Dubats

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

Plaintiffs have made several notable attempts to bring nuisance, trespass, and negligence suits against major sources of greenhouse gas emissions for climate change related injuries. While climate change is a widely recognized environmental issue, courts have refused to recognize it as a basis for a valid cause of action in tort, finding either petitioners lack standing to bring the claim, or that the claim raises political questions that should not be addressed by the judiciary. Some more recent climate change tort claims have also included allegations of fraud on the part of the hydrocarbon industry for actively perpetuating misinformation about …

The Mismatch Between Public Nuisance Law And Global Warming, David A. Dana

Faculty Working Papers

The federal courts using the common law method of case-by-case adjudication may have institutional advantages over the more political branches, such as perhaps more freedom from interest group capture and more flexibility to tailor decisions to local conditions. Any such advantages, however, are more than offset by the disadvantages of relying on the courts in common resource management in general and in the management of the global atmospheric commons in particular. The courts are best able to serve a useful function resolving climate-related disputes once the political branches have acted by establishing a policy framework and working through the daunting …