Environmental Law Commons^™

Whose Water? Corporatization Of A Common Good, Vanessa Casado-Pérez

Faculty Scholarship

This chapter encourages readers to think of agricultural communities in the era of climate change-induced droughts and population growth similar to when western Pennsylvania’s steel industry collapsed in the 1980s. If water must flow uphill to money, it should not leave a dust bowl behind. While this chapter’s proposals to address the effects on community build on examples of water reallocation where those effects have been addressed, both the just-transition literature and the experiences of some of the towns successfully adapting to abrupt changes in their economic tissue can offer lessons for areas suffering big water losses. In addition, privatization …

Apocalypse Ahoy: How The Cruise Industry Boom Is Harming The World’S Oceans And Problems With Enforcing Environmental Regulations, Nicholas J. Sarnelli

Brooklyn Law Review

The global cruise line industry enjoyed an incredible surge in popularity before the coronavirus pandemic. While the industry nearly sank in the wake of the pandemic, cruise lines are poised to continue to enjoy record-breaking profits while continuing to build larger and more opulent ships. This boom exacts a heavy toll on the environment, as cruise ships burn dirty fuel and dump dirty water into the world’s oceans. The current international legal framework for regulating the world’s shipping industry allows companies to effectively select which nation’s environmental laws to submit to, with ships flying under so-called “flags of convenience”. While …

Federal Land Conservation In Rural Areas, Jessica Owley, Jess Phelps

Brooklyn Law Review

Rural land has an important role to play in environmental protection. This Article examines how the federal government works to further the goals of land conservation in rural areas—ranging from farmland to forests and wetlands; from working landscapes to national parks; and from private to public landownership. We note three approaches. The federal government mandates conservation through laws like the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act. The federal government incentivizes conservation through Farm Bill programs and tax incentives. Finally, the federal government facilitates conservation through noncoercive funding, review, and technical assistance programs under the Farm Bill, the National …

High Time For A Change: How The Relationship Between Signatory Countries And The United Nations Conventions Governing Narcotic Drugs Must Adapt To Foster A Global Shift In Cannabis Law, Alexander Clementi

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Since the early 1970’s, the inclusion of cannabis and its byproducts in the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs has mandated a strict prohibition on cultivation and use of the substance, which has led to a largely global practice of criminalization and imprisonment of anyone found to be in its possession. Yet recently, mostly in response to growing public health concerns, countries like Uruguay, Portugal, The Netherlands, Canada, and the United States have enacted laws which seek to decriminalize or even legalize cannabis use and possession. Yet, cannabis remains classified as a Schedule IV narcotic under the Single Convention, …

Conceptualising A Role For The Common Law In Environmental Protection In Singapore, Kenny Chng

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In Singapore, the key institutions driving environmental protection are the legislature and the executive. The judiciary’s role in environmental protection has thus far been relatively minor. By drawing upon environmental law theory and comparative analysis of other common law jurisdictions, this paper aims to explore avenues through which the common law can be engaged more meaningfully to further environmental protection in Singapore. A conceptualisation of environmental law as directed at furthering the rule of law by promoting carefully-considered and participatory environmental governance will be suggested as a fruitful way forward for thinking about the role of the common law in …

Transformative Governance Of Biodiversity: Insights For Sustainable Development, J. Visseren-Hamakers Ingrid, Jona Razzaque, Pamela Mcelwee, Esther Turnhout, Eszter Kelemen, Graciela M. Rusch, Álvaro Fernández-Llamazares, Ivis Chan, Michelle Mei Ling Lim, Et Al.

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

While there is much debate on transformative change among academics and policymakers, the discussion on how to govern such change is still in its infancy. This article argues that transformative governance is needed to enable the transformative change necessary for achieving global sustainability goals. Based on a literature review, the article unpacks this concept of transformative governance. It is: integrative, to ensure local solutions also have sustainable impacts elsewhere (across scales, places, issues and sectors); inclusive, to empower those whose interests are currently not being met and represent values embodying transformative change for sustainability; adaptive, enabling learning, experimentation, and reflexivity, …

The Singapore Green Plan 2030: Analysing Its Implications On Law And The Legal Industry In Singapore, Wei Yao, Kenny Chng, Ken Wei Ong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

While sustainability has always been an important policy imperative in Singapore, the advent of the Singapore Green Plan 2030 marks a significant development in this regard. Announced in February 2021, the Green Plan represents a concerted national-level strategic shift towards advancing the sustainability agenda in Singapore. With sustainable development now being a ‘major policy priority’, it is inevitable that the Green Plan will have important legal implications, each of which will be identified and analysed in this paper. More broadly, however, the paper also suggests that the Green Plan will open up valuable opportunities for environmental law to receive greater …

Environmental Law, Disrupted By Covid-19, Rebecca Bratspies, Vanessa Casado-Pérez, Robin Kundis Craig, Lissa Griffin, Keith Hirokawa, Sarah Krakoff, Katrina Kuh, Jessica Owley, Melissa Powers, Shannon Roesler, Jonathan Rosenbloom, J.B. Ruhl, Erin Ryan, David Takacs

Faculty Scholarship

As we were in the final phases of editing a book on disruption in environmental law, a pandemic swept across the world disrupting daily life and the functioning of society to an extent unprecedented in living memory. The novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 was identified in China in late 2019 and by late February 2020, it had spread to every continent except Antarctica; as of April, 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that over 148 million people had been infected worldwide with over 3 million deaths. Scientists and public health experts have raced to understand the virus—how is it …

Introduction To Special Section On Climate Change Litigation, Vanessa Casado-Pérez, Emanuela Orlando

Faculty Scholarship

Acknowledging the exponential growth and global dimension of climate litigation, this introductory piece to this Special Section starts by situating this phenomenon in the context of the scholarly debate on polycentric and multi-level climate governance. It highlights both the strategic use of climate litigation as a tool to establish responsibilities and push for a more ambitious mitigation and adaptation agenda, but also as an opportunity to better understand the role of courts in public policy governance. The second part of the article then proceeds to discuss the main findings arising from the various contributions grouped in this section, and concludes …

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 …

Conservation Law Center Receives Grants For Internships, James Owsley Boyd

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

No abstract provided.

Parámetros Para Orientar Procesos Informales De Concertación En Movilidad Urbana Sostenible En Colombia, Erika Castro-Buitrago, Jorge E. Vásquez Santamaría

The Qualitative Report

El artículo propone desde un punto de vista jurídico los parámetros de actuación que pueden orientar los procesos de concertación informal sobre movilidad urbana sostenible entre autoridades y ciudadanos en Colombia, acudiendo a las experiencias de concertación informal de actores ciudadanos. Se empleó una metodología cualitativa, con enfoque sociojurídico y hermenéutica dialógica. La información empírica se recopiló a través de entrevistas semiestructuradas a informantes clave y el análisis de documentos. Los hallazgos mostraron que una buena parte de estos procesos tiene lugar de manera informal y los participantes no poseen directrices que dirijan su éxito. Además, la concertación de proyectos …

Bahr V. Regan, Aspen B. Ward

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In June 2015, the Lake Fire burned through California’s San Bernardino National Forest. Three hundred miles east of the fire, six air quality monitors exceeded NAAQS in Phoenix, Arizona. Arizona’s Department of Environmental Quality petitioned the EPA to exclude those exceedances to avoid stricter regulatory burdens and the need for contingency measures. Applying the Exceptional Events Rule, the EPA permitted the petition to exclude the data therefore allowing Phoenix to successfully demonstrate attainment of the ozone NAAQS by the July 2018 deadline. Petitioners sought review of the EPA’s final decision and were denied their petition for review by the Ninth …

Panel Discussion: Decarbonization With Decarceration: Renewable Rikers And The Transition To Clean Power, Rebecca Bratspies

Lesley K. McAllister Symposium on Climate and Energy Law

No abstract provided.

Panel Discussion: Insights On Electrification And Energy Resilience, Tony Clark

Lesley K. McAllister Symposium on Climate and Energy Law

No abstract provided.

Panel Discussion: Energy Resilience And Deep Decarbonization, Miguel Romero

Lesley K. McAllister Symposium on Climate and Energy Law

No abstract provided.

Panel Discussion: Fact Or Doctrine? Inconsistencies In The Application Of The Dormant Commerce Clause’S Extraterritoriality Principle To Challenges To State Climate Change Prevention Policies, Kelsey Gagnon

Lesley K. McAllister Symposium on Climate and Energy Law

No abstract provided.

Keynote: Decarbonizing The Electricity Sector, Siva Gunda

Lesley K. McAllister Symposium on Climate and Energy Law

No abstract provided.

Panel Discussion: Virtual Power Plants And The Climate Challenge, Kevin B. Jones

Lesley K. McAllister Symposium on Climate and Energy Law

No abstract provided.

Panel Discussion: Energy Resilience And Extreme Weather Events, Alice Reynolds

Lesley K. McAllister Symposium on Climate and Energy Law

No abstract provided.

Panel Discussion: Extreme Weather Events In The Changing Climate Of California, Alexander Gershunov

Lesley K. McAllister Symposium on Climate and Energy Law

No abstract provided.

Panel Discussion: Hydropower’S Promise: The Opportunities And Challenges Of Hydropower For Mitigating Climate-Driven Scarcity, Lauren Perkins

Lesley K. McAllister Symposium on Climate and Energy Law

No abstract provided.

Keynote: Climate Adaptation, Darcie Houck, Andrew Mcallister

Lesley K. McAllister Symposium on Climate and Energy Law

No abstract provided.

Bolstering Juliana: Enforceability Of Environmental Claims Through International Treaty Obligations In U.S. Courts, Lindsey Laielli

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract forthcoming.

The Case Against The Case For Zoning, Michael Lewyn

Scholarly Works

Power points used in a presentation on a work in progress, responding to Christopher Serkin's "Case For Zoning" article at 96 Notre Dame L. Rev. 749.

Fiduciary Duties And Corporate Climate Responsibility., Cynthia A. Williams

Articles by Maurer Faculty

I remain intrigued with the benefits as well as the costs of agency relationships and in particular the possible power of fiduciary duties to be harnessed to advance the firm's social responsibilities. That is, can internal mechanisms of the firm, the private law (from a European perspective) fiduciary duties of agents, be used to advance external public law goals? Instead of outward standards of responsibility being brought into the firm through external mechanisms (i.e., voluntary standards development and third-party assurance), could the internal standards of agents' responsibilities to the firm, their fiduciary duties, be used to extend responsible action beyond …

Corporate Net-Zero Pledges: The Bad And The Ugly, Jack Arnold, Perrine Toledano

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

The Paris Agreement on Climate Change, adopted in 2015 and ratified or acceded to by 192 states and the European Union (EU), marked a historic turning point on global climate action. Achieving the agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to not more than 1.5 °C relative to the industrial era (1880-1900) will require a transformation of global energy systems, with the active participation and contribution of all actors in the economy. Many companies have pledged to reach net-zero direct and indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. This report analyzes such pledges by 35 companies across seven industries – oil …

Decarbonization Pathways For Paraguay’S Energy Sector, Columbia Center On Sustainable Investment, Quadracci Sustainable Engineering Lab, Centro De Recursos Naturales, Energía Y Desarrollo (Crece)

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

In light of the upcoming renegotiation of Annex C of the Treaty of Itaipú, the Ministry of Finance of Paraguay asked Professor Jeffrey Sachs and his team to revisit the 2013 report, with support from the Development Bank of Latin America (Banco de Desarrollo de América Latina [CAF]) and in partnership with the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN).

CCSI, the Quadracci Sustainable Engineering Lab at Columbia University, and the Centro de Recursos Naturales, Energía y Desarrollo (CRECE) authored the report Decarbonization Pathways for Paraguay’s Energy Sector, published by CCSI in November 2021.

The report – available in English …

Unep And Marine & Environmental Law Institute, "Plastics Toolbox: Business, Human Rights, And The Environment" (Last Updated November 2021) (Dalhousie University, Schulich School Of Law), Marine And Environmental Law Institute

Human Rights-based Approaches to Plastic Pollution

The Plastics Toolbox: Business, Human Rights, and the Environment, compiles good practices and cross-cutting guidance on a human rights-based approach to plastic pollution prevention and management with a focus on capacity building of governments and businesses in the East Asian Seas region. This compilation of resources, guidance, tools and trainings was prepared by a team of researchers at Dalhousie University's Marine and Environmental Law Institute under the direction of project lead Dr Sara L Seck, with funding from the United Nations Environment Programme. The materials in the toolbox were gathered from May to August 2021 and updated in November 2021. …

Mapping Human Rights-Based Climate Litigation In Canada, Lisa Benjamin, Sara L. Seck

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In line with global trends, there has been an increase in human rights-based climate litigation brought in Canadian courts in recent years. Some litigants invoke human rights as found in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to push federal and provincial governments to take seriously the implementation of their climate obligations. Other litigants invoke procedural environmental human rights to engage in free speech and peaceful protest in the face of government action supporting fossil fuel consumption or expansion. At the same time, the Supreme Court of Canada has recognized that Canadian courts could develop civil remedies for corporate violations …