Climate Law Blog

Justin Gundlach Climate Law Fellow In an opinion issued on May 11, 2016, a two-judge panel of India’s Supreme Court chastised that country’s federal and regional governments for their recent responses to severe droughts, which the Court said contravene key provisions of the National Disaster Mitigation Act of 2005 (DM Act). The case was brought in […]

by Michael Burger and Justin Gundlach This morning the Sabin Center filed an amicus brief in support of EPA’s Clean Power Plan on behalf of a coalition of local government representatives including the National League of Cities, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and 54 U.S. cities, counties, and mayors. (Check the end of the post […]

Justin Gundlach Climate Law Fellow Over the past decade, as the scientific consensus about the fact and nature of anthropogenic climate change has solidified, extreme weather events have destroyed enormous sums of assets, infrastructure investments, and large numbers of human lives. Set against the backdrop of climate change, these events have prompted charged arguments over […]

Justin Gundlach Climate Law Fellow The Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 calls for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to incorporate sea level rise into the Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) that inform how FEMA and other agencies implement programs related to flood insurance and flood-related disaster mitigation and recovery. The 2013 charter […]

Since the first draft negotiating text was released last spring, the inclusion of a “climate change displacement coordination facility” in the anticipated Paris agreement has been on the table. Recently, in the wake of the migrant crisis in the Middle East and Europe, the prospect has gained some momentum. Yet, there has been very little […]

by Michael Burger Last week I traveled to Vientiane, Laos, to give a presentation at the National Workshop on Disaster and Climate Change Law. The workshop, convened by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Disaster Law Program, and the government of Laos, is one […]

Jennifer M. Klein, Associate Director & Fellow, and Michael Burger, Executive Director Earlier this week, the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law staff and our team of summer interns toured several sites on Staten Island where New York State is implementing innovative storm recovery measures. Staten Island was among the areas most devastated by Superstorm […]

Nathan Utterback Sabin Center Summer Intern Last month marked an important development in the UN’s process of identifying climate change goals and establishing an action plan for the near future. Committees of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) met from June 1 through June 11 in Bonn, Germany to discuss implementation goals leading […]

Bri Cornish Sabin Center Summer Intern & Rising 2L at Columbia Law School On Monday, June 8th, leaders from small island nations around the South Pacific issued the “People’s Declaration for Climate Justice.” The declaration unites the island nations, which are particularly vulnerable to the calamitous impacts of climate change, against large international companies emitting greenhouse gases, […]

Jessica Wentz Associate Director and Postdoctoral Fellow Saturday, June 20 is World Refugee Day – an occasion for recognizing the plight of millions of people who have been forced to leave their homes due to conflict, persecution, natural disasters, and other circumstances beyond their control. The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and other civil society […]