By Amy Turner On August 16, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (or “IRA”), widely hailed as the most ambitious piece of climate legislation in U.S. history. The bill is sprawling, covering climate and energy topics as diverse as electric vehicles, building decarbonization, clean energy manufacturing and supply chains, […]
Cross-cutting Issues
By Korey Silverman-Roati Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) will be needed, alongside deep emissions cuts, to achieve global temperature goals. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has emphasized that, to limit warming to 1.5oC or 2oc, in line with the Paris Agreement, global carbon dioxide emissions must reach net-zero between […]
By Marlies Hesselman* The first week of July 2022 brought on several major developments in climate litigation in the Netherlands, with possibly significant ramifications for a new type of global climate litigation. After landmark decisions in Urgenda and Shell, plaintiffs are asking a Dutch court to weigh in on a […]
By Maria Antonia Tigre While the United States Supreme Court yesterday delivered a major setback to the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions in West Virginia. v. EPA, courts in other countries this week have issued decisions that demonstrate that courts worldwide remain an important forum for the potential […]
To avoid the worst impacts of climate change, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has found that, by 2030, the world needs to be installing four times more wind and solar energy per year than the record-breaking levels set in 2020. This will require an immense mobilization of resources. Reaching the […]
By Korey Silverman-Roati Growing interest in using the oceans to enhance removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere has in turn spurred more interest in seaweed cultivation. A recent report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) concluded that the “ocean holds great potential for uptake and longer-term sequestration […]
Despite scientists’ dire warnings about the impacts of climate change, the anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions that cause it continue to increase. The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide—the most commonly emitted greenhouse gas—is now higher than at any time in at least the last 800,000 years and likely several million years. […]
By Yumeno Grace Nishikawa, LLM* The Supreme Court of Japan may soon weigh in on a growing field of climate litigation in Japan against coal-fired power plants. On May 6, 2022, the Citizens’ Committee on the Kobe Coal-Fired Power Plant filed an appeal to Japan’s Supreme Court in Citizens’ Committee […]