Adaptation & Resilience

89 posts

Second Round of Sandy Relief Money Conditioned on Future Sea Level Rise Risk Analysis

Ethan I. Strell, Esq. Associate Director and Fellow Columbia Center for Climate Change Law On Monday November 18, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a Federal Register Notice setting forth the requirements for the second round of relief funds appropriated by the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act […]

Environmental Impact Statements Addressing Resiliency and Adaptation

Ethan I. Strell, Associate Director & Fellow Columbia Center for Climate Change Law In a subtle but meaningful shift, the environmental impact review process in New York City is beginning to more systematically consider the potential effects of a changing climate on proposed projects, not just the effects that a […]

A Coastal Conundrum: Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act and Coastal Insurance Policy

by CCCL Intern Congress passed the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act just two months before Sandy scoured the northeast, and “requires rates to rise 25 percent annually on some repeatedly flooded houses, second homes and businesses,” and on properties where the costs imposed by past floods exceed the property’s selling […]

The new Spanish Law for the protection (or not?) of the coast against the effects of climate change

Teresa Parejo Professor of Law Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain) Spain has recently adopted a potentially promising reform to its coastal law to update it in response to climate change threats. However, a close read suggests that the reform contains contradictions that illuminate a less-public minded purpose behind the […]

Panel Provides Insight on Challenges, Opportunities, and Legal Issues in Coastal Managed Retreat

Five months after Superstorm Sandy, the recovering northeast region continues to debate whether to rebuild in the most vulnerable coastal areas or whether to retreat and leave those lands as protective buffers.   A decision to engage in managed retreat would face significant legal, political, and practical challenges, but, according to […]