by Michael B. Gerrard This article first appeared on the Asia Society’s blog, ReAsia. Cities have at least four central roles in the fight against climate change. In most countries: 1. Cities write and enforce building codes, which, by determining energy efficiency standards and heating types, help determine greenhouse gas […]
By Julia Ciardullo Fellow On May 26, 2011, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced that New Jersey will withdraw from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (“RGGI”) by the end of the year. RGGI is a regional cap-and-trade system encompassing 10 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states.[1] Governor Christie’s authority to withdraw arises […]
The last day of the conference began with a panel that analyzed the adaptation needs and strategies for threatened islands. Professor Klaus Jacob of Columbia University presented a risk assessment model using the variables of hazards, assets, and vulnerability. He outlined two approaches to the model: 1) using loss estimates […]
Day 2 of the Threatened Islands Conference focused on the displacement, resettlement, and migration issues that will inevitably ensue from global climate change. The first panel, moderated by Professor John Van Dyke of the University of Hawaii Law School, focused on the larger themes of resettlement and migration. Professor Brad […]
The Threatened Island Nations commenced this morning co-chaired by Professor Michael Gerrard (Director of the Columbia Center for Climate Change Law) and Ambassador Phillip Muller (Republic of the Marshall Islands). Gerrard provided a brief introduction about the inspiration for the conference and thanked the Earth Institute at Columbia University, World […]
By Danielle Sugarman Fellow The glaciers in Patagonia provide Argentina with 70% of its safe drinking water. Yet, alarmingly, this vital resource is facing dual man-made threats; one from the persistent effects of climate change and another, less well known, from the foreign companies who mine for gold under the […]
Laura Mulry Fellow April 2011 was an eventful month for massive solar projects in California and their unlikely opponent: the desert tortoise. As climate change, overpopulation, and development place ever more plant and animal species at risk of extinction, prominent environmental groups, Native Americans, and local residents have brought a […]
Gregory E. Wannier Deputy Director One of the most controversial questions to be discussed at CCCL’s upcoming conference, Threatened Island Nations: Legal Implications of Rising Seas and a Changing Climate, will be whether efforts should be made to create a new convention dedicated to climate-related displacement and resettlement activities. Taking […]