UNEP Publishes Report on the Link between Climate Change and Human Rights

Michael Burger, Executive Director Jessica Wentz, Associate Director and Fellow Today, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) published a report that we co-authored on Climate Change and Human Rights, with forewords from UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner and John Knox, the Independent Expert on Human Rights and Environment. The release […]

December 2015 Update to the Climate Litigation Charts

Each month, Arnold & Porter and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law collect and summarize developments in climate-related litigation, which we also add to our U.S. and non-U.S. climate litigation charts.  If you know of any cases we have missed, please email us at columbiaclimate at gmail dot com. Here are the additions […]

Dispatch from the Paris Climate Conference: Illustrating the Challenge of Arriving at a Meaningful Agreement

Justin Gundlach Climate Law Fellow Justin spent the past week at the Paris climate conference working on behalf of the Legal Response Initiative Negotiators at the Paris climate conference have completed a first draft of an agreement, but one that is full of “brackets” – meaning that many of the […]

Failure To Take Climate Action Is Not Only Morally Wrong, It’s Illegal

Michael Burger Executive Director Today marks the official beginning of the long-anticipated 21st Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, in Paris, France. As in the past—Copenhagen in 2009, Kyoto in 1997—hopes are high that government leaders will sign an international agreement that puts the planet on course to avoid […]

Incorporating Sea Level Rise Into Flood Maps: Advisory Council’s Interim Report to FEMA

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 […]

Public Meeting in Georgia to Discuss NEPA Requirements for Oil and Gas Projects

Jessica Wentz Associate Director and Fellow Earlier this month, I visited Savannah, Georgia to talk with concerned citizens about the environmental review process for oil and gas infrastructure in their state. My presentation focused on how the public can use the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to ensure that agencies […]

Washington State Court Affirms that Climate Change Affects Public Trust Resources but Denies Relief

On November 19, the Washington State Superior Court issued a decision in which it affirmed that climate change affects public trust resources in the state, but ultimately held that the state was fulfilling its public trust obligations by engaging in rulemaking to establish more comprehensive greenhouse gas (GHG) standards. The […]