Climate Law

7 posts

Removing Carbon Dioxide Through Ocean Fertilization: Legal Challenges and Opportunities

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 […]

Permitting Seaweed Cultivation for Carbon Sequestration in California: Barriers and Recommendations

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 […]

Chile Adopts New Climate Change Framework Law: A Paradigm Shift

On June 13, 2022, Chile published its Climate Change Framework Law (“the Climate Act”). The Climate Act includes a binding goal of net zero emissions by 2050 at the latest, following the recommendations of the IPCC. It creates regulatory instruments, a new crosscutting governance, and opportunities for public participation. The Climate Act also creates important challenges and opportunities for Chile’s private sector. This blog explores these elements and how they imply a paradigm shift in Chilean climate governance, becoming a leader in Latin America for climate action.

New Sabin Center White Paper Recommends Legal Steps to Help New Jersey Meet GHG Reduction & Environmental Justice Goals

In a new white paper, we analyze New Jersey’s implementation gap in both the climate and justice space and offer some key recommendations to align executive action with the state’s bold promises. The paper’s findings and recommendations are potentially applicable to the many other states who have set climate and justice goals without robustly embedding them into their existing legal and administrative landscapes.

In a first for climate nuisance claims, a Hawai‘i State Court allowed Honolulu to proceed with its case against fossil fuel companies

By Korey Silverman-Roati Background Starting in 2017, cities, counties, and states across the United States have filed claims (see here and here) in state courts against fossil fuel companies seeking redress for the climate harms their products have caused. Many of these cases asserted nuisance and other tort law claims. […]

STAFF NEWS: JACOB ELKIN JOINS THE SABIN CENTER AS NEW CLIMATE LAW FELLOW & MARIA ANTONIA TIGRE AS GLOBAL CLIMATE LITIGATION FELLOW

This month, Jacob Elkin joins the Sabin Center as the 2021-2022 Climate Law Fellow. His work at the Sabin Center will include the Renewable Energy Legal Defense Initiative, the Climate Attribution Database, the Climate Reregulation Tracker, the New York State and City Climate Law Trackers, as well as submitting comment […]

The Second Circuit Takes on the Clean Air Act’s International Air Pollution Provision and Climate Change

By Michael Burger* On April 1, 2021, a unanimous Second Circuit panel dismissed a lawsuit filed by New York City against a handful of fossil fuel companies seeking damages for climate change harms under state public nuisance and trespass law. (The opinion and other case materials are available here.) The […]