International Environmental Law

The Latin American Lithium Industry is at a Crossroads

Policies set now by Argentina, Bolivia and Chile could determine the course of lithium mining—and the fight against climate change.

  It may be one of the most overused clichés favored by headline writers, but nonetheless, it is true that the Latin American lithium industry is at a crossroads. The regulatory decisions made by the Governments of Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile in the following months and years will set the course for the lithium industry, …

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The IPCC Should Just Say 1.5 C is Dead

The big takeaway from the IPCC’s latest report is that we’re still falling behind and must do hard things to catch up. It’s time to communicate that differently.

“There is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for all,” according to the IPCC’s AR6 Synthesis Report. That phrase spoke to the parent in me, though maybe not for the sentimental reason you might think. Most mornings I find myself repeating some version of “there is a rapidly …

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Solar Geoengineering in the News — Again and Again

An update on the serious and the silly

Solar geoengineering has been prominent in the news lately. It looks like the long-predicted spike of attention to these potential climate responses may finally be starting – with many attendant opportunities for controversy and confusion. For background on solar geoengineering, why it’s important to research, and what the debates over it are, check out various …

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Climate Policy’s “Plan B”

As the initial top-down approach failed, a new approach to climate policy crystalized.

My last blog post told the story of the original top-down approach to climate policy. It was supposed to feature binding restrictions on carbon emissions in a global treaty and federal legislation. By 2012, it was plain that neither half of this “Plan A” strategy was in the offing. Building on trends that had begun …

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Climate Policy at the Turn of the Century: The Death of “Plan A”

The original plan involved top-down global and US emission limits. They never happened.

When the campaign to cut carbon emissions began in the last decade of the 20th Century, there seemed to be a clear path forward. International negotiations would begin with a framework convention, followed by a later global agreement capping carbon emissions. Within the US, Congress would enact legislation cutting carbon emissions. By the end of …

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Here’s a New Acronym: CBAM. You’re Going to be Seeing It a Lot.

European Union flag

The EU has taken a major step to pressure global industries to clean up their act.

In December, the EU provisionally adopted a carbon tariff on imports. The official name is the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, or CBAM for short. The purpose of the mechanism is that EU companies, unlike many in other countries, have to pay a price for the carbon emitted in manufacturing. They need a border adjustment to …

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A Dangerous Disruption

A startup firm proposes to sell dubious carbon credits from stratospheric aerosol injection

Last week, MIT’s “Technology Review” reported that a small startup firm is proposing to spray reflective aerosols in the stratosphere commercially as a climate corrective. (Stratospheric Aerosol Injection or SAI.) Previously announced online in the Google Geoengineering Group, the firm is small and new, operating with a claimed total of $750K of venture financing. They …

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Loss and Damage

A deeper dive into the top issue at COP27

As I noted in my last post, this year’s conference of the parties to the climate treaties (COP27) became pretty much a single-issue conference, focused on adaptation and the associated needs for finance – in particular on the urgent need for financial assistance to support adaptation in the Global South, and the lamentable record of …

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Guest Contributor Laurel Hunt: Egypt’s Corals Get a Seat at the Table at COP27

Derek Keats, Diver, bubbles and wall at Elphinstone Reef, Red Sea, Egypt https://www.flickr.com/photos/dkeats/6186078630/

The region’s coral reefs are a precious resource under threat, but they also exhibit exceptional thermal tolerance to heat stress

Laurel Hunt (UCLA JD ’23) attended COP27 as a member of the UCLA Emmett Institute delegation. This is her fifth UN Climate meeting. This year, she moderated two panels on coral reefs and risk mapping. She is the former Executive Director of Los Angeles’ regional climate collaborative and an international city-to-city climate network. As global climate leaders edged toward …

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The Sleepwalking COP

Thoughts on COP27, this year’s climate conference

It’s two weeks since the end of this year’s annual Conference of the Parties to the international climate treaties, COP27, held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. You might have noticed an odd vagueness in accounts of this year’s COP.  These annual meetings are huge media events — understandably, since they are the highest-level international event on …

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