Region: International
What Do Bureaucrats Maximize?
New research demonstrates that governments can reduce intractable emissions problems — if they have the right incentives
It’s no secret that Delhi has perhaps the worst air quality in the world, and it’s also no secret that crop-burning in nearby agricultural areas is one of the principal causes (along with topography). But what can you do about it? It’s illegal already, but because crop-burning is a cheap and effective way to get rid …
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CONTINUE READINGHow Methane Satellites Work and Why it Matters
This new UCLA Law report aims to help policymakers understand the science and utility of methane satellites.
These days, I’ll take progress on climate change where I can get it. And one place to look right now is up — literally. New satellites are providing never-before-seen data about global methane sources, helping policymakers, industry, and others target that superpollutant in new ways. Today, some colleagues at UCLA Law and I are releasing …
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CONTINUE READINGFrom Sacramento to Geneva: Two Arenas Tackle Plastic Pollution
California considers adding microplastics to its Candidate Chemical List as delegates negotiate a Global Binding Treaty on Plastics in Switzerland
Last Monday, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) closed its public comment period on a proposal to add microplastics to its Candidate Chemicals List. Adding microplastics to this list would allow the State’s Safer Consumer Product Program to evaluate potential Priority Products that may contain or release microplastics. The Program works to make …
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CONTINUE READINGChina is Kicking Our Ass at Our Own Game
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
The first time I saw a Chinese-made EV on the road I was walking on a crowded sidewalk in São Paulo. It was a Saturday night this May, when the whole city seemed to be out enjoying the warm weather. A street rave took over an entire block so to keep moving, we pedestrians had …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Animal Agriculture Industry Undermines Climate Action
Photo by MRC Témiscamingue
Guest Contributor Alexander Wood, a UCLA Law student, writes that lessons learned from Big Oil can be applied to animal agriculture.
The case for decarbonization to address climate change is often, understandably, directed toward the fossil fuel industry. Public opinion toward the oil and gas industry has shifted in recent years, driven in part by public protests and litigation. Why hasn’t there been more movement against greenhouse gas emissions caused by animal agriculture? Emissions from Animal …
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CONTINUE READINGWorld’s Biggest Court Opinion on Climate
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
For more than 24 hours last week, my social media feeds were a wall of jubilant reaction to the World Court’s big climate opinion. People who work on, and care about, the climate crisis needed some good news, clearly. That begs the question, is the advisory opinion really as big a deal as people wanted …
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CONTINUE READING“A Historic Day”: the World Court’s Big Climate Opinion
UN/ICJ/Jeroen Bouman
UCLA Law’s Anna Spain Bradley offers takeaways from the International Court of Justice’s Advisory Opinion on the Obligations of States in Respect of Climate Change.
It’s been a long time coming but nations of the world officially have a legal obligation to limit their emissions of greenhouse gases or else pay reparations for the harms of climate change. That was the unanimous opinion handed down yesterday by the 14 judges on the International Court of Justice, sometimes called the World …
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CONTINUE READINGGlobal Energy Trends
Trump or no Trump, the global economy is shifting toward clean energy.
Globally, fossil fuels aren’t disappearing but they’re not gaining a lot of ground, while renewables have been booming. Trump can’t do much to change this: right now China is a big player than we are.
CONTINUE READINGWhat does ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’ Mean in California?
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
A court fight over oil drilling off the coast of Refugio State Beach near Santa Barbara. Proposals to drill around public schools in Ojai and Los Osos. The potential for oil operations directly adjacent to popular national monuments. New risks to our ecosystems that sustain imperiled species like the California condor. This is what “Drill, …
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CONTINUE READINGA Landmark Geoengineering Conversation in the Global South
The UCLA Emmett Institute helps sponsor and organize the Degrees Global Forum, the largest event of its kind to date.
I post periodically about developments in the debate over solar geoengineering (SRM) and its potential role in response to climate change. News accounts may suggest that this debate moves fast, but it has three enduring, large-scale themes. First, SRM presents high stakes for climate risks and response – which most governments thus far have been …
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