Region: International
Africa in 2050
The continent will face vast challenges. Dealing with them is a global priority.
Take explosive population growth, acute vulnerability to future climate change, and social vulnerability. Stir well and bake. That’s a recipe for trouble. It’s also Africa in 2050. Overcoming the resulting problems is among humanity’s greatest challenges. Currently, 490 million Africans live below the extreme poverty level ($2/day per person). The number is rising but the …
Continue reading “Africa in 2050”
CONTINUE READINGTackling Agricultural Methane: Monitoring and Policy Strategies
A review of inventory, monitoring, and regulatory tools needed to reduce agricultural methane emissions
(This post was authored by Eric Peshkin, a JD candidate at NYU School of Law and CLEE summer research assistant) Last week, global leaders announced a commitment to reducing global methane emissions. In a previous blog post, I briefly reviewed some of the innovative strategies to reduce methane emissions from agricultural livestock and rice operations, …
Continue reading “Tackling Agricultural Methane: Monitoring and Policy Strategies”
CONTINUE READINGTackling Agricultural Methane: An Overview of the Science
Promising strategies and technologies to address an urgent climate priority
(This post was authored by Eric Peshkin, a JD candidate at NYU School of Law and CLEE summer research assistant) Agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the raising of livestock and growth of crops for human consumption represent 14% of global GHG emissions. Methane (CH4) is a central GHG generated during agricultural production (via microbial …
Continue reading “Tackling Agricultural Methane: An Overview of the Science”
CONTINUE READINGWhat If We Succeed?
If we “beat” climate change, what will we have to show for it?
Suppose we bring climate change under control and deal with its fallout. What will have we achieved? We will have prevented great harm. That, of course, is the main goal. Untamed climate change means an dangerous, ugly future for all of us on “Spaceship Earth.” Preventing that future is surely enough of a reason to …
Continue reading “What If We Succeed?”
CONTINUE READINGHot off the Press: The New IPCC Report
The latest science confirms the need for urgent action.
The IPCC issued the massive first volume of its new report on climate change on Monday. This volume focuses on climate science: how much will the world warm, and what will the impacts be? The bottom line is that the evidence is becoming ever firmer that (a) humans are causing an unprecedented rate of climate …
Continue reading “Hot off the Press: The New IPCC Report”
CONTINUE READINGProfs. William Boyd and Alex Wang Join Prof. Ted Parson in Emmett Institute Faculty Leadership
Faculty Take on New Roles at Emmett Institute
This month, the Emmett Institute is thrilled to welcome two of our core faculty members, William Boyd and Alex Wang, to new roles at the Institute. Both will serve as faculty co-directors alongside our faculty director Ted Parson. In their new roles, Prof. Wang and Prof. Boyd will help lead the Emmett Institute’s ambitious research, …
CONTINUE READINGTowards Optimal Climate Policy, Part II
The future of effective climate policy requires balancing equity, efficiency, political feasibility, and technological innovation
In the prior blog post in this two-part series, I talked about how current debates on climate policy that are focused on equity and efficiency are inadequate. Today, I’ll explain how we might advance political feasibility through climate policy, how that is connected to technological innovation, and how we must necessarily balance between all four …
Continue reading “Towards Optimal Climate Policy, Part II”
CONTINUE READINGTowards Optimal Climate Policy, Part I
Moving the debate beyond equity and efficiency
As Congress debates two large pieces of legislation – both a bipartisan infrastructure bill and a partisan reconciliation package – a key question is the extent to which either piece of legislation (assuming it is enacted) addresses climate policy. And the recent flooding in Europe, the wildfires in the western US and Russia, and more …
Continue reading “Towards Optimal Climate Policy, Part I”
CONTINUE READINGMajor International Climate Developments
China and the EU took important steps forward this week.
This week has seen some big climate moves on opposite sides of the world. The EU has proposed a major new climate plan. Meanwhile, China is ready to go live with its emissions trading system. The U.S. is at risk of being left behind. The EU’s proposal is impressive. The goal is to cut net …
Continue reading “Major International Climate Developments”
CONTINUE READINGGuest Contributor Kate Mackintosh: 200 Words to Save the Planet—The Crime of Ecocide
Could ecocide become the fifth crime to be prosecuted at the International Criminal Court?
Last month, a panel of international lawyers chaired by Philippe Sands and Dior Fall Sow launched our proposal for a new crime of ‘ecocide’ – an international crime of environmental destruction that would sit alongside genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression at the International Criminal Court. The idea of ecocide …
CONTINUE READING