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Legal and Policy Pathways of Climate Change Adaptation: Comparative Analysis of the Adaptation Practices in the United States, Australia and China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 May 2018

Xiangbai He*
Affiliation:
Kenneth Wang School of Law, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu (China). Email: xiangbaitree@163.com.

Abstract

To successfully respond to climate change impacts, it is imperative that governments structure adaptation laws and policies around their country’s existing legal framework. The United States (US), China, and Australia have all made adaptation attempts through legislative, executive, and judicial action. However, because the systems of law and governance of the three countries differ, the ways in which adaptation issues are managed vary. State and local adaptation planning functions as the leading adaptation pathway in the US, whereas in Australia judicial intervention is more influential than executive action. By contrast, China relies primarily on policy to manage adaptation issues. This article argues that the differences in adaptation responses are the result of a complex combination of factors, which include climate politics and awareness of adaptation, the status of environmental principles, and the role of the judiciary. This analysis helps in identifying the opportunities and barriers associated with different adaptation solutions, and also contributes to cross-jurisdictional learning.

Type
Article
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2018 

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Footnotes

I wish to thank Bruce Huber, Justin Gundlach and Alexander Zahar for their valuable comments, and am also grateful for the valuable advice from four anonymous peer reviewers. All errors remain mine. This article is funded by the Chinese Ministry of Education’s Young Scholar Research Project on Humanities and Social Science, Project No. 16YJC820010.

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125 Australia’s National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development (1992) defines ecologically sustainable development as ‘using, conserving and enhancing the community’s resources so that ecological processes, on which life depends, are maintained, and the total quality of life, now and in the future, can be increased’: Australian Government, Department of the Environment and Energy, ‘National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development’, available at: http://www.environment.gov.au/about-us/esd/publications/national-esd-strategy-part1#WIESD. The ESD principle involves a cluster of elements or principles, including the principle of integration, the precautionary principle, and the principle of inter-generational and intra-generational equity.

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127 Gippsland Coastal Board v. South Gippsland Shire Council (2008) VCAT 1545.

128 The precautionary principle is included in the Inter-Governmental Agreement on the Environment (Brisbane, Qld (Australia), 31 Oct. 1990, in force 1 May 1992), which states that where there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation: Australian Government, Department of the Environment and Energy, ‘Inter-Governmental Agreement on the Environment’, available at: https://www.environment.gov.au/about-us/esd/publications/intergovernmental-agreement.

129 Department of Planning and Community Development Victoria 2008, ‘General Practice Note: Managing Coastal Hazards and the Coastal Impacts of Climate Change’, Aug. 2015, available at: https://www.planning.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/13445/PPN53-Managing-coastal-hazards-and-the-coastal-impacts-of-climate-change_August-2015.pdf.

130 US Climate Change Litigation, n. 107 above.

131 Peel & Osofsky, n. 56 above, pp. 2221–2.

132 Northcape Properties v. District Council of Yorke Peninsula (2008) SASC 57.

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138 Search results from the China Judgments Online website, using three key words, show that there are 385 cases altogether: China Judgments Online, http://wenshu.court.gov.cn/Index.

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152 Peel & Osofsky, n. 56 above, pp. 2211–2.

153 Z. Leviston, M. Greenhill & I. Walker, ‘Australian Attitudes to Climate Change and Adaptation: 2010–2014’, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, 3 Nov. 2015, p. 40, available at: https://doi.org/10.4225/08/584af21158fe9.

154 The National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility was established by the Australian government to generate critical information for decision makers to manage the risks of climate change impacts in vulnerable areas.

155 Vanhala, n. 143 above, p. 462.

156 Peel & Osofsky, n. 56 above, p. 2246.

157 B.J. Preston, ‘Climate Change Litigation in the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales and Other Courts’, conference paper presented at the Australasian Conference of Planning and Environment Courts and Tribunals, Christchurch (New Zealand), 19–20 Aug. 2009, available at: http://www.lec.justice.nsw.gov.au/Documents/preston_climate%20change%20litigation%20in%20the%20lec%20and%20other%20courts.pdf.

158 Peel &Osofsky, n. 116 above, p. 110.

159 Peel & Osofsky, n. 56 above, pp. 2179–80.

160 Carlarne, n. 147 above, p. 317; Ansolabehere, S. & Konisky, D.M., Cheap and Clean: How Americans Think about Energy in the Age of Global Warming (The MIT Press, 2014), pp. 153169 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

161 J. Wolf, ‘How Do Republicans and Democrats Differ on Climate & Environment Policies?’, Planet Experts, 5 Aug. 2016, available at: http://www.planetexperts.com/republicans-democrats-differ-climate-environment-policies; D. Leonhardt, ‘On Climate, Republicans and Democrats Are from Different Continents’, The New York Times, 7 May 2015, available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/08/upshot/on-climate-republicans-and-democrats-are-from-different-continents.html.

162 He, n. 50 above, p. 94.

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166 May & Hite, ibid., p. 20.

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170 Ibid., p. 688.

171 China’s first EPL was promulgated in 1979. The particular social and political context at that time (the Cultural Revolution ended in 1976) meant that this law was passed by Congress in a trial version only. Ten years later, in 1989, this trial version was replaced by an updated EPL. The third revision was passed in 2014.

172 Chang, J., ‘Theory and Practice of China’s Rule of Environmental Law in the Past Three Decades’ (2009) 9(5) Journal of China University of Geosciences (Social Sciences Edition), pp. 2835 Google Scholar, at 29 (in Chinese).

173 Art. 5 EPL 2014 provides that ‘environmental protection shall adhere to the following principles: according priority to protection, emphasis on prevention, integrated governance, public participation and liability for the assumption of damages’.

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177 Lyster, R., ‘Chasing Down the Climate Change Footprint of the Private and Public Sectors: Forces Converge’ (Pt 1) (2007) 24(4) Environmental and Planning Law Journal, pp. 281321 Google Scholar, at 306.

178 Gray v. Minister for Planning (2006) NSWLEC 720.

179 Peel, J. & Godden, L., ‘Planning for Adaptation to Climate Change: Landmark Cases from Australia’ (2009) 9(2) Sustainable Development Law & Policy, pp. 3741 Google Scholar, at 41.

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183 American Electric Power v. Connecticut, ibid.

184 Markell & Ruhl, n. 111 above, p. 25.

185 Re Otter Tail Power Company, Supreme Court of South Dakota, 2008, 744 N.W.2d 594.

186 Peel & Osofsky, n. 116 above, p. 275.

187 B.J. Preston, ‘The Role of the Courts in Relation to Adaptation to Climate Change’, in Bonyhady, Macintosh & McDonald, n. 21 above, pp. 157–201, at 200.

188 Vanhala, n. 143 above, p. 458.

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190 There are 3 state-level environmental courts and tribunals: the NSWLEC, the Queensland Planning and Environment Court, and the South Australia Environment Resources and Development Court. Tasmania, Western Australia, Victoria, the Northern Territory, and the Australian Capital Territory have specialized tribunals or ‘lists’ within tribunals to hear environmental law claims.

191 Preston, B.J., ‘Benefits of Judicial Specialization in Environmental Law: The Land and Environment Court of New South Wales as a Case Study’ (2012) 29(2) Pace Environmental Law Review, pp. 396440 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, at 439.

192 Ibid.

193 Ibid., p. 428.

194 Preston, B.J., ‘Characteristics of Successful Environmental Courts and Tribunals’ (2014) 26(3) Journal of Environmental Law, pp. 365393 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, at 385.

195 Peel & Osofsky, n. 56 above, pp. 2221–2.

196 ‘Why the Separation of Powers Doctrine Shall Not Be Accepted in China?’, 3 Mar. 2006, available at: http://theory.people.com.cn/GB/49150/49152/4161852.html (in Chinese).

197 M. Forsythe, ‘China’s Chief Justice Rejects an Independent Judiciary, and Reformers Wince’, 19 Jan. 2017, available at: http://cn.nytimes.com/china/20170119/china-chief-justice-courts-zhou-qiang/en-us.

198 Su, Y. & He, X., ‘Street as Courtroom: State Accommodation of Labor Protest in South China’ (2010) 44(1) Law & Society Review, pp. 157184 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, at 181.

199 Stern, n. 134 above, p. 54.

200 Ibid., pp. 61–2.

201 Wang, C., ‘Law-Making Functions of the Chinese Courts: Judicial Activism in a Country of Rapid Social Changes’ (2006) 1(4) Frontiers of Law in China, pp. 524549 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, at 524.

202 Peel, n. 104 above, p. 101.

203 Huggins, A., ‘Is Climate Change Litigation an Effective Strategy for Promoting Greater Action to Address Climate Change? What Other Legal Mechanisms Might Be Appropriate?’ (2007) 13 Local Government Law Journal, pp. 184191 Google Scholar, at 191.

204 Ibid., p. 184; Macintosh, A., ‘Coastal Climate Hazards and Urban Planning: How Planning Responses Can Lead to Maladaptation’ (2013) 18(7) Mitigation Strategies for Global Change, pp. 10351055 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, at 1048.

205 Bierbaum et al., n. 63 above, p. 387.