Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-r5zm4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-07T14:17:28.408Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

1 - Overview: The Exigencies That Drive Potential Causes of Action for Climate Change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 August 2009

William C. G. Burns
Affiliation:
Santa Clara University, School of Law
Hari M. Osofsky
Affiliation:
Washington and Lee University, Virginia
Get access

Summary

The implications of the crystallizing scientific understanding is that the planet is on the verge of dramatic climate change. It is still possible to avoid the most deleterious effects, but only if prompt actions are taken to stabilize global temperature close to its present value.

INTRODUCTION

Over the course of the last few years, climate change litigation has been transformed from a creative lawyering strategy to a major force in transnational regulatory governance of greenhouse gas emissions. This book traces that journey and looks ahead to the future by considering a range of lawsuits and petitions filed in state, national, and international tribunals, as well as some potential causes of action. These actions cover an immense legal terrain but have in common their concern with more effective regulation of greenhouse gas emissions.

This introductory chapter frames the contributions in this book. It first provides an overview of climate change science, including both the current and the projected global impacts of climate change; second, it assesses current institutional responses to climate change and why they have been and likely will continue to be wholly inadequate to confront the looming threat of climate change in this century and beyond; third, it examines current efforts to open a new front to address climate change and climate change litigation; and finally, it provides a synopsis of the chapters that follow.

Type
Chapter
Information
Adjudicating Climate Change
State, National, and International Approaches
, pp. 1 - 28
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Technical Summary, in Climate Change 2007
The Physical Science Basis 5 (Solomon, S. et al. eds., 2007)
Karl, Thomas R. & Trenberth, Kevin E., Modern Global Climate Change, 302 Sci. 1719, 1719 (2003)CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schneider, Stephen H., The Greenhouse Effect: Science and Policy, 243 Sci. 771, 772 (1989)CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kheshgi, Haroon S., Smith, Steven J. & Edmonds, James A., Emissions and Atmospheric CO2 Stabilization, in 10 Mitigation & Adaptation Strategies for Global Change213, 214 (2005)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearce, Fred, World Lays Odds on Global Catastrophe, New Sci., Apr. 8, 1995, at 4Google Scholar
Hansen, James, Defusing the Global Warming Time Bomb, Sci. Am., Mar. 2004, at 71Google ScholarPubMed
Gullison, Raymond E. et al., Tropical Forests and Climate Change, 316 Sci. 985, 985 (2007)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bala, G. et al., Combined Climate and Carbon-Cycle Effects of Large-Scale Deforestation, 104(16) Proc. Nat'l Acad. Sci. 6550, 6550 (2007)CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hansen, James & Sato, Makiko, Greenhouse Gas Growth Rates, 101(46) Proc. Nat'l Acad. Sci. 16,109, 16,111 (2004)CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meinhaussen, Malte et al., Greenhouse Gas Emissions Targets for Limiting Global Warming to 20°, 458 Nature1158, 1160 (2009)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patz, Jonathan A. et al., Impact of Regional Climate Change on Human Health, 438 Nature310, 310 (2005)CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holland, Greg J. & Webster, Peter J., Heightened Tropical Cyclone Activity in the North Atlantic: Natural Variability or Climate Trend?, 365 Phil. Transactions Royal Soc'y A2695 (2007)CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Emanuel, K., Increasing Destructiveness of Tropical Cyclones over the Past 30 Years, 436 Nature686–88 (2005)CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rosenzweig, Cynthia et al., Attributing Physical and Biological Impacts to Anthropogenic Climate Change, 453 Nature353, 353–54 (May 2008)CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Talbot, David, The Dirty Secret, Tech. Rev. (July/Aug. 2006)Google Scholar
Lincoln, Stephen F., Fossil Fuels in the 21st Century, 34(8) Ambio621, 621 (2005)CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kerr, Richard A., Three Degrees of Consensus, 305 Sci. 932, 933 (2004)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Canadell, Josep G., Contributions to Accelerating Atmospheric CO2 Growth from Economic Activity, Carbon Intensity, and Efficiency of Natural Sinks, Proc. Nat'l Acad. Sci. Early Ed., Nov. 13, 2007CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clayton, Mark, New Coal Plants Bury ‘Kyoto,’Christian Sci. Monitor, Dec. 23, 2004Google Scholar
Hansen, James et al., Global Temperature Change, 103(39) Proc. Nat'l Acad. Sci. 14,288, 14,292 (2006)CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hansen, J.E., Scientific Reticence and Sea Level Rise, 3 Envtl. Res. Letters1, 4 (2007)Google Scholar
Hansen, James et al., Climate Change and Trace Gases, 365 Phil. Transactions Royal Soc'yA 1925, 1936 (2007)CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oppenheimer, Michael et al., The Limits of Consensus, 317 Sci. 1505, 1505 (2007)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pfeffer, W.T., et al., Kinematic Constraints on Glacier Contributions to 21st Century Sea-Level Rise, 321 Sci. 1340, 1342 (2008)CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gregory, Jonathan M., Huybrechts, Philippe & Raper, Sarah C.B., Threatened Loss of the Greenland Ice-Sheet, 428 Nature616, 616 (2004)CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dowdeswell, Julian A., The Greenland Ice Sheet and Global Sea-Level Rise, 311 Sci. 963, 963 (2006)CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Neill, Brian C. & Oppenheimer, Michael, Climate Change Impacts Are Sensitive to the Concentration Stabilization Path, 101(47) Proc. Nat'l Acad. Sci. 16,411, 16,414 (2004)CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McWilliams, John P. et al., Accelerating Impacts of Temperature-Induced Coral Bleaching in the Caribbean, 86(8) Ecology2055, 2059 (2005)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donner, Simon D. et al., Global Assessment of Coral Bleaching and Required Rates of Adaptation Under Climate Change, 11 Global Climate Change Biology2251, 2256–57 (2005)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sheppard, Charles R.C., Coral Decline and Weather Patterns over 20 Years in the Chagos Archipelago, Indian Ocean, 28(6) Ambio472, 475 (1999)Google Scholar
Hoegh-Guldberg, O. et al., Pacific in Peril, Greenpeace 54 (Oct. 2000)Google Scholar
Laurance, William F. et al., Pervasive Alteration of Tree Communities in Undisturbed Amazonian Forests, 428 Nature171, 174–75 (2004)CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ackerman, Frank & Stanton, Elizabeth, Climate Change: The Costs of Inaction, Report to Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland23 (2006)Google Scholar
Battin, James, Projected Impacts of Climate Change on Salmon Habitat Restoration, 104 Proc. Nat'l Acad. Sci.6720–25 (2007)CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bush, Mark B., Silman, Miles R. & Urrego, Dunia H., 48,000 Years of Climate and Forest Change in a Biodiversity Hotspot, 303 Sci. 827, 829 (2004)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blaustein, Andrew R. et al., Amphibian Breeding and Climate Change, 15(6) Conservation Biology1804–09 (2001)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, Craig D. et al., Extinction Risk from Climate Change, 427 Nature145, 146–47 (2004)CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burns, William C.G., Potential Implications of Climate Change for the Coastal Resources of Pacific Island Developing Countries and Potential Legal and Policy Responses, 8(1) Harv. Asia-Pac. Rev. 1–8 (2005)Google Scholar
Kerr, Richard A., Global Warming Is Changing the World, 316 Sci. 188, 190 (2007)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hansen, James, Climate Catastrophe, New Sci. 33, July 30, 2007CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byravan, Sujatha & Rajan, Sudhir Chella, Providing New Homes for Climate Change Exiles, 6 Climate Pol'y247, 247 (2006)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hay, John E. et al., Climate Variability and Change and Sea-Level Rise in the Pacific Islands Region, South Pacific Regional Environment69 (2003)Google Scholar
Burns, William C.G., Climate Change and Human Health, The Critical Policy Agenda, 287(17) J. Am. Med. Ass'n287, 287 (2002)Google ScholarPubMed
Reiter, Paul, Climate Change and Mosquito-Borne Disease, 109 Envtl. Health Persp.1, 1 (2001)Google ScholarPubMed
,The World Bank, Cities, Seas, and Storms, in 4 Adapting to Climate Change 13, Nov. 13, 2000Google Scholar
Shindell, Drew T. et al., Solar and Anthropogenic Forcing of Tropical Hydrology, 33 Geophysical Res. Letters L24706 1, 5 (2006)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spalding, Mark, Grady, Stephen & Zöckler, Christoph, Changes in Tropical Regions, inImpacts of Climate Change on Wildlife28 (Green, Rys E. et al. eds., 2002)Google Scholar
CNA Corporation, National Security and the Threat of Climate Change 15 (2007)
Panjabi, Ranee Khooshie Lai, Can International Law Improve the Climate? An Analysis of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Signed at the Rio Summit in 1992, 18 N.C. J. Int'l L. & Com. Reg. 401, 404 (1993)Google Scholar
,Bas Arts, New Arrangements in Climate Policy, 52 Change1, 2 (2000)Google Scholar
Vuuren, Detlef et al., An Evaluation of the Level of Ambition and Implications of the Bush Climate Change Initiative, 2 Climate Pol'y293, 295 (2002)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Janofsky, Michael, Bush-Backed Emissions Bill Fails to Reach Senate Floor, N.Y. Times, Mar. 10, 2005Google Scholar
Bossley, Liz, Asia-Pacific Partnership: Complementing or Competing with Kyoto?, 48 Middle E. Econ. Surv., No. 32, Aug. 8, 2005
Miller, Clair, New Climate Partnership Makes Little Difference, 4(2) Frontiers in Ecology & Env't60, 60 (2006)Google Scholar
Stevens, William K., Global Economy Slowly Cuts Use of High-Carbon Energy, N.Y. Times, Oct. 31, 1999Google Scholar
Adam, David, U.S. Balks at Bali Carbon Targets, Guardian Unlimited, Dec. 10, 2007Google Scholar
Kanter, James & Revkin, Andrew C., Binding Emissions Treaty Still a Possibility, U.S. Says, N.Y. Times, Feb. 27, 2008, at A8Google Scholar
Mason, Jeff, Obama Vows Climate Action Despite Financial Crisis, Reuters, Nov. 18, 2008Google Scholar
Pooley, Eric, Why the Climate Bill Failed, Time, June 9, 2008Google Scholar
Schreurs, Miranda A., Competing Agendas and the Climate Change Negotiations: The United States, the European Union, and Japan, 31 Envtl. L. Rep. 11,218, 11,218 (2001)Google Scholar
O'Neill, B.C. & Oppenheimer, M., Climate Change - Dangerous Climate Impacts and the Kyoto Protocol, 296 Sci. 1971–72 (2002)CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pershing, Jonathan & Tudela, Fernando, A Long-Term Target: Framing the Climate Effort, inBeyond Kyoto: Advancing the International Effort Against Climate Change (Aldy, Joseph E. et al. eds., 2004)Google Scholar
Hare, Bill & Meinshausen, Malte, How Much Warming Are We Committed to and How Much Can be Avoided?, 75 Climatic Change111, 129 (2006)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vuuren, Detlef P. et al., Stabilizing Greenhouse Gas Concentrations at Low Levels: An Assessment of Reduction Strategies and Costs, 81 Climatic Change119, 120 (2007)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doniger, David D., Herzog, Antonia V. & Lashof, Daniel A., An Ambitious, Centrist Approach to Global Warming Legislation, 314 Sci. 764, 764 (2006)CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gerrard, Michael, Introduction and Overview, inGlobal Climate Change and U.S. Law 13 (Gerrard, Michael B. ed., 2007)Google Scholar
Parry, Martin et al., Buenos Aires and Kyoto Targets Do Little to Reduce Climate Change Impacts, 8(4) Global Envtl. Change285, 285 (1998)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Babiker, Mustafa H., The Evolution of a Climate Regime: Kyoto to Marrakech and Beyond, 5 Envtl. Sci. & Pol'y195, 202 (2002)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, Kevin & Bows, Alice, Reframing the Climate Change Challenge in Light of Post-2000, Phil. Transactions Royal Soc'y A, Aug. 29, 2008, at 15Google ScholarPubMed
U.S. Blocks Consensus of G8-plus-Five on Global Warming Issues, Greenwire, Mar. 19, 2007
Traynor, Ian & Gow, David, EU Promises 20% Reduction in Carbon Emissions by 2020, Guardian Unlimited, Feb. 21, 2007Google Scholar
Osofsky, Hari M., The Geography of Climate Change Litigation: Implications for Transnational Regulatory Governance, 83 Wash. U. L.Q. 1789, 1795–1800 (2005)Google Scholar
Posner, Eric A., Climate Change and International Human Rights Litigation: A Critical Appraisal, 155 U. Pa. L. Rev.1925 (2007)Google Scholar
Torbenson, Eric, Lawyers Preparing for Explosion of Climate-Related Work, Dallas Morning News, Business Section, June 24, 2007Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×