Legal and Political Responses to Climate Action
Using Atmospheric Trust Litigation to Curb Greenhouse Gas Emissions: A US Case Study
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Ana Santos Rutschman
This paper examines the role of youth-initiated litigation challenging current fossil fuel policies. In particular, the paper examines the Juliana case, which was brought in the United States by twenty-one plaintiffs aged between eleven and twenty-two years old. These youth sued the government in 2015 for adopting (or failing to adopt) policies that ultimately resulted in harms related to climate change. While the case is still ongoing, it sheds important light on private litigation and citizen-led forms of activism aiming to prompt governments to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The paper begins by exploring the phenomenon of “atmospheric trust litigation” as embodied by the Juliana case and then places this type of litigation into the broader context of social and political responses to climate change. The paper concludes by arguing that, even if specific lawsuits were not to succeed in the near future, these new forms of activism have irreversibly embedded the public discourse. Moreover, they have provided policymakers with a blueprint to move forward with newly designed environmental policies, regulatory frameworks, and mitigation strategies.
Transatlantic and UN Global Cooperation for CO2 Emissions Reduction in Automotive and Agriculture Industries: Regulatory Policy and Agriculture Industry Standards Harmonization
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Reba Anne Carruth
The goal of this conference paper is to examine transatlantic (US-European Union) cooperation in the context of the UN Paris Agreement on Climate Change for emissions reductions in the strategic agriculture and automotive industry sectors. As the historical sectors for the industrial revolution and socio-economic transformation of Europe, the United States and Japan, the agriculture and automotive manufacturing industries sectors are now major global sources of CO2 emissions, environmental pollution, and natural resource depletion. In response to this shared threat to nations and world society, scientists, industry technology innovators, government policymakers and local communities are now working on CO2 emissions reduction and environmental sustainability in agricultural/food production and automotive manufacturing industries. Transatlantic cooperation and UN global normative agreement, international science-based regulation/policy cooperation and industry standards harmonization are required to accelerate global climate mitigation and CO2 emissions reduction in these strategic sectors of nations. To achieve required levels of emissions reduction, science-based international regulatory/government policy cooperation and global industry standards harmonization requires national and regional coordination in the following United Nations global science and technical standard-setting bodies; Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Standard Organization (ISO) and World Automotive Regulation Harmonization Body – Working Party 29. The achievement of transatlantic and UN Paris Agreement on Climate Change goals for rapid emissions reductions and mitigation goals requires multi-level and inter-agency government policy cooperation, industry collaboration and societal transformation for sustainable, circular and renewable agriculture (food production) and automotive (transportation) industries in the US and EU.
Climate Change Law in Israel
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Tzvi Levinson
In 2008, the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament) approved The Clean Air Law. The law brings Israel's historically fragmented air quality protection within a single, coherent administered framework. The Clean Air Law is the most important and influential environmental legislation in Israel for monitoring the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Under this law, a request has been made for the approval of a class action against the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) - The State of Israel, which deals with emissions of greenhouse gases from large forest fires in nature reserves, due to military training activities. As part of its regular activity, IDF has camps and training areas in various locations throughout the country. During the army's training, there is a built-in risk of creating forest fires. Over the years, a number of major fires have occurred that have destroyed some large nature reserves in Israel, which are the result of IDF training and routine activities. The main claim in said class action is that these fires, caused by IDF's negligence in preventing fire and refraining from proper steps to extinguish it during its training and routine activities, resulted in emissions of greenhouse gases and damage to the entire population.
Environmental Challenges: Transboundary Emissions from Massive Fires in the Amazon Basin and the Damage of Global Common
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Pedro Diaz Peralta, Claudia Ribeiro Pereira Nunes
Brazil endorsed the COP-21 ratified in 2016, setting national targets for reducing emissions. However, Brazil initially committed to cutting emissions thirty-seven percent by 2025. Until 2016, Brazil achieved significant emissions cuts, thanks to efforts to reduce deforestation in the Amazon, and promoting energy generation from renewable sources as biomass or hydroelectric power, achievements that could be hindered by the new environmental policies. The last episode of massive fires in the Amazon basin rainforest has threatened the global effort to reduce the climate change impact, and has worsened the effect of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions on the planet, while new policy goals also undermine Brazilian agro-environmental protection. Since the atmosphere is considered part of the Global Common, as are sea, seabed, and biodiversity, challenges impacting the circulation of GHGs have a global effect. Unlike treaties covering human rights, which have immediate effect in the Brazilian legal order, new agreements following the COP of UNFCCF, such as the COP-21, require ratification of the Parliament under the Brazilian Constitution and, therefore, are subject to approval of the National Congress which can oppose its adoption. In the case of the COP 21, the President submitted the text for consideration to the National Congress which formally adopted the Legislative Decree No. 140 in August of 2016, entering into force in November of that year after the deposit of instruments of ratification. And according to International conventions, the damage of Global Common obliges to ensure prompt, adequate and effective compensation.
