Biden administration approves $8B Alaska oil development project
The Biden administration Monday officially approved the Willow Project, an $8 billon oil development project proposed by ConocoPhillips in the Alaskan arctic. While proponents of the project lauded the decision as a crucial source of job creation and revenue, some environmental groups and lawmakers derided the project as a “carbon bomb,” which severely undercuts President [...]
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen Wednesday announced the passage the Climate Change Response Act, codifying the nation’s goal to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The act passed its third reading in January and aims to establish a more well-rounded coping mechanisms in response to climate change while minimising and monitoring the emission of greenhouse gases. [...]
Environmentalists petition for review of US approval of Texas deepwater oil port
A group of environmental activist groups Thursday filed a petition in the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for the review of the US Maritime Administration’s (MARAD) decision to license the Sea Port Oil Terminal located off the coast of Texas. The deepwater terminal is projected to expand oil-production in an oil-rich region of [...]
Law students and law graduates in Pakistan are reporting for JURIST on law-related events in and pertaining to their country. University of London law graduate Seemal Hameed files this dispatch from Islamabad. Climate change is an existential threat to life on earth. The past eight years are on track to be the warmest on record, fuelled [...]
The Biden administration Thursday proposed a rule that would require federal contractors to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and resulting financial risks from these emissions. The Federal Supplier Climate Risks and Resilience Rule would also require contractors to set targets to reduce their emissions. Last year, the US was the largest purchaser of goods and [...]
New Zealand Tuesday proposed plans to price agricultural emissions in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the country. According to the plan, over half of New Zealand’s total emissions stem from the agricultural sector. The plan would establish a legal responsibility for qualified farmers and growers to pay an annual emissions fee. Under [...]
Pakistan dispatch: Pakistan’s monster monsoon is a climate catastrophe and a debt dilemma
Law students and law graduates in Pakistan are reporting for JURIST on events in that country impacting its legal system. Here, Eisha Chaudhry, a law student in the final year of her external LL.B. program at the University of London, reflects on the floods that have lately devastated so much of Pakistan and have prompted [...]
Germany court rejects climate lawsuit in favor of Mercedes-Benz
A German court Tuesday rejected a lawsuit filed by environmental group Deutsche Umwelthilfe intended to bar Mercedes-Benz from selling cars with combustion engines that emit greenhouse gases after 2030. Deutsche Umwelthilfe claimed that Mercedes-Benz must comply with the Paris Climate Protection Agreement and the German Climate Protection Act regarding reduction in its vehicles’ CO2 emissions. Deutsche [...]
India parliament passes bill to introduce domestic carbon credit market
The lower house of the Indian parliament Monday passed a bill establishing a central scheme for the purchase and sale of carbon credits. The bill also promotes clean energy by obligating certain large consumers of electricity to use renewable energy and conserve energy. The Energy Conservation (Amendment) Act seeks to amend the two-decade-old Energy Conservation [...]
Canadian law students are reporting for JURIST on national and international developments in and affecting Canada. Mélanie Cantin is JURIST’s Chief Correspondent for Canada and a 2L at the University of Ottawa. On Saturday, the Newfoundland and Labrador provincial government declared a state of emergency due to what are being called the province’s worst forest [...]
