Quarterly Newsletter
Fall 2011
Center for law, environment,
adaptation and resources
University of North Carolina School of Law
Savasta-Kennedy Receives
Fulbright Award
CLEAR Director Serves as a Visiting Scholar at the
Environmental Law Institute
in academia by the 2011 Environmental Law
and Policy Annual Review, which is
published by ELI.
I am very excited to collaborate with ELI at
this important time in understanding how
we are going to move forward in planning
climate change adaptation, both
domestically and internationally,” says
Flatt. “I have been a fan of ELI's real-world
work for a long time and have enjoyed
collaborating with them on ideas and
articles in the past. I look forward to what
can result from close work over a longer
period of time.”
UNC School of Law Professor and CLEARaffiliated faculty member Maria SavastaKennedy has received a Fulbright award to
teach “Legal Techniques in Environmental
Law” in Xi’an China for the 2012 Spring
semester.
Savasta-Kennedy teaches Environmental
Law, Environmental Law Practice and
Policy, and Pretrial Litigation at the law
school. She also serves as a faculty adviser
for the Environmental Law Project, the
Carbon Reduction Working Group, the
Low Income Weatherization Project, and
the Environmental Moot Court Team.
Savasta-Kennedy is also serving as a
council member on the North Carolina Bar
Association Environment, Energy, and
Natural Resources Law Section Council.
INSIDE
CLEAR in the News
1-3
Events
3
Research and Publications 4 - 5
Recent Developments
6-9
CLEAR Director Victor Flatt will serve as a
Visiting Scholar at the Environmental Law
Institute (ELI) this Fall. Flatt is the Tom &
Elizabeth Taft Distinguished Professor in
Environmental Law. He is a leading scholar
in environmental enforcement and has
focused on legal approaches to adaptation
in the face of climate change.
Widely published, six of his articles have
been finalists or have been selected among
the top 10 environmental law articles of the
year. His recent article on state spending on
environmental enforcement was singled
out as one of the top environmental articles
ELI is an internationally recognized, nonpartisan research and education center
working to strengthen environmental
protection by improving law and
governance worldwide. It has played a
pivotal role in shaping the fields of
environmental law, policy, and
management, domestically and abroad.
ELI's work conducts impartial analyses of
important environmental issues for
government officials, environmental and
business leaders, academics, members of
the environmental bar, and journalists.
ELI's Environmental Law Reporter is the
leading site for the discussion of important
environmental issues of the day.
UNC School of Law Offers New Course on Energy Law
This Fall, UNC School of Law added a
course in energy production and
distribution, and is planning to further
expand classroom offerings at the
intersection of environment, energy, climate
and resources.
The course was created pursuant to
recommendations by UNC School of Law’s
energy law advisory board, which was
established due to the rising importance of
energy to discussions of environment and
climate, North Carolina’s focus on
renewable energy, and the status of the
region as headquarters to the largest energy
distribution companies and alternative
energies such as wind and biomass.
Past course offerings in environmental law
have included the Practice of Carbon
Trading, Interagency Environmental
Cooperation, Environmental Practice and
Policy, International Environmental Law,
and Environmental Ocean and Coastal Law.
Fall 2011
CLEAR Director Presents at International Workshop on
Disasters and Sociolegal Studies
CLEAR Director Victor Flatt participated
in an international workshop on
Disasters and Sociolegal Studies on July
21 and 22, 2011, where he presented on
the role of non-profit organizations in
long term disaster recovery.
The workshop was held in Onati, Spain,
and was hosted by the International
Institute for the Sociology of Law. Flatt
was among 20 scholars from Australia,
Portugal, Spain, Germany and the United
States who attended.
The workshop addressed the relationship
between sociolegal studies and disaster
studies, as well as the legal frameworks
and governance structures that apply to
disasters, climate change and
humanitarian aid. Attending scholars
examined these topics in the context of
recent disasters such as Hurricane
Katrina, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill,
and the earthquakes in Haiti and the
Sichuan province in China.
Flatt's presentation on "the role of nonprofits in long term disaster recovery and the
need for recognition of that role in official
long term recovery planning documents" is
closely tied to his work at UNC School of
Law.
Flatt’s scholarship examines the legal
frameworks affecting the ability of
communities to adapt to climate change,
as well as disaster preparedness and
response planning.
Kalo to Present on Estuarine Shoreline Issues at 2012
Festival of Legal Learning
natural resource issues that are likely to
impact North Carolina’s estuarine
shoreline over the next 15 to 20 years.
Kalo’s scholarship focuses on
environmental and natural resources
law, as well as property law and
conservation. He teaches Advanced
Property Law and Environmental Ocean
and Coastal Law at UNC School of Law.
UNC School of Law Professor and
CLEAR-affiliated faculty member Joseph
Kalo will be presenting at the 22nd
Annual Festival of Legal Learning on
Friday, February 10, 2012. The Festival
will be held at the William and Ida
Friday Continuing Education Center in
Chapel Hill.
The session will focus on the North
Carolina coast and will explore emerging
Kalo is the Co-Director of the North
Carolina Coastal Resources Law,
Planning and Policy Center, which is a
partnership of the law school, the North
Carolina Sea Grant Program and the
UNC Dept. of City and Regional
Planning. The center hosts the annual
Shape of the Coast symposium, and will
also be co-hosting the 2011 State of the
Sounds Symposium in New Bern, NC.
Kalo is also a member of the federal
Bureau of Ocean Management sponsored
North Carolina task force on Renewable
Energy Activities in North Carolina’s
offshore federal waters.
2
Hornstein Files
Amicus Brief Against
Tennessee Valley Authority
Donald Hornstein, Aubrey L. Brooks
Professor of Law, along with UNC
School of Law Professors Victor Flatt
and Maria Savasta-Kennedy, filed an
amicus brief in April on behalf of the
state of North Carolina in its case
against the Tennessee Valley
Authority (TVA).
Hornstein, assisted by 15 UNC
School of Law students and more
than 100 UNC undergraduates from
his course on environmental law and
policy, argued in the brief that a
public-nuisance lawsuit brought
under North Carolina common law
was not preempted by the federal
Clean Air Act.
Hornstein’s brief, officially authored
by counsel of record Patrick A.
Parenteau, professor of law at
Vermont Law School, was intended
to be taken to the Supreme Court of
the United States as a supplement to
the state’s case. In an historic
settlement, North Carolina and TVA
announced they would compromise
without going to court, with TVA
agreeing to implement changes by
2017 to transform the way it
produces electricity.
Solicitor General Chris Browning
from the N.C. Department of Justice
spoke at a luncheon held in
appreciation for the work of the
UNC School of Law students and
faculty.
Fall 2011
Brown Serves as Chair of Real Estate Division of
the American Association of Law Schools
UNC School of Law Professor and
CLEAR-affiliated faculty member
Carol N. Brown is the 2010 chairelect of the Real Estate Transactions
Section of the Association of
American Law Schools (AALS).
In 2009, prior to becoming Chair of
the Real Estate Section, Brown held
CLEAR Hires
Post Graduate Fellow
two leadership positions within
AALS, as Chair of the Property
Section and as Secretary of the Real
Estate Transactions Section.
Nadia L. Luhr, 2011 graduate of
UNC School of Law, is currently
working as a Post Graduate Fellow
with CLEAR.
Brown’s scholarship at UNC School
of Law examines the role of private
property rights protections in
stabilizing the position of
economically vulnerable property
owners and of those who do not own
property.
As a CLEAR Fellow, Luhr engages in
strategic planning and academic
research, and conducts research on
current trends and developments in
adaptation law and policy. She is
also assisting in the development of
CLEAR’s Spring 2012 workshop on
climate change adaptation and the
private sector.
By examining judicial and legislative
developments in the area of property
law, her work shows how proposals
for rigorous protection of private
property rights are more protective
of middle and lower class property
owners and of non-property owners
than are proposals for less rigorous
private property rights protection.
Brown teaches courses in property,
land use planning, and real estate
transactions.
While in law school, Luhr completed
internships with Appalachian Voices
and the Nicholas Institute for
Environmental Policy Solutions. She
also completed a full-time externship
with the Southern Environmental
Law Center.
Luhr is also currently working with
the Southern Environmental Law
Center as a volunteer attorney.
Events
CLEAR hosts numerous events related to climate change
and climate change adaptation, and regularly welcomes
leaders in climate change policy to speak at the law
school.
Spring 2012 Workshop
Adaptation and the Private Sector
On March 30, 2012, CLEAR will be hosting a workshop
on climate change adaptation and the private sector.
The workshop will focus on the facilitation of private
sector adaptation through law, regulation and policy.
Past events have featured speakers such as Rob Verchick,
U.S. EPA Deputy Director of Policy, and Ambassador
Klaus Scharioth, German Ambassador to the United
States. Since 2008, CLEAR has also hosted two major
national workshops.
The workshop will be co-sponsored by the
Georgetown Climate Center, the Center for
Progressive Reform, the Emmett Center at UCLA,
George Washington University Law School and
Vanderbilt Law School.
The workshop is invitation only, but will include a
lunchtime presentation that will be open to the public.
The lunchtime presentation will be on the role of
government in providing information to assist in
private sector adaptation.
More details will be available on the CLEAR website
as the event approaches.
British Consulate-General Annabelle Malins speaks at UNC Law while
CLEAR Director Victor Flatt and Dean Jack Boger look on.
3
Fall 2011
Research and Publications
CLEAR Publications
Student Papers
Financial Adaptation through Parametric Insurance Products: Utilizing the
Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility as a Model for a Proposed
United States National Catastrophe Risk Consortium (read) - Daniel E.
Peterson, CLEAR Research Fellow
Every year, UNC School of Law holds an
Environmental Law Symposium for North
Carolina attorneys as part of the law school’s
annual Festival of Legal Learning.
Non-Profit Involvement in Disaster Response and Recovery (read) - Jeffrey
Stys of Strategic Decision Associates, report commissioned by CLEAR
For each symposium, members of the
Environmental Law Project prepare short papers
exploring current topics in environmental law.
Assessing the Disaster Recovery Planning Capacity of the State of North
Carolina (read) - first part of a CLEAR/UNC Center of Excellence for
Homeland Security project which addresses how states plan for long
term disaster recovery and climate change adaptation
2010 topic – A New, Progressive Environmental
Law: What are the Signs?
White Paper: International Avoided Deforestation Offset Projects: Insuring the
Risk of Reversal Penalties (read) - Ken Allinson, Matthew Dunand, PJ
Puryear and Jeremy Tarr, CLEAR Research Fellows
These papers are available on the Environmental
Law Project website.
2011 topic - Environmental Law Outside the
“Washington Beltway”
RECENT FACULTY PUBLICATIONS
Carol N. Brown
Rethinking Adverse Possession: An Essay on Ownership and
Possession (with S. Williams), 60 SYRACUSE L. REV. 583
(2010).
PLANNING AND CONTROL OF LAND
DEVELOPMENT: CASES AND MATERIALS (with Daniel
R. Mandelker, ET AL.) (8th ed.) (2011).
PROPERTY QUICK REVIEW: SUM AND SUBSTANCE
(with J. Juergensmeyer) (Thomson West 5th ed.).
Victor Flatt
Domestic Disaster Preparedness and Response in Climate
Change Adaptation (Gerrard and Kuh, eds., ABA 2012)
Adapting Laws for a Changing World – A Systemic Approach
to Climate Change Adaptation, 64 Fla. L. Rev. (special issue on
climate change with Heinzerling, Ruhl, Markell, Krakoff, and
Owens - forthcoming Winter 2012).
Adaptation, Legal Resiliency, and the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers: Managing Water Supply in a Climate-Altered
World, with Jeremy M. Tarr, 89 N.C. Law. Rev. (Issue 6,
2011) in symposium on Adaptation and Legal Resiliency.
“Offsetting” Crisis? – Climate Change Cap and Trade Need
Not Contribute to Another Financial Meltdown, 39 Pepperdine
Law Rev. (forthcoming lead article, February 2012).
4
Fall 2011
Flatt, continued
Joseph Kalo
The “Worst Case” May be the Best – Rethinking NEPA Law
to Avoid Future Environmental Disasters, 7 J. Env & Energy
L. & Pol’y Rev. (forthcoming summer 2012) in symposium on
Coping with Environmental Disaster.
Do Publicly Funded Beach Nourishment Projects Deprive
Oceanfront Property Owners of Private Property Rights Without
Just Compensation?, LEGAL TIDES (Fall 2009).
Wind Over North Carolina Waters: The State's Preparedness to
Address Offshore and Coastal Water-Based Wind Energy Projects
(with L. Schiavinato), 87 N.C. L. REV. 1819 (2009).
Adapting Energy and Environmental Policy for Climate
Change, 11 Vermont Journal of Envt’l L. 655 (Vol. 4, Summer,
2010) in symposium on Surviving and Thriving in the Face of
Climate Change (lead article).
Maria Savasta-Kennedy
Environmental Enforcement in Dire Straits-“There is No
Protection for Nothing and No Data for Free,” (with Paul M.
Collins, Jr.) 85 Notre Dame L. Rev. 55 (Issue 1, November
2009) (Selected by the Environmental Law Institute as one of
the 4 best environmental law articles of 2009; summarized
with commentary in symposium, April 15, 2011, and reprint
in Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review).
Adaptation and Resiliency in Legal Systems, 89 N.C. L. REV.
1365 (2011).
The Newest Hybrid, Notes Toward Standardized Certification of
Carbon Offsets, 34 N.C. J. INT'L L. & COM. REG. 851 (2009).
The History of State Action in the Environmental Realm: A
Presumption Against Preemption in Climate Change Law?,
for Preemption in Climate Change, 2009 symposium, 1 San
Diego J. Climate & Energy L. 63 (2010).
Paving the Legal Path for Carbon Sequestration, 19 Duke
Envtl. L. & Pol’y J. in Symposium on Environmental Advice
for the New Administration (Summer 2009).
Donald Hornstein
Resiliency, Adaptation, and the Upsides of Ex Post Lawmaking,
89 N.C. L. REV. 1549 (2011).
The Environmental Role of Agriculture in the Era of Carbon Caps,
20 HEALTH MATRIX 145 (2010).
ONGOING RESEARCH
Climate Change and North Carolina’s Inner
Coast
Greenhouse Gas Offsets and Additionality
Criteria
CLEAR, in conjunction with the North Carolina Coastal
Resources Law, Planning and Policy Center at UNC, is
examining the issues the inner coast of North Carolina will
face over the next one to two decades. This research is
partially funded by a grant from North Carolina SEA Grant.
CLEAR, in conjunction with the Research Triangle Institute and
the Nicholas Institute at Duke University, is examining whether
greenhouse gas offsets are "regulatorily eligible" to be
considered and offset under additionality criteria. This project is
part of a study on how offsets in a greenhouse gas regulatory
system are to be certified.
The Impact of Climate Change on
Resources and Society and the Legal
Response to that Impact
This research is being performed in conjunction with the
Center for the Study of Natural Hazards and Disasters, and
the Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence
- Natural Disasters, Coastal Infrastructure and Emergency
Management (DIEM). In order to more fully understand the
needs of areas facing climate change challenges, this project
compares how different legal regimes address climate
problems.
Regulation of Greenhouse Gases under the
Clean Air Act
CLEAR, in conjunction with the Nicholas Institute at Duke
University, is examining options for the regulation of
greenhouse gases. This ongoing project examines the legal
authority and potential regulatory vehicle for the U.S. EPA's
regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.
5
Fall 2011
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN ADAPTATION LAW AND POLICY
House Democrats Introduce Bill to Adapt Water
Infrastructure to Climate Change
On August 1, 2011, Rep. Lois Capps (DCalif.) introduced H.R. 2738. The bill is
titled the "Water Infrastructure Resiliency
and Sustainability Act of 2011," and
would create a competitive grant program
to be administered by the U.S. EPA.
Under the proposed program, owners and
operators of drinking water, stormwater
and wastewater infrastructure would
receive funding for projects that "increase
resiliency or adaptability" of those
facilities to the impacts of climate change.
Projects falling within the scope of the bill
include those that: conserve water or
enhance water use efficiency; preserve or
improve water quality; modify or relocate
existing infrastructure; construct facilities
to serve existing communities; enhance
water management by increasing
watershed preservation and protection;
enhance energy efficiency or the use and
generation of renewable energy in water
system infrastructure; and adopt
advanced technologies that maintain or
improve water supply or water quality.
The bill would invest 50 million dollars
each fiscal year from 2012 through 2016,
and would authorize the EPA to fund up
to 50 percent of each infrastructure
project.
Upon introducing H.R. 2738, Rep. Capps
made the following statement: "As we
suffer through severe droughts, more
intense rainfall and flooding, and sea level
rise along the coast, the nation's drinking
water, wastewater and stormwater
infrastructure is coming under increasing
levels of stress. In the face of these costly
challenges, and to help our nation's water
agencies continue delivering safe and
uninterrupted water services to the
communities that rely upon them, we
must begin planning now. That's why I've
introduced the Water System Resiliency
and Sustainability Act, which will help
jump-start this critical local planning and
create new jobs updating water
infrastructure to meet the significant
challenges posed by climate change."
Track the bill's progress online.
6
California Passes Bill
on Sea Level Rise
On June 1, 2011, the California
State Assembly passed Assembly
Bill 752, which would require
trustees of certain public trust
lands to prepare sea level action
plans.
According to the bill, "a 55-inch
sea level rise, with a 100-year
storm event along the California
coast places approximately
480,000 people ... and nearly one
hundred billion dollars ... of
property at risk."
The bill requires trustees whose
gross public trust revenues
exceed $250,000 to prepare action
plans by July 1, 2013.
The bill is currently in the
California State Senate and was
assigned to the Committee on
Natural Resources and Water on June
8, 2011.
Fall 2011
UNCTAD Hosts Meeting on Adapting Global
Seaports to Climate Change
On September 29 and 30, 2011, the
United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development ("UNCTAD") hosted an
"Ad Hoc Expert Meeting on Climate
Change Impacts and Adaptation: A
Challenge for Global Ports."
The meeting was held in Geneva,
Switzerland, and was open to the public
and the private sector, policy makers,
port industry representatives and
operators, scientists, engineers and other
interested parties.
The purpose of the interdisciplinary
meeting was to discuss strategies for
adapting world seaports to the impacts
of climate change. In its announcement
of the upcoming meeting, UNCTAD
emphasized that "[g]iven their strategic
role as part of the globalized trading
system, adapting ports of the world to
IPCC to Release Special
Report on Adapting to
Extreme Weather Events
and Disasters
the impacts of climate change is of
considerable importance."
The goals of the meeting, as outlined by
UNCTAD, were to identify
vulnerabilities and risks, adaptation
requirements, "existing best practices,
information and data sources," issues for
further study, and "partners and
mechanisms for effective collaboration."
The world's seaports are expected to
encounter significant difficulties as they
face climate change impacts such as
rising sea levels, rising temperatures and
extreme weather events.
The meeting was preceded by related
UNCTAD events on the topics of
"Transport and Trade Facilitation" and
"Climate Change Impacts on
International Transport Networks."
House Passes Amendment to Prohibit USDA
Adaptation Measures
In November 2011, the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) will release a special
report titled "Managing the Risks of
Extreme Events and Disasters to
Advance Climate Change Adaptation."
The report was prepared by Working
Group II of the IPCC, which focuses on
climate change impacts, adaptation and
vulnerability.
For more information, see the
preparation, scoping and review process
for the report.
San Francisco Bay Adopts
Sea Level Rise Policy
On June 16, 2011, the U.S. House of
Representatives passed an amendment to
the 2012 Agriculture Appropriations Bill.
The amendment, if accepted by the
Senate, would prohibit the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) from
implementing new climate change
adaptation policies.
predict, it is clear that potential changes
could have important impacts on
USDA’s ability to fulfill its core mission.
Through adaptation planning, USDA
will identify how climate change is likely
to affect its ability to achieve its mission,
operations, and policy and program
objectives."
On October 6, 2011, the San Francisco
Bay Conservation and Development
Commission (BCDC) passed regulations
governing development in coastal areas
susceptible to sea level rise. The new
policy, Bay Plan Amendment No. 1-08,
amends the original San Francisco Bay
Plan enacted in 1989.
The amendment specifically prohibits the
USDA from using taxpayer dollars to
study and implement climate change
policies and initiatives. Rep. Steve
Scalise, who introduced the amendment,
stated that the regulation was a
"backdoor attempt to implement the
Administration's job-killing cap and
trade scheme."
The regulation requires the development
of a USDA Climate Change Adaptation
Plan by June 4, 2012. Each USDA office is
responsible for analyzing the impacts of
climate change concerning its particular
areas of responsibility, and for
implementing response actions to those
impacts.
The new regulations require developers
to conduct risk assessments for their
projects based on projected sea level rise.
In addition, the BCDC will have the
authority to deny permits for
development in coastal areas susceptible
to flooding.
The targeted USDA regulation was
issued on June 3, 2011 and begins: "while
the scope, severity, and pace of future
climate change impacts are difficult to
The amended appropriations bill was
sent to the Senate Committee on
Appropriations on June 16, 2011. Current
status of the 2012 Agriculture
Appropriations Bill.
The regulations reference projections that
"sea level rise in San Francisco Bay could
be as much as 16 inches by mid-century
and 55 inches by the end of the century."
This projected sea level rise is depicted in
a series of maps produced by the BCDC.
Recent Developments continued, page 8
7
Quarterly Newsletter
Fall 2011
World Bank Invests in
Climate Change
Adaptation Initiatives
On June 1, 2011, the World Bank
partnered with the C40 Cities Climate
Leadership Group (C40) to help cities
reduce greenhouse gas emissions and
better adapt to climate change. C40 is a
collection of representatives from 40 of
the world's largest cities who have
joined to address global warming and
climate change.
Jordan Adopts Manual on Gender and Climate Change
According to a World Bank press
release, the purpose of the partnership is
to "enable megacities to expand
mitigation and adaptation actions and at
the same time, strengthen and protect
economies, reduce poverty and protect
vulnerable populations."
The two organizations have agreed to
establish a "consistent approach" to
climate change policies across multiple
cities in order to both encourage
stronger partnerships between different
cities and to aid potential investors in
identifying climate-related investment
opportunities.
On May 30, 2011, the International Union
for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
released an Arabic-language training
manual on gender and climate change.
The manual will be used by the
Jordanian government in its climate
change response efforts.
The manual was originally issued in 2009
by the Global Gender and Climate
Alliance, of which the IUCN is a
member. It is currently available in
Arabic, French, English and Spanish.
According to the Jordan Times, the
manual is the first Arabic-language
manual to incorporate gender
considerations into climate change
mitigation and adaptation strategies.
In adopting the manual, Jordan
recognized the particular vulnerabilities
that women will face as a result of
climate change. Climate-induced natural
disasters adversely affect the world's
poorest communities, and women
comprise a disproportionate majority of
those populations. In many areas, these
women will lack the resources to recover
from the impacts of climate change.
For more information on gender
considerations in climate change
adaptation policy, see Victor Flatt's op-ed
on Warming Woes and the World's
Women.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN ADAPTATION LAW AND POLICY
Student Articles
Clinton Launches Caribbean Adaptation Initiative
By Siobhan Mukerji, UNC School of Law
Launched by President Barack Obama,
the Energy and Climate Partnership of
the Americas consists of green initiatives
throughout the Americas. One such
initiative led by Secretary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton commenced in early
September of this year as part of a 21
million dollar program, which provides
financial assistance to Pacific small island
states.
The United States government has joined
up with two Pacific-based organizations,
forming an alliance with the Secretariat of
the Pacific Community (SPC) and the
Secretariat of the Pacific Regional
Environment Programme (SPREP).
In the quest to promote adaptation in
response to climate change, SPREP
Director David Sheppard states that the
United States’ part in the union will be “a
major contribution” to the promotion of
climate change adaptation and that there
will be a “particular emphasis on
building local capacity.” (see article).
The partnership’s primary goals are to
protect Pacific ecosystems and to ensure
food and water security in the wake of a
predicted increase of high-water surges
and flooding in the coming decade. Dr.
Jimmie Rodgers, Director-General of the
SPC explains, “Climate change will touch
the lives of people living on these islands
on a regular basis.”
The partnership hopes to promote
effective and “sustainable” policy to
mitigate the effects of climate change. To
further this goal, the University of the
West Indies is serving as a center to
connect scientists from the United States
and the Caribbean.
The partnership is also working to make
information about climate change
impacts publicly accessible. Dr. Rodgers
described the United States’ involvement
in this project as “historic.” This new
alliance between regional organizations
and the United States will strengthen
each country’s ability to better meet the
challenges and mitigate the effects of
climate change.
The partnership’s program will be
managed by the U.S. Agency for
International Development, in an office in
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. This
month a Caribbean Sustainable Energy
Dialogue will take place in Barbados.
More information.
Fall 2011
Farm Groups Pushing for Increased Crop Protection in 2012 Farm Bill
By Kathleen Aurora Smith, UNC School of Law
2011 has been a year of extreme droughts,
floods, and heat waves. It was the hottest
summer on record for Texas, Oklahoma,
New Mexico and Louisiana. California
experienced its all-time wettest summer,
while eighty-one percent of Texas
experienced exceptional drought.
With such extreme weather it is
unsurprising that farmers across the
nation are lobbying to increase crop
insurance protection in the 2012 farm bill.
Amidst a strong push for deficit
reduction, farm trade associations are
willing to accept decreases in volume and
price subsidies in exchange for a better
crop insurance safety net.
Yet, none of these trade associations are
connecting their requests for increased
insurance protection, or the recent
extreme weather events, with climate
change. Rather, some suggest that
increased commodity prices have made
price support less necessary, while the
increase in prices of fuel and land means
better insurance is necessary. Some critics
suggest that farm trade associations are
simply refusing to acknowledge the
connection between extreme weather and
climate change.
Regardless of the motivation, changes to
crop insurance in 2012 may prove to be
proactive, as well as, reactive. Another
side of the 2012 farm bill discussion is the
push for promotion of sustainable
farming methods, and one issue that is
being addressed is the structure of crop
insurance itself. Crop insurance is
traditionally based on commodity prices.
A farmer does not have his whole farm
insured, rather she has each individual
crop insured at the market price. This has
been a major issue for small growers,
organic producers, and direct marketers
who grow a diversity of crops and receive
a higher than market prices for their
crops.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman
Collin Peterson (D-MN) suggested the
possibility of a shift in crop insurance
policy in order to cover the whole farm.
If this were to happen it would not only
help growers who are already have
diversified farms; it may encourage crop
diversification on commodity farms and
bolster local food economies.
For more on this topic, see related articles
in the New York Times and the
Huffington Post.
United Nations Creates Green Climate Fund to Assist Developing Countries
By Ramona H. Baker, UNC School of Law
Work on the Green Climate Fund was
launched at a Conference of the Parties of
the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change
(“UNFCCC”), in Cancún in December
2010 (UNFCCC Website). According to
the UN News Centre, the goal of the
Green Climate Fund is to help assist
developing countries in climate change
adaptation and mitigation efforts, ideally
so as to enable such countries to
implement low-carbon economies.
Some basic infrastructural details
accompanied the UNFCC’s establishment
of the Green Climate Fund, but most
operational details are being determined
by a Transitional Committee (UNFCCC
COP Report, March 2011). A board of
twenty-four regionally diverse members,
equally represented by developed
countries and developing countries, will
direct the Green Climate Fund once it is
fully operational. Id. Monetary
management will be administered by an
independent trustee according to
guidelines that will be set forth by the
board; the World Bank was invited to be
the initial trustee for a trial three year
term. Id.
The Transitional Committee established
by the UNFCCC is comprised of fifteen
developed-country members and twentyfive developing-country members who
are tasked with ascertaining the
underpinnings of the Green Climate
Fund. Id.
The Transitional Committee has met
three times since its inception, with the
most recent meeting taking place in
Geneva, Switzerland in September
(UNFCCC Transitional Meeting
Calendar). The two previous meetings
were held in Mexico City, Mexico, in
April and in Tokyo, Japan, in July. Id.
Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC Executive
Secretary, reported substantial progress
after the recent September meeting,
noting that design of the fund should be
finished and ready for approval at the
UNFCCC Conference of the Parties
meeting beginning November 28 in
Durban, South Africa (UN News Centre).
Prior to the Durban conference, the
Transitional Committee will meet a final
time October 16 through October 18 in
Cape Town, South Africa. Id.
The Green Climate Fund has garnered
support from public and private sources,
with pledges totaling thirty billion USD
by next year and one-hundred billion
USD annually by 2020; however, the
current economic crisis casts doubt as to
whether the pledges will come through
(Business Day, September 15, 2011).
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