Climate Change Adaptation, Law, and Sustainability
Victor B. Flatt
Tom & Elizabeth Taft Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law; Director,
Center for Law Environment, Adaptation, and Resources; Distinguished Scholar of
Carbon Markets and Carbon Trading, Global Energy Management Institute,
University of Houston Bauer College of Business
Climate Change Adaptation, Law, and Sustainability
Victor B. Flatt
Tom & Elizabeth Taft Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law; Director,
Center for Law Environment, Adaptation, and Resources; Distinguished Scholar of
Carbon Markets and Carbon Trading, Global Energy Management Institute,
University of Houston Bauer College of Business
Climate Change Impacts show that Sustainability
can not be thought of as Static


Climate Change
Adaptation is
Essential to
Sustainability
(How we Adapt affects
what can be sustained)

As an Organizing
Framework in most
societies and between
persons, legal entities,
and nations states, law
can provide a
framework to approach
climate change
adaptation and through
that sustainability
Why Law?
Law provides societal judgments about all segments
of world, not just natural resources
 As such, in functioning democracies, and un-coerced
national relationships, it embodies our desires for
our world
 Law already based on existing relationships and
thus provides way to think about interconnection of
adaptive efforts which occur at multiple levels
 Theories of Law and Society provide ideas about
who has the right to make decisions and how

Principles from Law for Adaptation
Since it embodies existing choices, policies
behind law should be respected as much as
possible when altering implementation due to
climactic change
 When this is not possible, policy should be
revisited in democratic manner – legislatively
 Should occur at most local level possible except
when ability/will is lacking or there are
externalities

Suggests Template
Where do climate impacts put pressure
on existing laws and policies
 Implemented in such a way that it
recognizes and thus minimizes climate
impacts to the policies behind law
 If not possible, policy changes should be
considered at legislative level
 In real world, administrators could at
least highlight the problem and frame it

Sustainability will be an overlay or
change in existing policies and statutes
This can/should/could provide another lens for
adaptive implementation of existing policies when
change required
 At CLEAR, looked at property and insurance law and
sea level rise; health law; corporate and finance law;
laws impact on the private sector


http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2042607
Today’s Presentations
Adapting Bio-diversity laws - ELI
 Law and resilience needed for protected area
resources
 Soft Law and Climate Change Adaptation with
the World Bank
 Law and Private Sector Adaptation
