Global Climate Governance | Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy

Center Director Dan Esty and Professor Don Elliott Discuss Their Book on U.S. Environmental Law

Thursday, April 28, 2022

Center Director Dan Esty and Professor Don Elliott provide a brief description of their collaborative book, Advanced Introduction to U.S. Environmental Law (2021), in the above video. In the words of Professor Esty, this text “provides an opportunity to retrospectively review where U.S. environmental law’s come from, what strategies and policy options have been deployed, and… a pretty clear-eyed view of what we think has worked and what hasn’t worked so well.” The book is interactive and structured to facilitate input, and we encourage readers to share their thoughts here.

Environmental Policy in Biden’s First Hundred Days

As we pass the new administration’s hundred-day mark, advocates across civil society have witnessed a paradigm shift in environmental policy at the federal level. Within just its first few days, the new administration set the stage for sweeping changes to how climate change is governed at both the national and international levels.

Sue Biniaz: The Future of International Climate Cooperation

Sue Biniaz, a lecturer at Yale Law School and former lead climate lawyer for the U.S. State Department, joins Jhena Vigrass (YSE ’22) and Charles Harper (YSE ’22) to discuss what might lie in store for the Paris Agreement and international climate cooperation after the momentous events occurring later this week—namely the U.S. election and the official U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.

Amanda Maxwell: Capital, Resilience, and Trade in Latin America

Amanda Maxwell, Director of the Latin America Project at the Natural Resources Defense Council, recently spoke with Alix Kashdan (FES ‘20). Amanda discussed sustainable capital for Latin America, climate change challenges in the region, and challenges and opportunities in North American trade.

Kelly Levin: Global Climate Policy

Kelly Levin, senior associate with World Resources Institute’s global climate program, spoke with Alix Kashdan (FES ’20) and Liz Bourguet (FES ’20) during the Yale Carbon Removal Symposium about carbon removal, global climate policy, and her work at World Resources Institute.

Yale Carbon Removal Symposium Highlights Opportunities and Barriers for Climate Change Mitigation

Leaders in science, policy, and business gathered on October 4 at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (FES) to discuss and debate pathways for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The event was co-hosted by the Climate Change Learning Community, Climate Change SIG, the Yale Center for Business and the Environment, Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking, and Carbon 180.

The Center Co-Hosts a Workshop on Sub-National Climate Change Metrics

Sub-national contributions to climate change mitigation continue to be an important subject of conversation here at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and abroad in London, where the Center convened a Workshop on Sub-National Climate Change Metrics. The workshop, which took place May 1–2, featured prominent organizations working on sub-national climate change metrics. Participants included representatives from sub-national governments, climate-focused organizations, non-profit organizations, and companies.

Rob Klee: States are Role Models for Fulfilling the Green New Deal Vision

The Green New Deal proposal has provided a vision of what a sustainable future in the United States could look like. Introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in February 2019, the resolution proposes a transformation of the U.S. economy to enact major societal change and actively address climate change. Key among its goals is achieving economy-wide net zero greenhouse gas emissions and establishing millions of high-wage jobs.

Big Ideas Take Center Stage at the Yale Environmental Dialogue

Big ideas for the future of sustainability were the focus of this month’s Yale Environmental Dialogue Symposium. The Symposium convened thought leaders from across sectors to formulate, discuss, and debate new ideas for solutions to today’s major environmental problems. Throughout the Symposium, participants generated ideas around the role of cities, the future of smallholder farms, how law can address the climate crisis, how we can shift our thinking to create equitable and lasting change, and more.

Part 4 - What You Missed in Katowice: A Report from COP24

This is part four in a four-part series about COP 24. To read previous coverage from COP, click here. Part one is here, part two is here, and part three is here.

Negotiations and Outcomes