A recent study by 12 authors from governmental, academic and non-governmental organizations highlights what may be at stake in cases such as Stop the Beach Renourishment v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection  (being argued before the US Supreme Court on Wednesday, Dec. 2) and Severance v. Patterson. 

In addition to the article reporting the study, the researchers have complied planning maps and statewide summaries.

Here is the abstract for the article (“State and local governments plan for development of most land vulnerable to rising sea level along the US Atlantic coast,” Environ. Res. Lett. 4 (2009) ):

“Rising sea level threatens existing coastal wetlands. Overall ecosystems could often survive by migrating inland, if adjacent lands remained vacant. On the basis of 131 state and local land use plans, we estimate that almost 60% of the land below 1 m along the US Atlantic coast is expected to be developed and thus unavailable for the inland migration of wetlands. Less than 10% of the land below 1 m has been set aside for conservation. Environmental regulators routinely grant permits for shore protection structures (which block wetland migration) on the basis of a federal finding that these structures have no cumulative environmental impact. Our results suggest that shore protection does have a cumulative impact. If sea level rise is taken into account, wetland policies that previously seemed to comply with federal law probably violate the Clean Water Act.”

Thanks to Jim Titus for passing along this information, as well as the following list of relevant press coverage of the issues:

Editorials

http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/story/166622.html

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/story/1032197.html

News

Pennsylvania

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/health_science/daily/20091028_Wave_of_protection_or_peril_.html

Delaware

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20091105/NEWS08/911050348

Maryland

http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20091029/NEWS01/910290358/-1/newsfront2/Worcester-s-soggy-fate

http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/green/bal-md.gr.sealevel28oct28,0,2629786.story

Washington, DC

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/27/AR2009102703915.html

North Carolina

http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/story/166622.html

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local_state/story/161334.html

South Carolina

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/nov/14/study-expect-fortifications-in-future-against/

Georgia

http://savannahnow.com/news/2009-11-09/seas-rise-planning-starts

Florida

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-10-27/story/rising_seas_could_soak_taxpayers_study_says

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/1303473.html

Title: World Ethics and Climate Change: From International to Global Justice
Author: Paul G. Harris
Publication Date: Nov 2009
Dimensions: 234 x 156 mm
Length: 224 pages
Series: Edinburgh Studies in World Ethics
http://www.eupjournals.com/book/978-0-7486-3910-6

Summary: More than two decades of international negotiations have failed to stem emissions of greenhouse gases that are causing global warming and climate change. This book identifies a way to escape this ongoing tragedy of the atmospheric commons. It takes a fresh approach to the ethics and practice of international environmental justice and proposes fundamental adjustments to the climate change regime, in the process drawing support from cosmopolitan ethics and global conceptions of justice. The author argues for ‘cosmopolitan diplomacy’, which sees people, rather than states alone, as the causes of climate change and the bearers of related rights, duties and obligations.

Key Features:
–Describes the role of ethics and justice in world affairs and demonstrates that climate change is a matter of extreme injustice.
–Summarizes and critiques the flawed doctrine of international (interstate) justice upon which governments have premised climate change agreements and policies.
–Examines the practical and ethical significance for climate change of growing numbers of new consumers in the developing world.
–Proposes a cosmopolitan approach to climate change that is more principled, more practical and more politically viable than current international policies.
–For lecturers and students, a companion World Ethics and Climate Change learning guide is freely downloadable from www.euppublishing.com
–All of the author’s royalties are directly paid to OXFAM in support of the world’s poor, who are most harmed by – and least responsible for – climate change.

Contents: Preface; Introduction; Part I: The Challenge; 1. Global Climate Change; 2. Justice in a Changing World; Part II: International Justice; 3. International Environmental Justice; 4. International Justice and Climate Change; Part III: Global Justice; 5. Cosmopolitan Ethics and Justice; 6. Affluence, Consumption and Atmospheric Pollution; 7. Cosmopolitan Diplomacy and Climate Policy; 8. The Unavoidability of Global Justice; References; Index.

Early Review: “Paul Harris argues that affluent people everywhere are, by their contributions to climate change, violating the rights of the poor. He makes a powerful case for focusing on individual rights and responsibilities in the framework of a new world ethic. I hope this book will be widely read, and acted upon.” Peter Singer, Professor of Bioethics, Princeton University

Orders (UK): http://www.eupjournals.com/book/978-0-7486-3910-6
Orders (USA): http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-7486-3911-3/world-ethics-and-climate-change

Inspection Copies: Inspection copies are made available to teaching staff and are sent at the discretion of Edinburgh University Press. Only paperback editions of our course books are available for inspection. A maximum of 3 books are available per year. North American customers: please contact the relevant co-publisher or distributor for your area. Details can be found on the Book Home page: http://www.eupjournals.com/book/978-0-7486-3910-6

The Road to Copenhagen: Understanding the Negotiating Table at COP-15 Friday, December 4, 2009 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm (Eastern)

Please visit http://www.ACCOonline.org/events.html to register for this event.

SPEAKERS:

Glenn Prickett – Senior Vice President & Executive Director, Conservation International

Lisa Jacobson – President, Business Council for Sustainable Energy

David Thomas – First Secretary, Energy and Environment, British Embassy, Washington

EVENT DESCRIPTION:

Since the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) entered into force, the parties have been meeting annually in Conferences of the Parties (COP) to assess progress in dealing with climate change, and beginning in the mid-1990s, to negotiate international accords to establish legally binding obligations for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. In December 2009, the 15th Conference of Parties will assemble to revisit the Kyoto Protocol and seek to develop a worldwide consensus on regulating greenhouse gas emissions in developed and developing countries.

ACCO and BNA invite you to a presentation on what to expect from COP-15, with an interactive question-and-answer session, analysis of impacts on industry, and next steps for those who will be participating in activities in Copenhagen. During this 90-minute presentation, the panelists will:

– Review the negotiating process and identify major players;

– Highlight opportunities for success and challenging issues requiring resolution;

– Discuss the anticipated U.S. strategy entering into the negotiations;

– Assess how the activities of subnational governments and other regimes such as the Montreal Protocol may inform these negotiations; and

– Forecast results from the negotiations.

Please visit http://www.ACCOonline.org/events.html to register for this event.

The European Tropical Forest Research Network (ETFRN) recently released a report titled “Forests and Climate Change: adaptation and mitigation.”  Among other things, the report highlights the importance of ensuring that adaptation be considered in the mechanism addressing reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) likely to be a part of a post-Kyoto agreement.  As I’ve said previously and elsewhere several times, REDD presents an incredible opportunity to link issue areas and create regulatory incentives.  To realize this potential, however, much work is required to secure incentives within the REDD mechanism for biodiversity protection (and perhaps other issues).