"Normal was a crisis." When we say we want to "go back to normal," do we really mean the world exactly as we left it? Or, could we use COVID as a means of building something better than what we had, perhaps greener?
The European Green New Deal is an environmental plan aimed at making Europe carbon-neutral by 2050.[1] In order to achieve this ambitious goal, the European Union (“EU”) initiated the revision of a number of international agreements. Among one of those agreements is the Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT”). In July and September, 2020, the European Commission and EU Member States had two rounds of negotiations at the Energy Charter Conference dedicated to the modernization of the ECT.[2] The call for the ECT’s reform was, among other things, prompted by the ECT’s purported “serious threat to Europe’s climate neutrality target and more broadly to the implementation of the Paris Agreement.”[3]
The ECT’s modernization is important because this is the first targeted attempt to reshape the unique, legally-binding, energy-related multilateral treaty and marks a step towards compliance with the Paris Climate Accord. Additionally, modernization of the ECT provisions is relevant to U.S. companies investing in both the renewable and fossil fuel energy sectors of the ECT Member States. At this point, it is unclear how the two rounds of negotiations went and whether the actual changes are coming in the nearest future. The third round of negotiations is scheduled to take place in December 2020. This post will take a closer look at the ECT’s history, goals, and environmental standards. Furthermore, this post will address novel critiques as to its incompatibility with the Paris Climate Accord.
Bike sharing is considered an environmental-friendly way of commuting.[1] It reduces people’s needs for driving and hence reduces carbon emission.[2] It also provides a solution to the “last mile” issue in urban commuting and promotes the development…
Chlorpyrifos has been the subject of much regulation in recent years. With the European Union on track to ban large-scale agricultural use of chlorpyrifos, where does the EPA stand on this hazardous chemical?
With the consequences of forest fires being felt on both local and global levels, more needs to be done to mitigate these events – domestic government action is essential.
The focus on improving state infrastructures reinforces the archaic reluctance to recognize climate change as a human-made phenomenon exacerbated by the global community, including multinational corporations.
Blockchain has been hailed as the future of technology. Although innovative, the system revolves around "proof of work," a process that is resource intensive simply for the sake of being resource intensive. How does this technological innovation collide with the international push for sustainable development
Biodiversity plays an important role in maintaining the overall health of the Arctic, but climate change poses a major threat as temperature increases have disrupted the region's ecosystem. What legal regime is currently in place to protect the Arctic?
China has been one of the largest contributors to reforestation efforts through its Grain for Green Program. However, have all of their efforts actually helped the environment? One fatal flaw in the program is severely limiting the programs impact on the environment.
As the global community confronts the reality that a rapid reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is urgently required, a new class of climate change litigation is emerging. But what impact are these proceedings having?
