As the international community prepares to negotiate a global agreement on climate change at COP21/CMP11 this December in Paris, two institutions have recently taken unprecedented actions to help build momentum, calling for swift and ambitious action. Last week, Pope Francis issued a wide-ranging teaching letter calling for unified global action on climate change and the environment. And […]
Alex
Shareholders Sue U.S. Corporation for Improper Disclosure of Environmental Liabilities
Shareholders and investors are increasingly asking for more information on environmental risks and liabilities. Investors in the United States filed a securities class action lawsuit claiming that a Florida-based corporation misled them by providing inadequate information about the company’s environmental clean-up costs. The lawsuit names Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. (RYAM), a company specializing in the production of […]
U.S. Establishes New Federal Flood Risk Management Standard to Account for Climate Risks
On Friday (January 30, 2015), President Obama issued an executive order requiring all federally-funded construction projects to adopt more stringent siting and building standards to account for increased flooding risks linked to climate change.[1] The policy is aimed to “improve the resilience of communities and [protect] Federal assets against the impacts of flooding.”[2] Most agencies currently rely on historical […]
Paper: Canada Electricity Generation and Transmission Sectors’ Action and Awareness
This primer provides an overview of the concept of embodied carbon and describes how life cycle assessment (LCA) can be used to calculate and minimize life cycle GHG impacts from construction projects. It draws on the lessons learned from a recent case study that calculated the embodied carbon of a new commercial building in Toronto […]
Understanding Canadian Electricity Generation and Transmission Sectors’ Action and Awareness on Climate Change and the Need to Adapt
The electricity generation and transmission sectors are among the most at risk of being disrupted by climate change. Our recent study, “Understanding Canada Electricity Generation and Transmission Sectors’ Action and Awareness”, reports on the current state of awareness and action on climate change adaptation in these sectors and is based on the results of interviews with companies […]
Paper: Stormwater Management in Ontario: Legal Issues in a Changing Climate
The rise in extreme weather events in Ontario and resulting strain on municipal infrastructure have brought increased attention to stormwater management at all orders of government. Recent class action lawsuits against municipalities, conservation authorities and the Province for flooding, both after extreme rainfall events and on a recurring basis due to alleged systematic problems, are […]