The Legal Landscape of Climate Adaptation

Adapt: Climate Change and the Built Environment

Mónika and Jessica interview Professor Michael Gerrard, founder and director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School. We discuss issues such as building codes and FEMA flood maps, government regulations that could be used to improve resiliency in the built environment but only if communities use the latest versions of these regulations, which are beginning to incorporate future climate modeling--not just historical climate date. We also discuss potential liability for parties to a construction project, particularly design professionals. And we come back to one of our favorite topics--extreme heat.

Resources and stories discussed include:

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law: Sabin Center for Climate Change Law (columbia.edu)

Legal pathways for deep decarbonization: https://lpdd.org/

FEMA's BRIC program: https://www.fema.gov/grants/mitigation/building-resilient-infrastructure-communities

Renewable energy legal defense initiative: https://climate.law.columbia.edu/content/renewable-energy-legal-defense-initiative

Skanska's Hurricane Sally lawsuit: https://www.enr.com/articles/53351-skanska-found-negligent-for-damages-from-breakaway-barges

Texas's efforts to ban protecting workers from extreme heat: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/23/greg-abbott-texas-governor-bill-water-breaks-heatwave

Arizona renter's right to air conditioning: https://landlordtenantresource.com/arizona-renters-rights-air-conditioning/#google_vignette