A new online database is tracking climate change legislation around the world. The tool was launched this week in a joint effort by the Sabin Center for Change Law and the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Since the Paris Climate Agreement reached in December 2015, countries have introduced 14 new laws and 33 new executive policies related to climate change, according to an analysis by the Grantham Research Institute and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Much of the effort is aimed at helping nations meet their commitments to reducing the human influence on climate.
More than 1,200 such laws have been enacted in 164 countries since 1997.
“This new resource brings together important databases related to climate change legislation and will help lawyers, judges and advocates around the world navigate the complex emerging legal regimes that govern this vitally important issue, and envision new ones,” Michael Gerrard, faculty director of the Sabin Center, said.
Martin Chungong, secretary general of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, called the database “a very valuable resource for parliamentarians. It enables them to know what types of laws exist in the world and to look for ways to translate them into the realities of their countries. In other words, this tool facilitates the law-making process which is a first critical element for ensuring that the Paris Agreement translates into national legislation.”
Read the full story about the new database on the Sabin Center website.
The Sabin Center has two other related databases on its website. One tracks the Trump administration’s efforts to undo climate change actions; the other tracks environmental actions taking place at the state level.
