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Richardson, Benjamin J. --- "Local Climate Change Law" [2012] ELECD 714; in Richardson, J. Benjamin (ed), "Local Climate Change Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012)

Book Title: Local Climate Change Law

Editor(s): Richardson, J. Benjamin

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9780857937476

Section: Chapter 1

Section Title: Local Climate Change Law

Author(s): Richardson, Benjamin J.

Number of pages: 26

Extract:

1. Local climate change law
Benjamin J. Richardson*

1. INTRODUCTION

This book is about climate change law at the local level. The `local' refers to
the role of local governments, municipalities and city authorities in addressing
climate change, through law, as well as policies, plans, voluntary codes and
associated methods of governance. This book focuses on the role of public
local authorities and does not examine the role of corporations, non-govern-
mental organizations (NGOs), community groups or other potential stake-
holders in local climate action, except incidentally and in a case study of
indigenous local self-government. Both climate mitigation (actions to reduce
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions) and adaptation (measures to minimize the
adverse impact of climate change) are considered in this book. Efforts to deal
with climate change increasingly recognize that cities, on the one hand, are
significant hubs of economic activity and major contributors to GHG emis-
sions, but, on the other hand, are also particularly vulnerable to the impacts of
climate change such as rising sea levels and heat island effects due to their
infrastructure and highly concentrated populations. It is also acknowledged
that municipal administrations that govern cities and other localities can help
address climate change.1
Examining how localities do and should address these facets of climate
change, the book offers diverse international perspectives from 15 contribu-
tors. Many of them assess developments in North America, reflecting the fact
that the papers for this volume came from a Canadian workshop held at the
University ...