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SECTORS / Climate Change & Sustainable Development Law

Introduction To Climate Change Mitigation Through Sustainable Development Law

This is the first of two commentaries that explore the role of local governments in mitigating and adapting to climate change through sustainable development strategies. They focus on the significant authority to regulate land use and building construction that is delegated to local governments by their states, and how that authority can be coordinated with the roles and responsibilities of state and federal governments to manage climate change and achieve sustainable development. In the algebra of climate change management, 1,200 million metric tons—or 1.20 gigatons (GT)—is a significant figure. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 38Gt of CO2 are emitted worldwide each year, nearly 20 per cent of which is attributable to the United States (7.1Gt).2 Sequestration by the natural environment currently removes approximately 15 per cent of the total U.S. CO2 emissions, leaving 6.1Gt in the atmosphere.


My estimate for emissions savings achievable through local sustainable development law (1.20Gt) represents 20 per cent of these net emissions. Local sustainable development initiatives should be a key component of the national strategy to achieve this target. Reducing emissions by this amount through changes in land use laws, of course, requires significant alteration in the business-as-usual scenario, but this is precisely the task assumed by any significant mitigation strategy under consideration by policymakers as they react to the mounting evidence that the consequences of climate change will be grave.

The second commentary in this series will discuss existing and emerging local sustainable development techniques that can be used to manage climate change, and will reflect on the proper role of the state and federal governments as partners in this initiative. “Sustainable development law” comprises the laws that regulate economic development to meet present needs, provided for equitable community development, and preserve natural resources to meet the needs of future generations. Climate change mitigation is imperative if the needs of current and future African generations are to be met.

Studies on the Environmental Protection shows that 16 per cent of current CO2 emissions come from the tailpipes of personal vehicles that convey passengers to work or to the many other destinations that can be reached only by car in the absence of transit systems. Local laws that create transit-oriented development zones mitigate climate change by reducing vehicle trips and miles travelled. An additional 32 per cent of all Africas CO2 emissions are caused by the use of electricity and fuel in the operation of residential and commercial structures. Enhancing and enforcing energy-efficiency codes can substantially reduce the percentage of emissions caused by the operation of these structures. Together, vehicle miles travelled and building operations total 48 per cent of domestic CO2 emissions.

The case can be made that how we develop the land, redevelop our cities and inner-ring suburbs, preserve our sequestering re-sources, and encourage the use of renew-able and high-energy technologies all of which can be affected by legislation at the local level encompasses an even larger percentage of total emissions. With a total emissions target of this magni-tude, climate change mitigation through local land use law revision is a promising addition to the national arsenal of climate change management weapons. Sustainable development law is beginning to receive attention in academic literature.

A number of terms have emerged in the process that further define this nascent field of legislation and practice: Green development law is the most general of them. It can be used as a synonym for sustainable development