New research offers solutions t a lack of legislative reform by focusing on strategies various government agencies can take to tap into existing flexibility.
Do you think that major statutory reform is necessary address global environmental challenges? Think again.
Newly published research published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by a group of environmental law scholars explores the untapped capacity of existing environmental and natural resources management statutes to address accelerating environmental change in the absence of major legislative reform.
The research, titled “Untapped capacity for resilience in environmental law,” comes at a time when the world’s environment is changing rapidly in ways that directly impact human well-being, from migrating species to changing precipitation patterns, flooding, and water supplies. As a result, adaptation–both of ecosystems and social-ecological systems–is inevitable, according to researchers.
In many cases, systems will also have to transform into new configurations. In both the U.S. and European Union, policymakers have grappled on how best to handle the challenges. Many believe that new legislative regimes will be necessary. Particularly in the U.S., however, Congress is unlikely to engage in a major and helpful overhaul of the federal environmental and natural resources statutes to help with the necessary adaptation and transformation efforts, even though some state and local governments are increasingly responding through legal amendments.
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