Climate Pods Liveable Cities - Sabin Center Panel Framework

Date and time: Friday July 24th, 2020; 4pm EDT

Event topic: How can cities fight climate change? Community driven and market-based
solutions.

Framework:
The law is a powerful way to combat climate change in cities, the main cause of climate change
and the most affected by the issue. According to the United Nations, over half of the world’s
population lives in cities, and this is likely to increase to over two thirds by 2030. Cities also use
a large proportion of the world’s energy supply and are responsible for around 70% of global
energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. However, more than 90 American cities have
committed to a 100% renewable energy target, according to the Sabin Center for Climate Change
Law. Nonetheless, there exist five major types of legal challenges U.S. cities face when drafting
and adopting climate-friendly policies, including preemption by U.S. Federal Law, adapting laws
from city to city, navigating state authority, emerging businesses, and private contracts.
Ultimately, measurable progress is made when we change the way we manage our cities’ carbon
footprint by utilizing more renewable energy sources and becoming more energy efficient.
Equity is also the key to drafting any legal tool that will protect all communities in a way that
best reflects the needs of its city’s residents.

Speakers Confirmed:

Charter Williams, Program Director, NYC Climate Action Alliance

Richard Lambert, Liveable Cities Coordinator - Cities Forum & Founder of Natural Walking Cities.

Amy Turner, Senior Fellow, Cities Climate Law Initiative, Associate Research Scholar, Sabin
Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia Law School

FORMAT
25-30 minute presentation:
Topic: Carbon mitigation in the buildings, transportation, waste and energy sectors.
I. (15 min) Speaker: Amy Turner
II. (10 min) Q&A

25-30 minute presentation:

Topic: Climate litigation: Deregulation and expanding of renewable energy resources.
I. (15 min) Speaker: Richard Lambert
II. (10 min) Q&A
25-30 minute presentation:
Topic: Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the promotion of climate change adaptation
through pollution control, resource management, land use planning and green finance.
I. (15 min) Speaker: Charter Williams
II. (10 min) Q&A

Sabin Law presenters:

1. Amy Turner (aturner@law.columbia.edu)

2. Charter Williams (charter.williams@nycclimateaction.org)
3. Richard Lambert (naturalwalkingcities@gmail.com)

Resources:

https://www.nycclimateaction.org/

https://climate.law.columbia.edu/directory

Notes: 15 minutes for group Q&A; 2-3 questions for Q&A; more time for questions

Submitting questions ahead of time or having them emailed directly to me

2-3 days before the panel, sending students information on the topic in Google doc with
overview of panel; speakers