Deep Decarbonization
The climate crisis threatens to create global food, health, housing, and social insecurity and displace millions, if not billions, of people. A major cause of rapid climate change is the dramatic increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the atmosphere driven by human activity over the last century. In fact, the past five years have been the five warmest years on record, and all signs point to a continuing trend unless massive steps are taken to slow down and reverse the tide. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution to fighting climate change, deep decarbonization, or achieving net-zero emissions, has emerged as the major goal for the next decades. What does deep decarbonization entail? Michael Gerrard, professor at Columbia Law School and the faculty director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, explains the legal challenges and reforms needed in energy and transportation, the two largest GHG emitting sectors, to achieve deep decarbonization and the policies and actions the Biden administration will likely institute in the near-term to reach climate change objectives.
