- Volume 8 (2014), Issue 4
- Vol. 8 (2014), No. 4
- >
- Pages 247 - 256
- pp. 247 - 256
Legal Efforts to Address Climate Change under Environmental Permitting Laws in the State of Rio de Janeiro
This article presents an analysis of the laws of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, related to climate change and their interaction with environmental permitting. In the introduction, the current situation of the international climate change regime is briefly discussed, as well as the creation of the Brazilian legislative framework for climate change at the federal level. After reviewing the history of the creation of climate change legislation in the State of Rio de Janeiro, this article addresses the application of this legal regime under environmental permitting. The conclusion points to a trend of incorporating climate change restrictions in environmental permits to be issued in the State of Rio de Janeiro. These may be subjected to court challenges in the future due to the legal uncertainty created by federal and state climate change laws which did not adequately define the role of the private sector in efforts to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions.