Model Climate Laws Initiative

The Foundation has provided a $20,000 gift to the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School to assist the Center in advancing the work of the Model Climate Laws Initiative (“MCLI”).

In 2019, two ACOEL fellows – Michael Gerrard and John Dernbach — published “Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization,” a book providing a roadmap of legal steps that could be taken to achieve dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Following up on that publication, the Sabin Center retained scores of lawyers (working pro bono) to draft model laws, ordinances, executive orders and analyses to provide templates and guidance for federal, state and local authorities in advancing the strategies described in the book. Those documents have been posted on the Sabin Center website, providing a resource that has now become unwieldy due to the volume of information presented and its complexity.

Recently the Sabin Center has partnered with Environmental Advocates of New York to bring this effort to the next level by creating the “Model Climate Laws Initiative, (“MCLI”). This new entity (which recently appointed a full-time executive director) will continue to work with pro bono lawyers to build the on-line model documents resource, raise awareness of its availability and respond to requests for assistance in preparing draft laws, ordinances and other legal  documents tailored to the particular issues that state and local officials are seeking to address.  

The Foundation funds are to be used to support the MCLI executive director in participating in conferences and workshops around the country, thereby enabling him to promote the initiative and solicit suggestions from state and local officials about legal drafting that could prove helpful to their efforts. The funds are also being used for the redesign of the Model Climate Laws Initiative website.