Indigenous Cultural Property Law is important for Climate Change Policy: Lessons from Indigenous Communities at COP 27

Indigenous Cultural Property Law is a complex and evolving area of law that encompasses a wide range of issues related to the protection of Indigenous knowledge. The laws in this area are designed to recognize the unique relationship that Indigenous peoples have with their cultural heritage and to ensure their rights to their cultural heritage are respected and protected. I developed a particular interest in Indigenous Cultural Property Law at COP 27, which was often mentioned in conversations with Indigenous leaders and environmental activists. As I reflect on the critical takeaways from COP 27, I decided to amplify a set of claims using Indigenous Cultural Property Law as a framework.

The Irony of a Climate Change Conference: COP26

I recently had the opportunity to travel to COP26 as a member of the University of Michigan’s Delegation. What an experience! Attending events and plenaries where the discussions of climate action were taking place was exciting and yet frustrating. Frustrating because the negotiations were not progressing fast enough and were not aggressive enough to combat …

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The Business of Free. Something to learn for climate change?

“We could have saved [the Earth] but we were too damned cheap.”  -Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., A Man Without a Country. Recently, I became aware of a Pew Research Center poll that found overwhelming support for requiring better fuel efficiency for vehicles (79%), funding for alternative energy (74%), and strong support for spending more on mass …

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Ratification of Kyoto Protocol Extension unlikely this week

Photo: Courtesy of Juan Cespedes, The University of Michigan COP 16 Envoy's guest photographer From inside the UN Delegation Hall: Only 132 countries of the expected 190 delegations are present in today's meetings. Only a few delegations - less than 25 by my count - have offered any indication that they will ratify an extension of …

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Adaptation Funding – A Real Need

From inside the UN Delegation Hall - 2:00 pm: Professor Thomas Gladwin, instructor for the University of Michigan's annual Erb Seminar, asked his students to debate the following statement: “Humanity will be able to limit global warming to no more than 1.5-2.0 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and will thus experience abrupt, irreversible, runaway and …

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