The Endangered Species Act and Climate Change

• Date: 01 December 2009

12-2009 NEWS & ANALYSIS 39 ELR 11173

The Endangered

Species Act and

Climate Change

by Lawrence Liebesman, Elizabeth Lake,

and Peter Landreth

Lawrence Liebesman and Elizabeth Lake are

Partners and Peter Landreth is an Associate in

Holland & Knight’s environmental practice.

Editors’ Summary

Climate change is already aecting ecosystems around

the globe. In the United States, we are seeing forced spe-

cies relocations due to temperature changes, reductions

in habitat due to rising sea levels, and increasing adverse

impacts of invasive species. ese problems present

challenges to implementation of the Endangered Spe-

cies Act, particularly with regard to listing decisions and

critical habitat designations. To address these issues, the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine

Fisheries Service will need to take climate change and

the “best available science” standard into account when

examining eects on species.

Climate change is of increasing concern in the context

of the Endangered Species Act (ESA).1 e annual

global emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) grew by

approximately 80% between 1970 and 2004,2 which has led

to rising global surface temperatures a nd rising sea levels.3

ose eects led one preeminent ecologist to conclude in

2005 that climate change is “a major threat to the survival

of species and integrity of ecosystems worldwide.”4 In 2007,

the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

concluded t hat pressures from climate change and associ-

ated disturbances will likely overcome the natural resilience

of many ecosystems, and as a result, 20 to 30% of plant

and animal species will be subject to an increased chance of

extinction in this century.5

On June 16, 2009, the Barack Obama Administra-

tion released its rst climate change report, Global Climate

Change Impacts in the United States,6 which assesses the cur-

rent and future impacts of climate change on the nation. e

report, which uses stronger language than any prior presi-

dential assessment, break s down the eects of global warm-

ing in the United States by region and sector; it describes

how urban infrastructure will be placed in danger by hur-

ricanes and storm surges; how heat waves, poor air quality,

and insects will increase; and how it will be dicult for soci-

ety and natural resources to adapt to rapid climate change.

e report lists the following recommendations for dealing

with climate change: expand our u nderstanding of climate

change impacts; rene our ability to project climate cha nge;

expand our capacity to provide decisionmakers and the

public with relevant information on climate change and its

impacts; improve our understanding of thresholds likely to

lead to abrupt changes in climate or ecosystems; improve our

understanding of the most eective ways to reduce the rate

and magnitude of climate change, as well as unintended con-

sequences of such activities; and enhance our understand-

ing of how society can adapt to climate change. e Obama

1. 16 U.S.C. §§1531-1544, ELR S. ESA §§2-18.

2. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Fourth Assessment Re-

port, Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report Summary for Policymakers at

5 (Nov. 2007), available at http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/

ar4_syr_spm.pdf.

3. See Stefan Rahmstorf et al., Recent Climate Observations Compared to Projec-

tions, 316 S. 709 (2007).

4. Philip E. Hulme, Adapting to Climate Change: Is ere Scope for Ecological

Management in the Face of a Global reat?, 42 J. A E 784

(2005).

5. IPCC, Working Group II Contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on

Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report, Climate Change 2007: Climate

Change Impacts, Adaptations, and Vulnerability Summary for Policymakers

(2007), available at http://www.ipcc.ch (last visited Oct. 30, 2009).

6. G C C I   U S (omas R. Karl

et al. eds., Cambridge Univ. Press 2009).

Editors’ Note: is Article appears as a chapter in the Endangered

Species Deskbook: A Guide to Endangered Species Law, forthcoming

in 2010 by the Environmental Law Institute.

Copyright © 2009 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. reprinted with permission from ELR®, http://www.eli.org, 1-800-433-5120.