The following post is a guest post by Foreign Law Specialist Eduardo Soares. Eduardo has previously published the following posts: Law Library’s Newly Published Report titled “Spain: Civic Space Legal Framework,” The Law Library’s New Report on the Regulation of Stem Cell Research, The Civil Law System – Global Legal Collection Highlights, Laws Behind the Rio Olympics, and New Report on Civic Space Legal Framework in Portugal and Romania, among others.
A new report on legislation regarding climate change and the preservation of historic and cultural heritage in Brazil, Colombia, Finland, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is now available on the Law Library of Congress website. The report discusses regulations of these jurisdictions for reducing energy usage, adapting historic buildings to climate change, and integrating indigenous knowledge into government actions to protect cultural properties.
Brazil, Colombia, Finland, Spain, and the UAE have legislation protecting historic buildings but lack specific regulations for promoting energy efficiency or climate change adaptation. Great Britain, Ireland, and Italy have legislation allowing retrofitting historic buildings to reduce energy usage. Great Britain and Ireland require permission for energy efficiency improvements, while Italy’s legal framework allows retrofitting without substantially altering the building’s character or appearance.
Colombia and Finland have legislation that encourages collaboration with indigenous communities in government actions. In Colombia, collaboration is based on the indigenous people’s constitutional right to prior consultation when any intervention occurs within their territory. In Finland, a law mandates that the government must involve its indigenous population in the creation of climate-related plans.
This report is part of the Law Library’s Legal Reports collection, prepared by staff and foreign law specialists from the Global Legal Research Center. The collection includes over 4,000 historical and contemporary legal reports on a variety of legal subjects. To receive alerts when new reports are published, you can subscribe to email updates and the RSS feed for Law Library Reports (click the “subscribe” button on the Law Library’s website). The Law Library also regularly publishes articles related to climate change in the Global Legal Monitor.
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