Death by a thousand cuts

This monograph sets out to critically examine decision-making on fossil fuel extraction in relation to climate change mitigation in the broader context of the breaching of planetary environmental limits. Land use planning consent regimes are crucial in the control and mitigation of climate change. There is no mechanism to account for the differing amounts of probable emissions from each extraction site consented – not across areas or countries or within trade boundaries. While other legal mechanisms control the level of emissions at point of creation these are hampered by aging and cumulative consents that do not add up. For an effective framework to exist, one that acknowledges limits such as greenhouse gas emissions, a new legal architecture needs to emerge.