The Environmental Forum

LEAD FEATURE ❧ Public land and public trust are damaged when the Department of the Interior removes robust citizen engagement and expert analysis to distort proper management of the federal domain for the purpose of prioritizing fossil-fuel development by private interests.

CENTERPIECE ❧ Mozambique faces the destabilizing influence of sudden mineral wealth as it simultaneously grapples with adapting to climate change. Can the principles of sustainable development guide communities toward equitable, resilient outcomes?

COVER STORY ❧ Which are the stars, the most important cases in U.S. environmental jurisprudence? We asked that question in a survey of this magazine’s readers and other professionals across all sectors. The results and those from our poll 10 years ago show remarkable durability over time, truly placing these selections in the legal Hall of Fame.

TESTIMONY ❧ After witnessing Hurricane Sandy’s assault on the Mid-Atlantic region in 2012, I wrote a book on the business response to climate change. From what I observed, there is nothing like a calamity to awaken an understanding of threats and the need for anticipation and preparation.

At least half of global insect and phytoplankton biomass is now gone. The tropical rainforests, a storehouse of genetic information and serving as key components of the terrestrial biosphere, have been decimated. Meanwhile, the challenges mount as the seas rise, invading coastal ecosystems; ocean waters become more acidic and inhospitable to many marine denizens; and the land warms faster than nature can cope. The robust international legal regime to protect species and habitat is failing. Can improved policy save the global ecosystem?