Carol Liao

📣Tomorrow 📣 between 12:15–1 PM PT, @naomiaklein.bsky.social will discuss her book Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World.
This online event is organized by the UBC Alumni Book Club and moderated by @carolmliao.bsky.social

Register: ubc.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

NOTICE: NEW VENUE ‼️‼️

In discussion with CCJ Co-Director Naomi Klein, Canadian Orthopaedic Surgeon Dr. Deirdre Nunan is hosted by BC Physicians Against Genocide to share her most recent work in one of the barely standing hospitals left in Gaza.
Free event. RSVP required. Link in Bio. Doors: 6.30pm

Fast-tracking mining in B.C. without repeating past mistakes - UBC News B.C. is pushing mineral mining to meet clean energy demand, but UBC experts stress the need to balance growth with Indigenous rights and the environment.

Allard Law Professor Dr. Carol Liao (@carolmliao.bsky.social) and UBC Bradshaw Research Institute for Minerals & Mining Director Dr. John Steen discussed the complexities of developing a competitive critical minerals sector while upholding Indigenous consent. news.ubc.ca/2025/08/fast...

Join the UBC Alumni Book Club for a virtual talk with @naomiaklein.bsky.social, Co-Director of the Centre for Climate Justice, on her book Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World.
Moderated by @carolmliao.bsky.social.
📅 Sep 24 | 🕐 12:15–1 PM PT | 📍 Zoom
Register: ubc.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Legal Intersections of Climate Risks, Indigenous Rights, and Corporate Fiduciary Obligations Indigenous peoples, whose territories span some of the planet’s most ecologically sensitive regions, are on the frontlines of the climate crisis. Indigenous cultures, economies, and wellbeing are o…

Allard Law Professor Dr. Carol Liao (@carolmliao.bsky.social)
discusses the legal intersections of climate risk, Indigenous rights & corporate fiduciary obligations in a new blog post for the Business and Human Rights Journal. @ccj-ubc.bsky.social
bhrj.blog/2025/07/22/l...

Wonderful blog by @carolmliao.bsky.social problematizing the current construction of fiduciary duties as duties to the company, in a world where the company is so often destroying climate, nature, and the environment: bhrj.blog/2025/07/22/l...

Arundhati Roy joins Naomi Klein on September 17th to discuss her new memoir Mother Mary Comes to Me. Presented with UBC Centre for Climate Justice. Tickets on sale now! tinyurl.com/2f6nr7r6

Israel's Tech Boom & the Economy of Genocide Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur, joins Naomi to discuss calls for her removal and her latest report documenting the 'corporate machinery sustaining Israel’s settler-colonial project.’

It was my great honour to interview the one and only Francesca Albanese yesterday. Watch here, and find out why Trump and Rubio are so determined to stop her vital work:
zeteo.com/p/israels-te...

If you work in climate & need more reasons why you should also actively, energetically oppose military expansion & war, they are here.

Reducing U.S. military spending could lead to substantial decreases in energy consumption The U.S. military is a significant contributor to the climate crisis and other sustainability concerns. However, there is very limited research on how changes in U.S. military spending directly impact...

New research by @r-thombs.bsky.social, @akjorgenson.bsky.social and Brett Clark shows that sustained cuts to US military expenditures could result in annual energy savings on par with what the nation of Slovenia or the US state of Delaware consumes annually by 2032

journals.plos.org/climate/arti...

We show that sustained cuts to U.S. military expenditures could result in annual energy savings on par with what the nation of Slovenia or the U.S. state of Delaware consumes annually by 2032.

We also illustrate the potential impacts of different spending decisions on DOD energy consumption and present a forecast from 2023 to 2032 for seven different scenarios.

We find that a decrease in military expenditures has a larger effect on decreasing energy consumption than an increase in expenditures does on increasing consumption. This is largely due to cuts in DOD energy consumption from facilities and vehicles and equipment, and jet fuel in particular.

We conduct a time series analysis of the relationship between U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) direct energy consumption and U.S. military expenditures from 1975 to 2022, and we test for directional asymmetry in the effect of expenditures on energy consumption.

Reducing U.S. military spending could lead to substantial decreases in energy consumption The U.S. military is a significant contributor to the climate crisis and other sustainability concerns. However, there is very limited research on how changes in U.S. military spending directly impact...

Our new study published in PLOS Climate indicates that very modest decreases in US military spending would lead to very big decreases in how much fossil fuels are consumed by the US Department of Defense. Summary in thread. dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour... #climatecrisis #energy #climate #sustainability

Blaming journalism about the climate crisis for causing mental health issues is like blaming the fire alarm for making people panic about the house being on fire.

We do know what’s in store for future generations if emissions don’t come down. That’s the whole point.

The latest issue (vol 62 no 1) of the Alberta Law Review is now available on CanLII! Featuring content by Carol Liao, Terry Skolnik, Colton Fehr, Florence Ashley, Kathleen Hammond, Stéphane Sérafin, Donald Netolitzky, Dimitri Patrinos, and Ubaka Ogbogu. #legalcommentary zurl.co/G3Lx

A tale of two pension funds: one abandons net-zero, the other doubles down on climate action Canada's two largest pension funds are taking radically different approaches when it comes to sustainable investing. This yawning gap between the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Caisse de dép...

A tale of two pension funds: “While one is advancing credible, science-based action to protect pensions and the planet, the other is retreating under the guise of regulatory caution.” said Carol Liao, chair of the Canada Climate Law Initiative. www.nationalobserver.com/2025/06/27/a...

We’re thrilled to launch the Right to Cool White Paper – a bold, rights-based vision for equitable climate resilience in BC. Rooted in lived experience and policy analysis, it calls for systemic action to protect those most impacted by rising heat.

Read the full paper here! tinyurl.com/2fer2bad

I spoke to an elementary school teacher for this story who told me about a 10 year old in her class asking if he'd be alive in 2100. He'd be 85 then.

What will that child's retirement look like in a 4 degree, broiling world? That's the path of continued fossil fuel investment.

A difference between the CPP and CDPQ is its board membership. CDPQ has 0 directors also sitting on the board of oil and gas companies. CPP's board is 3/10.

How can those individuals act in the best long term interest of pensioners when they have a legal duty to those fossil fuel companies too?

Because the CPDQ, a pension fund of comparable size facing the same regulations can double down on climate action that's also pretty clear evidence this can be done effectively. The point of anti-greenwashing rules is to substantiate your claims, not scare an institution off from making them.

Climate risk is financial risk, and failing to decarbonize is putting all of our retirement savings at severe risk.

If the Canada Pension Plan's logic that it has to abandon net-zero targets because of anti-greenwashing rules that's a pretty clear sign they were greenwashing to begin with.

A tale of two pension funds: one abandons net-zero, the other doubles down on climate action Canada's two largest pension funds are taking radically different approaches when it comes to sustainable investing. This yawning gap between the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Caisse de dép...

Canada's two largest pension funds (CPP and CDPQ) have chosen radically different climate strategies. The CPP retreated from net-zero (blaming anti-greenwashing rules) while CDPQ blew a hole through that logic by doubling down on climate action.
www.nationalobserver.com/2025/06/27/a...

“Climate risk is financial risk, and ignoring that reality is a failure of governance,” says Dr. Liao. "Climate alignment isn't a PR exercise; it's a long-term, risk-management imperative.”

A tale of two pension funds: one abandons net-zero, the other doubles down on climate action Canada's two largest pension funds are taking radically different approaches when it comes to sustainable investing. This yawning gap between the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Caisse de dép...

Pension plans require climate stability to deliver long-term returns on Canadians' retirement savings, Allard Law Professor Dr. Carol Liao tells the @nationalobserver.com. www.nationalobserver.com/2025/06/27/a...

A tale of two pension funds: one abandons net-zero, the other doubles down on climate action Canada's two largest pension funds are taking radically different approaches when it comes to sustainable investing. This yawning gap between the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Caisse de dép...

@woodsideful.bsky.social absolutely nails it here. I also just had a gut punch realization that my kids will still be alive in 2100, underscoring the responsibility pensions have to invest in climate safety now.

www.nationalobserver.com/2025/06/27/a... @nationalobserver.com @carolmliao.bsky.social‬

Pissed off about that disgraceful NYT hit piece on Zohran Mamdani and his visionary campaign?

Take it to the voters!

I'm kicking off a phone bank *tomorrow at 6 pm ET* with NYC's next mayor. Join us!

volunteer.zohranfornyc.com/phonebank-fo...
(fixed link)

Tomorrow night, join acclaimed author + activist @naomiaklein.bsky.social for a conversation and phonebank as we get out the vote in the final stretch of the campaign.

Sign up here: volunteer.zohranfornyc.com/phonebank-fo...

The CCJ’s May 2025 newsletter is now live! This issue features highlights from recent events, the CCJ's latest research, & spotlights the work of our staff and affiliates featured across major media platforms. Read it here: tinyurl.com/d6vtdbvp

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