2021 has seen its fair share of challenges in terms of tackling climate change. As governments and economies slowly recover from the impacts of the pandemic, there was more time to focus on climate change; which if left unvisited, could lead to a much larger humanitarian crisis. In 2021, there was a plethora of policies proposed by governments around the world to mitigate climate change. As we inch towards the end of the year, let us take a look at some of the climate change challenges to watch out for in 2022.

Oil and gas drilling in national lands and waters
One of the biggest challenges in 2021 was to address - if and how to restrict and permit drilling for oil and gas in nationally owned lands and waters. The Biden administration put an embargo on leasing 80 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico. However, a court lifted the embargo and the Biden administration went through with the sale causing major disappointment amongst environmentalists. These climate change advocates are ready to oppose and counter the new lease of oil and gas drilling in national lands and waters, especially on the coasts of Alaska and New Mexico.

Addressing the preservation of national waters
Next year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is looking to propose a policy on which national waters will be regulated in the US. Back in 2015, the Obama administration extended protection to small bodies of water from pollution. However, the trump administration dissolved the regulation citing it as troublesome. The Biden administration is anticipating to regulate more waters from the previous administration, although the plan is unclear at this time. Michael Regan, the EPA Administrator, has given his statement that the EPA will neither move back to the Obama nor Trump administrations’ rule saying that both the regulations did not include people’s voices. Whatever the case may be, the EPA is expected to face backlashes from environmentalists and Republicans. The environmentalists could challenge the new regulations as it may not be enough to preserve the waters and the Republicans could also challenge the new regulations citing them as too critical.

Regulations on power plant emissions
Next year, the EPA is anticipating to propose new regulations on new and current power plant emissions. The rules are expected to be finalized in 2023. The power industry and Republicans are expected to contest the new regulations as the cost of compliance may be too high. A lower court slashed a Trump administration rule on power plant emissions. This was supposed to give the EPA, the states and the authorities more time on implementing technologies on power plant emissions. In October, the Supreme Court took up the case after petitions from Republican states and the power plant industry. The court will review what tools the EPA can use to regulate power plant emissions. North Dakota, a Republican led state has asked the court to restore the Trump administration rules.

Increasing climate change goals
Many countries took pledges in the form of Nationally Determines Contributions (NDC) to tackle climate change in the COP26 summit this year. The climate pact has requested countries to review and increase their climate change goals by the end of next year. A recent analysis found that the pledges made this year will not be sufficient to achieve the Paris climate accord goals; to keep temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius. The US has stated that it may not increase its targets and it will review and make a call if necessary. Australia, Brazil and China are among some of the few countries that climate change advocates hope to see increase their climate change targets.

Source: https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/586776-four-environmental-fights-to-watch-in-2022?amp