Projects - Vanderbilt Law SchoolVanderbilt Law School

State of the Environment

The complex, interrelated nature of climate change makes regional, state, and local reporting and information gathering critical to crafting effective responses. The PCG Lab’s annual State of the Environment report summarizes key climate trends and data in an easily digestible format to inform experts and non-experts alike. The Lab also hosts an annual State of the Environment Conference at Vanderbilt Law School.

The Value of State of the Environment Reports in a Polarized Era

AI Labeling

Energy use from AI is expected to triple in the next half-decade, leading some to promote fossil fuel adoption to feed the growing demand. To avoid excessive emissions from this technology, it will be important to increase the energy efficiency of users, not just of data centers. Most research on AI efficiency focuses on the hardware and software powering these models. The Lab is studying disclosure tools that can induce AI users to reduce the energy and environmental effects of AI. This research compliments ongoing efforts from law and policy experts, engineers, computer scientists, and data center managers by encouraging smarter use of AI.

Improving Climate Adaptation Planning with AI

In collaboration with the Vanderbilt Data Science Institute, the Lab has developed a web application that synthesizes dozens of local adaptation plans. This app can summarize, identify shortcomings in, and highlight strengths of climate change adaptation planning. The app makes research into local adaptation strategies substantially more efficient for city planners, researchers, and the public. Meanwhile, private actors can also use the tool to identify ways to build on public governance strengths and fill gaps in local planning.

Fall 2024 AI Showcase Recap

Medical Sector Standards

The medical sector is responsible for ~10% of U.S. carbon emissions, making it by far the highest-emitting healthcare system in the world. The Lab is working with professionals throughout the industry – from clinicians to group purchasing officers – to identify effective communications strategies and actionable decarbonization initiatives. We are especially focused on modernizing quality assurance indicators to address the threat of climate change.

Supplier Engagement

Corporations are increasingly imposing climate requirements on the small- and medium-enterprises (SMEs) that make up their supply chains. These obligations work best when suppliers have the resources and expertise to meaningfully engage. The most significant barrier to supplier decarbonization is measuring and tracing emissions through complex value chains. The Lab is using cutting edge dispersed sensing, AI, and blockchain technologies to automatically generate immutable emissions records at scale. This system will simplify emissions accounting by SMEs, enable high impact Scope III decarbonization initiatives, and provide value to lawyers in transactional and regulatory fields.

Governance by Contract: The Growth of Environmental Supply Chain Contracting