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This paper assesses the feasibility of India achieving its stated objective of getting to net zero carbon emissions by 2070 and outlines a possible strategy for the next 10 years consistent with this goal. It recommends a combination of price-based measures and several sector-specific interventions. The ideal price-based measure would be a carbon tax. This may not be feasible for various reasons, but in its absence a well-designed emissions trading system, as described in the paper, could make a major contribution in reducing emissions. On sectoral interventions, the critical areas over the next 10 years would be (i) accelerated expansion of various forms of renewable energy capacity, which will require several policy changes, (ii) electrification of transport, and (iii) a shift from private to public transport in urban areas and from road to rail for freight. Action will also be necessary in other sectors such as industry, agriculture, and buildings, but a detailed strategy for these may take more time to put in place. Since responsibility for action in all these areas is spread across different ministries in the central government and, in many cases, state governments, evolving an internally consistent and cost-effective strategy will present a major challenge. There is a case for setting up a high-level commission chaired by the Prime Minister to approve a national strategy. The paper estimates that the additional investment needed to make this transition will be about 2 per cent of India's GDP by 2030, much of which will have to come from additional public and private savings. In this context, some form of carbon pricing would help generate additional revenue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing awareness that actions by policymakers and international organizations to reduce poverty, and those to mitigate and adapt to climate change, are inextricably linked and interwoven. This paper examines relevant academic and policy literature and evidence on this relationship and explores the potential for a new form of development that simultaneously mitigates climate change, manages its impacts , and improves the wellbeing of people in poverty. First, as a key foundation, it outlines the backdrop in basic moral philosophy, noting that climate action and poverty reduction can be motivated both by a core principle based on the right to development and by the conventional consequentialism that is standard in economics. Second, it reviews assessments of the current and potential future impacts of weakly managed climate change on the wellbeing of those in poverty, paying attention to unequal effects, including by gender. Third, it examines arguments and literature on the economic impacts of climate action and policies and how those affect the wellbeing of people in poverty, highlighting the importance of market failures, technological change, systemic dynamics of transition, and distributional effects of mitigation and adaptation. Finally, the paper surveys the current state of knowledge and understanding of how climate action and poverty reduction can be integrated in policy design, indicating where further research can contribute to a transition that succeeds in both objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South eastern Australia is a global warming hotspot, and is also home to ~70% of Australia's population and one of Australia's largest fisheries—the South East Scalefish and Shark Fishery. This fishery spans shelf to deep waters, subtropical to temperate waters, employs many gears, and interacts with over 100 species. Despite following best practice fisheries management principles, including taking an ecosystem perspective to overall fisheries interactions, management interventions have failed to arrest or recover the decline of some focal species. Using an Atlantis ecosystem model developed for the fishery over the past 20 years, this paper presents simulations that suggest climate change may be a major contributor to the trajectories seen for a number of species—such as jackass morwong (Nemadactylus macropterus), blue warehou (Seriolella brama), and gemfish (Rexea solandri). This kind of climate influence poses many challenges for fisheries management into the future, raising questions about what to do when climate change undermines or overrides fisheries management actions and objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on actual measurement data from a resort in the Maldives, this paper explores the criteria for the optimal off-grid renewable energy systems that contribute to greenhouse gas mitigation and climate adaptation efforts from three perspectives: technical, economic and environmental. Using Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Electric Renewables software, the optimal technical combination of hybrid energy system is determined. Moreover, indicators such as levelized cost of energy and net present cost are considered as economic criteria to determine the financial feasibility of the off-grid renewable energy systems. Finally, CO2 emission level and renewable shares are reviewed from environmental perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The challenges of combatting climate change are unprecedented and now very urgent. Current approaches are not working fast enough. This paper, and this journal issue, conceive of the challenge as one of non-marginal structural and institutional change. Several different conceptual frameworks and pluralist theories are considered, emanating from complexity theory, economics, natural sciences, political economy, and strategy. These are deployed to identify potential accelerators, including synergies between climate action and other key political issues, and beneficial non-linear dynamics such as shifts in consumer preferences and technology learning curves. The delays in action also mean that removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is now necessary, and even unconventional geoengineering approaches may need to be considered. A pluralist and practical approach to climate action, accounting for different institutional and social contexts across countries, is argued to be required to accelerate action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines international cooperation on technological development as an alternative to international cooperation on greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. In order to analyse the scope of cooperation, a three-stage technology agreement formation game is solved. First, countries decide whether or not to sign up to the agreement. In the second stage, the signatories (playing together) and the nonsignatories (playing individually) select their investment in R&D. In this stage, it is assumed that the signatories not only coordinate their levels of R&D investment but also pool their R&D efforts to fully internalize the spillovers of their investment. Finally, in the third stage, each country decides non-cooperatively upon its level of energy production. For linear environmental damages and quadratic investment costs, the grand coalition is stable if marginal damages are large enough to justify the development of a breakthrough technology that eliminates emissions completely, and if technology spillovers are not very important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid global economic growth, centered in Asia but now spread across the world, is driving rapid greenhouse-gas emissions growth, making earlier projections unrealistic. This paper develops new, illustrative business-as-usual projections for carbon dioxide (CO[sub2]) from fossil fuels and other sources and for non-CO[sub2] greenhouse gases. Making adjustments to 2007 World Energy Outlook projections to reflect more fully recent trends, we project annual emissions by 2030 to be almost double current volumes, 11 per cent higher than in the most pessimistic scenario developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and at a level reached only in 2050 in the business-as-usual scenario used by the Stern Review. This has major implications for the global approach to climate-change mitigation. The required effort is much larger than implicit in the IPCC data informing the current international climate negotiations. Large cuts in developed country emissions will be required, and significant deviations from baselines will be required in developing countries by 2020. It is hard to see how the required cuts could be achieved without all major developing as well as developed countries adopting economy-wide policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crop damages by wildlife is a frequent form of human-wildlife conflict. Identifying areas where the risk of crop damages is highest is pivotal to set up preventive measures and reduce conflict. Species distribution models are routinely used to predict species distribution in response of environmental changes. The aim of this paper was assessing whether species distribution models can allow to identify the areas most at risk of crop damages, helping to set up management strategies aimed at the mitigation of human-wildlife conflicts. We obtained data on wild boar Sus scrofa damages to crops in the Alta Murgia National Park, Southern Italy, and related them to landscape features, to identify areas where the risk of wild boar damages is highest. We used MaxEnt to build species distribution models. We identified the spatial scale at which landscape mostly affects the distribution damages, and optimized the regularization parameter of models, through an information-theoretic approach based on AIC. Wild boar damages quickly increased in the period 2007-2011; cereals and legumes were the crops more affected. Large areas of the park have a high risk of wild boar damages. The risk of damages was related to low cover of urban areas or olive grows, intermediate values of forest cover, and high values of shrubland cover within a 2-km radius. Temporally independent validation data demonstrated that models can successfully predict damages in the future. Species distribution models can accurately identify the areas most at risk of wildlife damages, as models calibrated on data collected during only a subset of years correctly predicted damages in the subsequent year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, Gallagher et al. (2022) suggested that seaweed ecosystems are net heterotrophic carbon sources due to CO2 released from the consumption of external subsidies. Here we outline several flaws in their argument, which we believe confuse research on the blue carbon potential of seaweed ecosystems, and unjustifiably generate doubt around initiatives to protect and restore seaweed forests. Gallagher et al.'s evidence relies on 18 studies with highly variable measures of net ecosystem production, which do not statistically support their conclusion that most seaweed ecosystems are heterotrophic. This dataset is also inappropriate as it is incomplete and misrepresents seaweed ecosystems globally, particularly seaweed forests, which contribute disproportionately to global seaweed productivity. We maintain that the climate change mitigation value of an ecosystem depends on the net difference in CO2 uptake between the original ecosystem and its replacement ecosystem. We provide evidence that most seaweed ecosystems, which drawdown the largest carbon flux of any vegetated coastal habitat, are indeed net autotrophic ecosystems. We recognize that substantial uncertainties remain concerning the magnitude of CO2 drawdown by seaweed ecosystems and recommend that carbon fluxes around seaweed ecosystems should be considered more broadly and taken into account in estimates of their CO2 mitigation potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Climate change is impacting the health of individuals worldwide. At the same time, the healthcare sector contributes to carbon emissions. In Australia, healthcare contributes 7% of the country's carbon footprint. Research into the environmental impact and mitigation of carbon emissions in primary care is an emerging area. Objective To explore staff perspectives on facilitators and barriers to environmental sustainability in 3 Australian general practices seeking to reduce their environmental impact. Methods We used a qualitative, case-study approach, conducting 23 semistructured interviews with staff across the 3 practices including nurses, administrative staff, and doctors. Observation of systems and staff behaviour relating to environmental sustainability was undertaken at 1 practice. Thematic analysis was conducted to determine themes relating to factors influencing the implementation of environmentally sustainable initiatives within practice settings. Results Climate mitigation efforts raised by participants were largely focussed on energy and waste reduction, rather than prescribing pharmaceuticals and staff and patient transport. Three main factors influencing change towards sustainable practice were identified: "Leadership," "Staff Engagement and Workplace Culture," and "Concomitant Benefits." A leadership team and workplace culture that valued environmental sustainability were found to be important facilitators, as were concomitant benefits, in particular financial savings. Barriers included what interviewees described as a lack of knowledge about initiatives with the highest impact, lack of understanding described by staff of the evidence behind particular initiatives, waning staff engagement and infection control concerns. Conclusions Our research highlights several important factors that contribute to the implementation of intended environmentally sustainable initiatives in these 3 practices. Further education, research and high-level policy guidance on the potential environmental impact of prescribing pharmaceuticals, staff and patient transport and unnecessary tests and treatments are recommended to further promote environmental sustainability in primary care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore the prospects of cooperation in a threshold public bad game. The experiment's setup allows us to investigate the issue of effort coordination between signatories and non-signatories to a climate agreement under the threat of a catastrophe. Motivated actorsmay signal willingness to lead by committing a share of investments to a 'clean' but less remunerative project. The game is parametrized such that the externality cannot be fully internalized by the coalition, so that some effort on the part of the second-movers is required if the catastrophic losses are to be avoided. We manipulate both the relative returns of two investments and the extent to which the gains from leadership diffuse to second-movers. We find that the likelihood of reaching a sizeable coalition of early investors in the clean technology is higher when the benefits are appropriated by the coalition. Conversely, spillovers can entice secondmovers' adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Earth's primary energy source, surface downward solar radiation (R s) determines the solar power potential and usage for climate change mitigation. Future projections of R s based on climate models have large uncertainties that interfere with the efficient deployment of solar energy to achieve China's carbon-neutrality goal. Here we assess 24 models in the latest Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 with historical observations in China and find systematic biases in simulating historical R s values likely due to model biases in cloud cover and clear-sky radiation, resulting in largely uncertain projections for future changes in R s. Based on emergent constraints, we obtain credible R s with narrowed uncertainties by ∼56% in the mid-twenty-first century and show that the mean R s change during 2050–2069 relative to 1995–2014 is 30% more brightening than the raw projections. Particularly in North China and Southeast China with higher power demand, the constrained projections present more significant brightening, highlighting the importance of considering the spatial changes in future Rs when locating new solar energy infrastructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International efforts to avoid dangerous climate change have historically focused on reducing energy-related CO2 emissions from countries with either the largest economies (e.g. the EU and the USA) and/or the largest populations (e.g. China and India). However, in recent years, emissions have surged among a different and much less-examined group of countries, raising concerns that a next generation of high-emitting economies will obviate current mitigation targets. Here, we analyse the trends and drivers of emissions in each of the 59 countries where emissions in 2010–2018 grew faster than the global average (excluding China and India), project their emissions under a range of longer-term energy scenarios and estimate the costs of decarbonization pathways. Total emissions from these 'emerging emitters' reach as much as 7.5 GtCO2/year in the baseline 2.5° scenario—substantially greater than the emissions from these regions in previously published scenarios that would limit warming to 1.5°C or even 2°C. Such unanticipated emissions would in turn require non-emitting energy deployment from all sectors within these emerging emitters, and faster and deeper reductions in emissions from other countries to meet international climate goals. Moreover, the annual costs of keeping emissions at the low level are in many cases 0.2%–4.1% of countries' gross domestic production, pointing to potential trade-offs with poverty-reduction goals and/or the need for economic support and low-carbon technology transfer from historically high-emitting countries. Our results thus highlight the critical importance of ramping up mitigation efforts in countries that to this point have been largely ignored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atmospheric methane (CH4) concentrations have shown a puzzling resumption in growth since 2007 following a period of stabilization from 2000 to 2006. Multiple hypotheses have been proposed to explain the temporal variations in CH4 growth, and attribute the rise of atmospheric CH4 either to increases in emissions from fossil fuel activities, agriculture and natural wetlands, or to a decrease in the atmospheric chemical sink. Here, we use a comprehensive ensemble of CH4 source estimates and isotopic δ13C-CH4 source signature data to show that the resumption of CH4 growth is most likely due to increased anthropogenic emissions. Our emission scenarios that have the fewest biases with respect to isotopic composition suggest that the agriculture, landfill and waste sectors were responsible for 53 ± 13% of the renewed growth over the period 2007–2017 compared to 2000–2006; industrial fossil fuel sources explained an additional 34 ± 24%, and wetland sources contributed the least at 13 ± 9%. The hypothesis that a large increase in emissions from natural wetlands drove the decrease in atmospheric δ13C-CH4 values cannot be reconciled with current process-based wetland CH4 models. This finding suggests the need for increased wetland measurements to better understand the contemporary and future role of wetlands in the rise of atmospheric methane and climate feedback. Our findings highlight the predominant role of anthropogenic activities in driving the growth of atmospheric CH4 concentrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The case for action on climate change with urgency and at scale rests on the immense magnitude of climate risk, the very rapid emissions reductions which are necessary, and that there is a real opportunity to create a new and attractive form of growth and development. The analysis must be based on a dynamic approach to the economics of public policy, set in a complex, imperfect and uncertain world. The economics of climate change, and further, economics more broadly, must change to respond to the challenge of how to foster rapid transformation. It is time for economics and economists to step up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clean air policies in China have substantially reduced particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution in recent years, primarily by curbing end-of-pipe emissions. However, reaching the level of the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines may instead depend upon the air quality co-benefits of ambitious climate action. Here, we assess pathways of Chinese PM2.5 air quality from 2015 to 2060 under a combination of scenarios that link global and Chinese climate mitigation pathways (i.e. global 2°C- and 1.5°C-pathways, National Determined Contributions (NDC) pledges and carbon neutrality goals) to local clean air policies. We find that China can achieve both its near-term climate goals (peak emissions) and PM2.5 air quality annual standard (35 μg/m3) by 2030 by fulfilling its NDC pledges and continuing air pollution control policies. However, the benefits of end-of-pipe control reductions are mostly exhausted by 2030, and reducing PM2.5 exposure of the majority of the Chinese population to below 10 μg/m3 by 2060 will likely require more ambitious climate mitigation efforts such as China's carbon neutrality goals and global 1.5°C-pathways. Our results thus highlight that China's carbon neutrality goals will play a critical role in reducing air pollution exposure to the level of the WHO guidelines and protecting public health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overall objective of this work is to assess the carbon sequestration potential and ecological service of savannah ecosystems in Cameroon. The destructive and non-destructive method was used to estimate the amount of carbon in different biomasses. The experimental setup used in this work is a random complete Fisher block device with four repetitions. The carbon stock in the aboveground biomass is ≥11.15 ± 2.41 tC/ha in the two regions. The carbon stock in litter biomass is ≥0.15 ± 0.02 tC/ha in the two regions. The carbon stock in herbaceous biomass is ≥3.00 ± 1.02 tC/ha in the savannah ecosystems within the regions. The carbon stock in dead wood biomass is ≥2.26 ± 1.09 tC/ha in the savannah ecosystems within regions. The carbon stock in the root biomass is ≥1.62 ± 0.18 tC/ha in the savannah ecosystems within the regions. Soil carbon stock is ≥3.74 ± 1.40 tC/ha in the two regions. The total carbon stocks ranged from 32.66 ± 3.05–71.06 ± 5.75 to 36.59 ± 3.50–69.85 ± 5.51 tC/ha in Adamawa and North regions, respectively. CO2 emissions are >100 tCO2/ha in the savannah ecosystems within the regions. These results therefore confirm the contributing role of savannah ecosystems studied in the fight against the mitigation of climate change in the Adamawa and North region of Cameroon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The CGIAR crop improvement (CI) programs, unlike commercial CI programs, which are mainly geared to profit though meeting farmers' needs, are charged with meeting multiple objectives with target populations that include both farmers and the community at large. We compiled the opinions from >30 experts in the private and public sector on key strategies, methodologies, and activities that could the help CGIAR meet the challenges of providing farmers with improved varieties while simultaneously meeting the goals of: (i) nutrition, health, and food security; (ii) poverty reduction, livelihoods, and jobs; (iii) gender equality, youth, and inclusion; (iv) climate adaptation and mitigation; and (v) environmental health and biodiversity. We review the crop improvement processes starting with crop choice, moving through to breeding objectives, production of potential new varieties, selection, and finally adoption by farmers. The importance of multidisciplinary teams working towards common objectives is stressed as a key factor to success. The role of the distinct disciplines, actors, and their interactions throughout the process from crop choice through to adoption by farmers is discussed and illustrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and increased urban population are two major concerns for society. Moving towards more sustainable energy solutions in the urban context by integrating renewable energy technologies supports decarbonizing the energy sector and climate change mitigation. A successful transition also needs adequate consideration of climate change including extreme events to ensure the reliable performance of energy systems in the long run. This review provides an overview of and insight into the progress achieved in the energy sector to adapt to climate change, focusing on the climate resilience of urban energy systems. The state-of-the-art methodology to assess impacts of climate change including extreme events and uncertainties on the design and performance of energy systems is described and discussed. Climate resilience is an emerging concept that is increasingly used to represent the durability and stable performance of energy systems against extreme climate events. However, it has not yet been adequately explored and widely used, as its definition has not been clearly articulated and assessment is mostly based on qualitative aspects. This study reveals that a major limitation in the state-of-the-art is the inadequacy of climate change adaptation approaches in designing and preparing urban energy systems to satisfactorily address plausible extreme climate events. Furthermore, the complexity of the climate and energy models and the mismatch between their temporal and spatial resolutions are the major limitations in linking these models. Therefore, few studies have focused on the design and operation of urban energy infrastructure in terms of climate resilience. Considering the occurrence of extreme climate events and increasing demand for implementing climate adaptation strategies, the study highlights the importance of improving energy system models to consider future climate variations including extreme events to identify climate resilient energy transition pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Analog' forestry is a novel silvicultural approach for reforestation of degraded land that seeks to establish trees that are analogous in structure and ecological function to the original climax or subclimax vegetation of the region where they are planted. Analog forestry aims to strengthen rural communities, both socially and economically, with tree plantings of high biodiversity, which provide commercial products and resiliency, while avoiding agrochemicals and fossil fuels. The latter links this strategy to climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies, but there has been little analysis comparing the potential for above- and below-ground carbon storage in analog forests, as compared with more typical reforestation efforts via single-species plantations. We present the results of a study to estimate carbon sequestration levels, above- and below-ground, from an experimental analog forest system and a teak (Tectona grandis L.f.) plantation system, in comparison with a degraded pasture system. The study found that the analog and teak plantation forest systems stored higher quantities of total carbon (178 and 141 t C ha−1, respectively), when compared with a degraded pasture system (124 t C ha−1). However, the teak plantation had decreased soil carbon stocks, relative to the degraded pasture. The analog forest had the best balance of both above- and below-ground carbon stored over the 17-year study period and provided a more diverse array of timber and non-timber forest products when compared with the teak plantation. This suggests that analog forestry could be a viable social–ecological approach to carbon storage and reforestation in the study region and other places with large areas of degraded pasture and a good understanding of the structure and function of the original vegetation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Accurate estimates of bamboo biomass and net primary productivity (NPP) are required to evaluate the carbon sequestration potential of bamboo forests. However, relevant data that are important for climate change mitigation, have rarely been collected in regions outside of East Asia and India. Information on seasonal patterns of NPP and its components will enable the quantification of factors that influence the carbon balance in bamboo forests. In this study, we quantified the aboveground biomass (AGB) and aboveground NPP of five major bamboo species in northern Laos using monthly data collected over a 12-month period. Methods All live culms in 10, 2 m × 2 m plots (for one monopodial bamboo species: Indosasa sinica) and 30 clumps per species (for four sympodial bamboo species: Bambusa tulda , Cephalostachyum virgatum , Dendrocalamus membranaceus and Gigantochloa sp.) were numbered and measured at breast height. We set 10 or 20 litter traps per species to collect litterfall. Censuses of dead and recruited culms and litterfall collection were performed once per month for 12 months. Important Findings The AGB was highest in I. sinica (59.87 Mg ha−1) and lowest in C. virgatum (11.54 Mg ha−1), and was mostly below the plausible global range for bamboos (32–256 Mg ha−1). The sympatric distribution of multiple bamboo species at the study sites may have suppressed the AGB in four of the five studied species. The aboveground NPP estimates were between 3.43 and 14.25 Mg ha−1 yr−1; those for D. membranaceus (8.20 Mg ha−1 yr−1) and I. sinica (14.25 Mg ha−1 yr−1) were comparable to mean global estimates for temperate evergreen forests (8.78 Mg ha−1 yr−1) and tropical moist forests (10.56 Mg ha−1 yr−1). High culm recruitment rates (15.20–23.39% yr−1) were major contributors to aboveground NPP estimates. Seasonal patterns of aboveground NPP were largely influenced by the phenology of the new culms. In the four sympodial bamboo species, new culms began to emerge following the onset of persistent rainfall, mainly in July and August. However, the sprouting of new culms in the monopodial species I. sinica followed a trend of increasing temperatures, mainly in March and April. Thus, our results indicate that bamboos have considerable potential for sequestering carbon in northern Laos, but that this potential may be affected by climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In virtually all jurisdictions that explicitly price carbon, its average (emissions-weighted) price remains low. Our analysis focuses on the political economy of its introduction as well as its stringency in an international panel of national and North American subnational jurisdictions. Results suggest that political economy factors primarily affected the former and that policy stringency is a highly persistent process. This has two important policy implications. First, successful passage of carbon pricing legislation will either come with contemporaneous compensation of incumbent, CO2-intensive, sectors or occur after their relative weakening. Second, if political economy constraints continue to prevail, climate change mitigation strategies will require multiple instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims Bioenergy crops are central to climate mitigation strategies that utilize biogenic carbon, such as BECCS (bioenergy with carbon capture and storage), alongside the use of biomass for heat, power, liquid fuels and, in the future, biorefining to chemicals. Several promising lignocellulosic crops are emerging that have no food role – fast-growing trees and grasses – but are well suited as bioenergy feedstocks, including Populus , Salix , Arundo , Miscanthus , Panicum and Sorghum. Scope These promising crops remain largely undomesticated and, until recently, have had limited germplasm resources. In order to avoid competition with food crops for land and nature conservation, it is likely that future bioenergy crops will be grown on marginal land that is not needed for food production and is of poor quality and subject to drought stress. Thus, here we define an ideotype for drought tolerance that will enable biomass production to be maintained in the face of moderate drought stress. This includes traits that can readily be measured in wide populations of several hundred unique genotypes for genome-wide association studies, alongside traits that are informative but can only easily be assessed in limited numbers or training populations that may be more suitable for genomic selection. Phenotyping, not genotyping, is now the major bottleneck for progress, since in all lignocellulosic crops studied extensive use has been made of next-generation sequencing such that several thousand markers are now available and populations are emerging that will enable rapid progress for drought-tolerance breeding. The emergence of novel technologies for targeted genotyping by sequencing are particularly welcome. Genome editing has already been demonstrated for Populus and offers significant potential for rapid deployment of drought-tolerant crops through manipulation of ABA receptors, as demonstrated in Arabidopsis , with other gene targets yet to be tested. Conclusions Bioenergy is predicted to be the fastest-developing renewable energy over the coming decade and significant investment over the past decade has been made in developing genomic resources and in collecting wild germplasm from within the natural ranges of several tree and grass crops. Harnessing these resources for climate-resilient crops for the future remains a challenge but one that is likely to be successful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management of the world's forests can play a role for climate change mitigation by increasing CO2 storage in vegetation biomass and harvested wood products, and by displacing CO2-intensive materials such as steel or concrete. This study aimed to determine how management of boreal forest stands could contribute to climate change mitigation in the context of ecosystem-based management. The study was based on the comparison of different strategies applied to a balsam fir-white birch stand in the Eastern boreal forest of Quebec (Canada). Five scenarios were simulated over a 199-year period at the stand level: a reference scenario involving clearcut at 50-year intervals, and four alternative scenarios clearcut with longer rotation length (70 and 80 years), partial cut, and a no harvest scenario. The study included an appropriate sensitivity analysis of the results. Overall, scenarios with longer clearcut rotations and, to a lesser extent, partial cut resulted in a higher potential to mitigate climate change. The substitution effect of wood products was revealed as a key aspect, suggesting that wood product manufacturing and utilization on the markets, and not only forest management, need to be carefully considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions is very challenging. Given the limitations in the direct use of renewable energy for heat and mobility, electrification of the broad economy seems a must, provided electricity supply is CO2-free. The recent cost reductions of solar and wind technologies, their immense potential, and the improvement in electric technologies for industry and transport, open new avenues for achieving humankind's climate mitigation goals. However, a large fraction of the best solar and wind resources are situated far away from large consumption centres. Moreover, the variability of solar and wind and the shortcomings of electricity storage limit the scope for direct electrification. Indirect electrification through electrolysis of water and the use of hydrogen and hydrogen-rich feedstock and fuels may in all end-use sectors complement electrification where it appears excessively challenging, serve the power sector itself, and also help harness remote resources and ship them to consumers or industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the 873 questionnaires collected from six cities in four provinces in China, we made a quantitative analysis of different types of consumers' expectations for government low-carbon subsidies by using the SPSS. The results indicate that: (1) Significant differences exist in the 'expectations for government subsidies on low-carbon products' from different types of consumers; there are significant differences among consumers with different monthly income, educational attainment and age on the 'expectations for government subsidies on low-carbon products', but the difference is not significant for the consumers in different regions or gender. (2) Monthly income and educational attainment exert significant influences on consumer 'expectations for government subsidies on low-carbon products', and the influence of monthly income is the biggest. Finally, we put forward policy recommendations accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reflects on the aims and objectives of Interdrought conferences as of January 2014. Aims of the conferences include ways to increase yield of crops under drought conditions concerning food security and climate change, increase in support and sponsorships of research on drought issues in agriculture, and ways to combat drought problems in dryland agriculture. Also mentioned are topics such as innovations in genetic modified crops, plant breeding, genomics and molecular biology.

We consider the problem of regulating an economy with environmental pollution. We examine the distributional impact of the polluter-pays (PP) principle which requires that any agent compensates all other agents for the damages caused by his or her (pollution) emissions. With constant marginal damages we show that regulation via the PP principle leads to the unique welfare distribution that induces non-negative individual welfare change and renders each agent responsible for his or her pollution impact. We extend both the PP principle and this result to increasing marginal damages due to pollution. We also compare the PP principle with the Vickrey-Clark-Groves scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The changing geographical distribution of species, or range shift, is one of the better documented fingerprints of climate change in the marine environment. Range shifts may also lead to dramatic changes in the distribution of economic, social, and cultural opportunities. These challenge marine resource users' capacity to adapt to a changing climate and managers' ability to implement adaptation plans. In particular, a reluctance to attribute marine range shift to climate change can undermine the effectiveness of climate change communications and pose a potential barrier to successful adaptation. Attribution is a known powerful predictor of behavioural intention. Understanding the cognitive processes that underpin the formation of marine resource users' beliefs about the cause of observed marine range shift phenomena is therefore an important topic for research. An examination of the attribution by marine resource users of three types of range shifts experienced in a marine climate change hotspot in southeast Australia to various climate and non-climate drivers indicates the existence of at least three contributing cognitions. These are: (i) engrained mental representations of environmental phenomena, (ii) scientific complexity in the attribution pathway, and (iii) dissonance from the positive or negative nature of the impact. All three play a part in explaining the complex pattern of attribution of marine climate change range shifts, and should be considered when planning for engagement with stakeholders and managers around adaptation to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Certain developed countries are exploring the possibility of imposing border measures to address the issues of “competitive disadvantage” and “carbon leakage” caused by asymmetric climate change policies in different countries. This article examines whether these border measures can satisfy the chapeau requirement1 under Article XX of GATT, which is probably the most significant procedural hurdle under the WTO framework. Furthermore, this article takes stock of China's domestic actions to combat climate change as well as their potential effectiveness, and then analyses the motivations behind those actions.2 After that, this article probes into China's potential advisable reactions towards these possible border measures, including China's domestic institutional building. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Framing scholarship on policy issues has primarily focused on how competitive message environments alter framing effects or how individual differences moderate the impact of frames. This study combines both of these focal areas by examining how individual open-/closed-mindedness moderates framing effects about climate change within competitive and noncompetitive framing contexts. Contrary to previous scholarship, our experimental study finds effects on attitudes in the competitive framing condition, but not the noncompetitive framing condition. The framing effects found in the competitive condition were contingent upon individual differences in open-/closed-mindedness. Analysis shows that individual open-/closed-mindedness influences framing effects in part by altering the effects of frame exposure on the perceived costs and benefits of government climate policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world faces multiple challenges in producing global public goods, such as climate change mitigation, financial stability, security from nuclear terror, knowledge production, and the eradication of infectious diseases. International law scholarship, in the meantime, takes a turn towards celebrating pluralism without sufficiently accounting for institutional variation to address different contexts. Those writing on global public goods challenges, at the same time, tend to come from disciplines other than law. So what is international law's role in the production of global public goods? Where are greater international legal constraints and international institutions needed, and where should international law retain slack? Three analytic frameworks (global constitutionalism, global administrative law, and legal pluralism) have been advanced to address international law's place in global governance, but these frameworks have not explicitly addressed the challenges of producing global public goods. This article breaks down different types of global public goods, and explores how these different frames apply to them. Grounded in pragmatism, the article shows why there is no single best approach. Rather, legal policy should be tailored to the type of global public good at stake in light of comparative, real world, institutional tradeoffs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policies must balance forest conservation’s local costs with its benefits—local to global—in terms of biodiversity, the mitigation of climate change, and other eco-services such as water quality. The trade-offs with development vary across forest locations. We argue that considering location in three ways helps to predict policy impact and improve policy choice: (i) policy impacts vary by location because baseline deforestation varies with characteristics (market distances, slopes, soils, etc.) of locations in a landscape; (ii) different mixes of political-economic pressures drive the location of different policies; and (iii) policies can trigger ‘second-order’ or ‘spillover’ effects likely to differ by location. We provide empirical evidence that suggests the importance of all three considerations, by reviewing high-quality evaluations of the impact of conservation and development on forest. Impacts of well-enforced conservation rise with private clearing pressure, supporting (i). Protection types (e.g. federal/state) differ in locations and thus in impacts, supporting (ii). Differences in development process explain different signs for spillovers, supporting (iii). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Economic and political realities present challenges for implementing an aggressive climate change abatement program in the United States. A high-efficiency approach will be essential. In this synthesis, we compare carbon budgets and evaluate the carbon-mitigation potential for nine counties in the northeastern United States that represent a range of biophysical, demographic, and socioeconomic conditions. Most counties are net sources of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere, with the exception of rural forested counties, in which sequestration in vegetation and soils exceed emissions. Protecting forests will ensure that the region's largest CO2 sink does not become a source of emissions. For rural counties, afforestation, sustainable fuelwood harvest for bioenergy, and utility-scale wind power could provide the largest and most cost-effective mitigation opportunities among those evaluated. For urban and suburban counties, energy-efficiency measures and energy-saving technologies would be most cost effective. Through the implementation of locally tailored management and technology options, large reductions in CO2 emissions could be achieved at relatively low costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rate and magnitude of predicted climate change require that we urgently mitigate emissions or sequester carbon on a substantial scale in order to avoid runaway climate change. Geo- and bioengineering solutions are increasingly proposed as viable and practical strategies for tackling global warming. Biotechnology companies are already developing transgenic "super carbon-absorbing" trees, which are sold as a cost-effective and relatively low-risk means of sequestering carbon. The question posed in this article is, Do super carbon trees provide real benefits or are they merely a fanciful illusion? It remains unclear whether growing these trees makes sense in terms of the carbon cost of production and the actual storage of carbon. In particular, it is widely acknowledged that "carbon-eating" trees fail to sequester as much carbon as they oxidize and return to the atmosphere; moreover, there are concerns about the biodiversity impacts of large-scale monoculture plantations. The potential social and ecological risks and opportunities presented by such controversial solutions warrant a societal dialogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]