Search

In 2022, Saudi Arabia's anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions amounted to 810 million tons of CO 2 e. The country has pledged to cut its emissions by 278 million tons of CO 2 e per year by 2030. This paper contributes a modeling view on the climate-related effects of various energy policies on the Saudi energy system. We use an energy system model designed to represent seven sectors in the Saudi economy. In addition to a baseline, which entails the continuation of current domestic policies, we look at a scenario that incorporates some of the plans announced by the Saudi government. We also examine the baseline scenario with a cap on total CO 2 emissions equal to those exhibited with the announced plans. The model then makes the necessary decisions to abate CO 2. We find that the energy system contributes 130 million tons of CO 2 e to the nationally determined contribution amount in 2030. Also, a non-prescriptive scenario that caps energy-system CO 2 emissions produces the same emissions reductions as the announced plans while lowering the present cost by 2030 by $70 billion. The corresponding implicit marginal abatement cost of CO 2 approaches 35 $/tonCO 2 by 2045. This cost would displace around half of crude and fuel oil use in the Saudi energy system. • Saudi Arabia plans to cut annual greenhouse gas emissions by 278 million tonsCO 2 e. • We use a multi-sector model built from the ground up for Saudi Arabia. • The energy system can contribute 130 million tons of CO 2 e in reductions in 2030. • We find a scenario that achieves GHG abatement at a lower cost than official plans. • The marginal value attributed to CO 2 approaches 35 $ per tonCO 2 by 2045. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change poses an enormous challenge to countries across the world. News is a crucial channel to draw society's attention to this issue and strengthen climate governance initiatives, such as carbon emission reduction. The aim of this research was to investigate the effects of carbon-related news on carbon emissions and carbon transfer. First, we analyzed the topics of carbon-related news from media outlets such as ABC , CNN , and The Guardian from 2009 to 2019. Then, we calculated the carbon emissions from both production- and consumption-based perspectives and constructed the carbon transfer network of major countries around the world. Finally, we examined the direct and lag effects of carbon-related news attention and contents on carbon emissions and carbon transfer by using the extended population, affluence, and technology (STIRPAT) model as the analytical framework. The results showed the following. First, countries are paying increasing attention to carbon-related issues with the rise of global carbon emissions, and they mainly focus on the social aspects of carbon emissions. Second, there are differences in production- and consumption-based carbon emissions by country. The amount of embodied carbon transfer between countries has increased over time and the carbon transfer network has become tighter. Finally, carbon-related news has a positive impact on improving carbon emissions and carbon transfer worldwide. Different news topics have also shown varying effects on carbon emissions and carbon transfer. In summary, this study further revealed the impacts of carbon-related news on carbon emissions and transfer and accordingly provided policy implications in carbon emission reduction for the government. • The evolution of carbon-related news topics are analyzed. • The effects of carbon-related news on carbon emissions and carbon transfer are investigated. • Carbon-related news has a positive impact on improving carbon emissions and carbon transfer worldwide. • Different news topics have led to different effects on carbon emissions and carbon transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combatting climate change has risen to the top of the international policy discourse. Effective governance necessitates the generation of concise information on the costs-effectiveness of policy instruments aimed at reducing atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The marginal abatement cost curve (MACC) approach is a framework commonly used to summarise information of potential mitigation effort, and can help in identifying the most cost-effective managerial and technological GHG mitigation options. Agriculture offers key opportunities to mitigate GHG emissions and utilise carbon (C) sink potentials. Therefore, a number of countries have developed national agricultural MACCs in the last decade. Whilst these MACCs have undoubtedly been catalysers for the information exchange between science and policy, they have also accentuated a range of constraints and limitations. In response, each of the scientific teams developed solutions in an attempt to address one or more of these limitations. These solutions represent ‘lessons learned’ which are invaluable for the development of future MACCs. To consolidate and harness this knowledge that has heretofore been dispersed across countries, this paper reviews the engineering agricultural MACCs developed in European countries. We collate the state-of-the-art, review the lessons learnt, and provide a more coherent framework for countries or research groups embarking on a trajectory to develop an agricultural MACC that assesses mitigations both within the farm gate and to the wider bioeconomy. We highlight the contemporary methodological developments, specifically on 1) the emergence of stratified MACCs; 2) accounting for soil carbon sequestration 3) accounting for upstream and downstream emissions; 4) the development of comprehensive cost-calculations; 5) accounting for environmental co-effects and 6) uncertainty analyses. We subsequently discuss how the mitigation potential summarised by MACCs can be incentivised in practice and how this mitigation can be captured in national inventories. We conclude that the main purpose of engineering MACCs is not necessarily the accurate prediction of the total abatement potential and associated costs, but rather the provision of a coherent forum for the complex discussions surrounding agricultural GHG mitigation, and to visualise opportunities and low-hanging fruit in a single graphic and manuscript. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finance has become a crucial agenda in climate change negotiations in recent years. Meanwhile, multilateral negotiations on climate change as a whole are making meager progress, and increasingly observed are activities by national governments and transnational non-state actors. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how investment towards low-carbon development could be materialized in Asia. A thorough review of current financial assistance for developing countries in Asia was conducted, and the amount of funding proved to be relatively modest to achieve the aim. We then examined financial policy instruments that could be implemented in the region. We estimated that USD125–149 billion per year would be needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the region by 2035. We also estimated that more than a half of this amount of funding could be achieved by public sector if several key policy instruments were agreed upon and enacted at regional and national levels in Asia. The role of private sector investment was also found to be indispensable in fulfilling all the long-term investment needs related to climate mitigation in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]