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Climate change, originating from greenhouse gas emissions, yields profound implications such as escalated temperatures, severe storms, disruptions in food supply chains, and amplified seismic activity, particularly impacting arid regions. As the world's largest economy and the second-largest CO2 emitter, the United States actively leads initiatives aimed at addressing environmental challenges and aligning with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 7 and 13. This study delves into the determinants shaping renewable energy consumption and CO2 emissions within the United States, aiming to elucidate their pivotal role in advancing carbon neutrality efforts. Using quarterly data spanning from 1990 to 2020, this investigation employs the time-varying TVP-SV-VAR model to dissect the dynamic interplay among these variables. The findings reveal intricate connections across short, medium, and long-term periods: renewable energy adoption, eco-innovations, and uncertainties in climate policy were observed to mitigate CO2 emissions. Conversely, financial development exhibited a consistent association with increased CO2 emissions across all timeframes. Additionally, the progression of renewable energy sources showcased responsiveness to climate policy uncertainties, eco-innovations, and financial development across each timeframe. These outcomes hold substantial implications for the United States' pursuit of carbon neutrality goals, emphasizing the pivotal role of promoting renewable energy initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge about how implemented policy instruments have performed is important for designing effective and efficient policy instruments that contribute to reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. This paper carries out a meta-evaluation of ex-post evaluations of climate policy instruments in the freight transport sector. By analysing the outcomes and quality of evaluations, the aim is to identify whether estimated effects of policy instruments can be compared between evaluations and if the results are appropriate to use for evidence-based decision making. To analyse these aspects, commonly applied evaluation criteria are assessed and classified according to an assessment scale. We confirm that few ex-post evaluations are carried out and that there is a gap between evaluation theory and how ex-post policy evaluations are performed in practice, where evaluation criteria recommended in policy evaluation guidelines are found to often be neglected in evaluations. The result is a lack of systematic climate policy evaluation which hinders reliable conclusions about the effect of policy instruments. There is a need for more systematic monitoring and evaluation of implemented policy instruments and we suggest that evidence-based decision making can be improved by adjusting current policy evaluation guidelines and by introducing an evaluation obligation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the state of climate policy in the face of multiple crises and opportunities for system transformations. While global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise and geopolitical tensions are high, there have been positive developments such as the falling costs of clean energy technologies and the increasing role of various actors in climate finance. Climate policy is increasingly integrating with sustainable development goals and adaptation planning, although more action and international climate finance are needed. The article also highlights the growth and impact of the Climate Policy journal, which has covered a wide range of topics and seen an increase in quality and submissions. The outgoing editors express gratitude to the reviewers, associate editors, and editorial board members, and welcome the incoming editors-in-chief. [Extracted from the article]

Projects and their Environmental Impact Assessments should take account of global cumulative impacts such as those associated with Greenhouse Gas Emissions. The emissions induce the climate emergency which is a major determinant of public health and much else. This opinion paper identifies some challenges and improvements that could be made in current policy, procedure, and methods for mitigating the climate emergency in airport expansion. It does so by analysing the Environmental Statement for the Leeds and Bradford Airport expansion plan, together with existing international, national, and local climate change policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Everyone knows there is a climate crisis at hand and that humankind is to blame. Drastic measures are needed now to arrest human-induced climate change from greenhouse gas emissions. Or maybe not. The first part of this article will show that prevailing narratives and public perceptions of climate change are distorted by a series of exaggerations. The second part of the article examines efforts to link climate change to US national security. And the final part of the article explains why current climate policies pose a greater threat to US national security than the climate does. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The German Federal Climate Change Act includes binding annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emission targets for the economic sectors energy, industry, buildings, transport, agriculture and waste. For sectors that fail to meet their targets, climate policy measures have to be implemented immediately. However, some sectors may only have achieved their targets thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, while others may have missed their targets because of COVID-19. For policy making, it is therefore important to disentangle the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic from the effects of policy and other drivers on emissions. In this paper, the effects of the pandemic on GHG emissions in Germany in 2020 are estimated at the national level and at the levels of the economic sectors. Counterfactual emissions are estimated here based on autoregressive econometric models, thereby distinguishing between different factors of emissions based on decomposition analysis. The findings at the national level suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic lowered GHG emissions in 2020 in Germany by about 41 Mt CO2-eq (5.15%) compared to counterfactual emissions. Accordingly, about 58% of the reduction in emissions between 2019 and 2020 in Germany may be attributed to the pandemic. The findings at the sectoral level imply that without the COVID-19 pandemic, all sectors with the exception of the transport sector, would have met their emissions target in 2020 as set in the Federal Climate Change Act. The transport sector would have missed its emission target in 2020 without COVID-19, suggesting that existing policies were not strong enough to bend the curve of emissions trends sufficiently down. In contrast, the buildings sector failed to meet its target in 2020 because of COVID-19, prompting immediate climate policy measures in this sector. The COVID-19 pandemic lowered greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Germany in 2020 by 5.5% compared to counterfactual emissions and accounted for about 58% of total estimated reductions between 2019 and 2020. Without COVID-19, all sectors but the transport sector would have met their emissions targets. Climate policy response should take into account the effects of extraordinary events like COVID-19 suppressing GHG emissions based on counterfactual emissions because failure to implement measures early on may turn out to be costly in the medium term once the transitory emissions reductions no longer occur. Counterfactual emissions should be considered prior to crediting emissions surplus or deficit to subsequent years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the early 2000s, short sea shipping (SSS) is often associated with significant social and environmental benefits. To encourage a modal shift, several nations around the world have developed public SSS policies. However, the policies' effectiveness are increasingly being questioned in the public arena. Therefore, the current article's primary objective is to assess one of these SSS public initiatives' legitimacy. In particular, we analyzed Quebec's PREGTI initiative, which is designed to both reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and promote local SSS development. Our findings are based on a triangulated analysis of official PREGTI documents and semi-structured interviews with local marine-sector specialists (N = 36). The data analyses inspired the development of an integrative framework that includes four components that could explain the lack of SSS program credibility and interest. Our framework identified critical issues for consideration in SSS program development, including: 1) the institutional framework's relevance; 2) its implementation challenges; 3) the program's predictability; and 4) the credibility of government authorities. Ultimately, the present article provides a better understanding of the significant discrepancies between public SSS programs development and the needs of local maritime sector stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates national 'climate change acts'. Climate change acts are a newly emerging, innovative form of legislation designed to drive down economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions. They impact the energy sector most particularly, as the most abundant source of global greenhouse gas emissions. The analysis highlights various conceptual, definitional and linguistic problems that arise where one seeks to apply the term 'climate change act' meaningfully in the context of climate and energy law and policy discourse. It is demonstrated that such difficulties exert a latent undermining influence on technical and analytical coherence in the field. Means of reducing or avoiding these sorts of problems going forward are outlined and discussed. As part of this process, a working definition of this emerging form of legislation is set out in careful exacting terms. Here, its meaning is equated with the technical descriptor 'national framework climate legislation'. Consideration is also accorded to the future of climate change acts in this analytical setting, and extant commentary engaging the notion of second-generation climate policy is drawn upon in order to construct a working definition of second-generation climate change acts that can usefully inform aspects of analysis in going forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reclamation of degraded pastures has a prominent role in the Brazilian climate policy and is one of the main strategies of Brazil's Low-Carbon Agriculture Plan (ABC Plan). Here, we aimed to evaluate the changes in soil C and N stocks in livestock areas under pasture reclamation and contribute to the empirical basis for evaluating the ABC Plan. Based on the assessment of six chronosequences across Brazilian Cerrado, we observed that the effects of management practices for pasture reclamation on soil C and N stocks in livestock areas were quite variable. Any general tendencies depend on the depth evaluated. At the 0–30 cm soil layer, pasture areas under reclamation in Brazilian Cerrado showed an average soil C change rate of 0.47 Mg C ha−1 yr−1. However, for the more in-depth assessment (0–100 cm), the adoption of management practices for pasture reclamation did not affect the average rate of soil C changes for these areas. In this sense, we suggest that an up-scaling from single case studies may lead to overestimations of soil C inventories. Thefore, ABC Plan must review some of its approaches based on general values and extrapolations regarding C sequestration in pasture areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International climate change policy is increasingly reliant upon future large-scale removal and sequestration of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Assumptions on the development of ‘negative emissions’ technologies are built into recent IPCC emissions modelling and the 2015Paris Agreement. Terrestrial proposals, such as bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, may be of limited benefit as the estimated land required would be vast and may negatively impact upon food security. The world's oceans could play an important role in meeting international climate change targets. ‘Marine geoengineering’ is being proposed to enhance the oceans capacity to sequester emissions and enhance the Earth's albedo. This article draws on discussions at a recent Marine Geoengineering Symposium held at the University of Tasmania to highlight prominent marine geoengineering proposals and raise questions about the readiness of the international law system to govern further research and implementation of these ideas. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The climate change policy design of the Lee Myung-bak administration was the outcome of interest group politics around the greenhouse gas and energy target management scheme, carbon taxes, and the emission-trading scheme. Using qualitative methods, this research examines powerful stakeholders and their interests at play in Korea’s climate change policymaking processes. It also links the political economy of climate change policy to the legacy of the ‘developmental state’ and examines environmental developmentalism in the design of the three climate change policies. The Lee administration strongly promoted environmental developmentalism, which created a new growth engine in an environmental field, while bolstering manufacturing businesses and excluding the views of environmental non-governmental organisations from the target-management and the emission-trading schemes. The Lee administration also sought to facilitate pro-business measures such as low taxes, which led it to reject a carbon tax. Therefore, environmental developmentalism was central to the politics of the Lee administration’s climate change policy design. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Climate change has proved to be one of the greatest threats to human survival on Earth. Its mitigation requires that the greatest Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emitters adopt low carbon development, reducing emissions substantially. Brazil is among them. Although deforestation is still the main source of Brazilian emissions, since 1990 emissions from energy systems and industrial processes have increased and their shares in total Brazilian emissions have been consistently larger. It is the objective of the article to analyse Brazilian energy-climate policy and politics from 1990 to 2014 in order to clarify Brazilian progress towards low carbon development and Brazilian positions in the international climate change regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Norwegian climate policy has been marked by several shifts with regard to adopted targets and measures to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Three knowledge-based discourses – respectively a tax discourse, a quota discourse and a technology discourse – have been influential throughout. By tracing the development of Norwegian climate policy from 1989 until 2008, it is shown, however, that while significant in early phases of policymaking, the discourses lose influence in the phase when policy solutions are designed and implemented. Those ideas and ambitions that characterise the ruling discourses in Norwegian climate policy are not necessarily materialised in actual policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article accounts for the gap between Russia’s weak initial implementation of the Kyoto Protocol and its more active engagement in climate policy during the Medvedev presidency. We examine the intersection of climate policy and broader efforts to modernise Russia’s economy, drawing attention to synergies between domestic and international politics. We argue that international factors alone do not explain the change in climate policy as they have remained relatively constant. Instead, greater attention toward climate policy results from efforts to introduce new technologies and increase energy efficiency, spurred by the recent financial crisis and a shift in domestic policy priorities associated with the Medvedev presidency. The authors would like to thank Steinar Andresen, Kathryn Harrison, James Richter and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. Any errors are the responsibility of the authors. The research for this article took the form of detailed comparative analysis of Russian government statements and policy documents on climate change and energy efficiency from 2000 through to 2010, Russian and international media analysis of government positions, official statements of Russian delegations to UN conferences on climate change, and (for the Kyoto ratification period) author interviews with responsible officials in the Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Rosgidromet Agency, Ecological Committee of the Russian State Duma, and a number of Russian and international environmental NGOs and think tanks in June–August 2005. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There is a broad literature that suggests that neoliberalism is the predominant force structuring climate change policy. However, analyses that focus only on the creation of carbon markets as neoliberalism's effect on climate policy are too restricted. Focusing on the United States, as the paradigmatic neoliberal state, it is demonstrated that, because neoliberal states must nevertheless intervene to promote accumulation, and because system-wide regulation of greenhouse gases has been impossible to achieve, the United States has developed a range of alternative means by which to pursue emissions reductions. These means derive from the ‘strategic selectivities’ (or historical path-dependencies) inherent in federal policy development in the United States. The focus is on three ways that this has occurred: the growth of sub-national regulation; the use of executive authority; and in particular the deployment of a dense network of research and development infrastructure through which the development of new energy and environmental technologies is supported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is argued here that stringent, early emission reductions are necessary in order to minimize 'dangerous anthropogenic interference in the climate system' (DAI), the stated Objective of Article 2 of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). Given probability distribution functions (pdfs) for climate sensitivity and the temperature threshold for harm consistent with currently available evidence, and accepting a 10% risk of unacceptable damage as the threshold for 'danger', it is not possible to avoid DAI. Having adopted a precautionary approach in setting emission trajectories, the possibility arises that future resolution of uncertainties concerning climate sensitivity and the harm threshold may show the climate sensitivity to be low (1-2 K) and the harm threshold high (2 K rather than 1 K). Using a simple coupled climate-carbon cycle model, it is shown that if the climate sensitivity were to be definitively determined to be 2 K in 2020, then the emission reductions achieved by that time and planned for the next two decades are still fully needed. Only if climate sensitivity is very low (1 K) and the harm threshold is high (2 K) would the emissions achieved by 2020 not have been fully necessary. However, this would still lead to changes in ocean chemistry that are likely to be highly detrimental to marine life. Thus, when the full spectrum of impacts is considered, there is no plausible set of assumptions under which stringent near-term emission reductions are rendered unnecessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Netherlands has ratified The Kyoto protocol and agreed to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases. Since 1990 the goals were made less ambitious several times, but still the last goal for 2000 was not met. Economic growth surely has been one of the main culprits. The main reason economic growth results in higher CO2 emissions, is the fact that it causes higher energy consumption. So far policy measures to reduce CO2 emissions, including many energy efficiency and energy reduction measures, did not succeed in beating the effects of economic growth. The Netherlands did not manage to decouple economic growth and environmental pressure (measured here as CO2 emissions). Absolute decoupling will require an economy that has a fuel mix with a large proportion of renewables, and a much higher energy efficiency level, and probably some major technological breakthroughs. It is not very likely that current policy measures will lead to the Kyoto goals. Therefore, it is concluded that emission trading and levies would offer good, and efficient options for further reductions of CO2 equivalents. It might, however, make it difficult for The Netherlands to realise 50% of its reduction domestically, as CO2 reduction abroad will most likely be at least five times cheaper. The Ministry of VROM will have to invent new policy measures to meet the Kyoto goals. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The objective of this paper is first to provide empirical evidence of what can be seen as a rather remarkable change in EU’s position on the use of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions trading (ET) in climate policy, from the role of a sceptic in the run-up to Kyoto towards more of a frontrunner. The paper argues that there is a synergistic and multilevel mix of explanatory factors for this “U-turn”, including developments at the international, EU, Member State, sub-national, and even down to the personal level. Second, the paper explores and discusses the philosophy behind the Commission’s proposal for a directive on GHG ET. Third, the paper examines the prospects for ‘success’ of a scheme for EU-wide ET using a multifaceted set of metrics. In brief, we argue that output success—the chances for having a directive adopted—hinges on the resolution of two key issues. First, whether the preliminary phase is to be mandatory or voluntary, and second, incompatibilities with domestic ET schemes. Outcome success—steering and cost-effectiveness—will in turn depend on factors like the coverage of the scheme and inclusion of project-based credits, while more long-term political implications hinges on the successful adoption and operation of the scheme.“The Proposal on emissions trading represents a major innovation for environmental policy in Europe. We are de facto creating a big new market, and we are determined to use market forces to achieve our climate objectives in the most cost-conscious way […]. The emissions trading system will be an important cornerstone in our strategy to reduce emissions in the most cost-effective way”.Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstro¨m. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Official figures submitted in 2002 showing the trends of GH gases during the period 1990–2000 indicate that Spain is a long way from in attaining its commitments with the international and national programmes on climate change. Both structural and cultural factors are used to explain the evolution in climate politics and the growth of its emissions with particular emphasis given to the lack of public participation in this respect. It is also argued that Spain will have either to buy emission reductions abroad or/and find new ways to reduce GH in a more decentralised manner in tune with its current Autonomous Communities’ (ACs) political organisation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Presents an analysis of the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush's Global Climate Change Initiative, a proposal which addresses U.S. climate change policy. Question of whether voluntary program swill be sufficient to combat climate changes; Discussion of the greenhouse intensity target and what it means for future emission levels in the U.S.; Voluntary efforts, including the creation of the Energy Star label by the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency to assist in identifying energy-efficient products.

The article discusses about policies surrounding the use of light bulbs. According to the article, governments are now restricting the use of incandescent bulbs as it contributes to the climate change. It was said that incandescent bulbs tend to be only 5 percent efficient in converting power to light, and is also a mass emitter of greenhouse gases.