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Over the past couple of decades, the world has witnessed a rise in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and rising income inequality that threatens human well-being. Addressing these challenges and ensuring sustainable development become a pressing issue for policymakers. This paper investigates the impact of GHG emissions on income inequality in Africa. The study uses a panel data set from 49 countries from 1981 to 2015 and shows that GHG emission widens income inequality. The result is robust for alternative emission indicators. A direct implication is that climate change policy should be designed to narrow income inequality. It is emphasized that mitigation actions should focus on the agriculture sector. Hence, intervention towards energy-smart agriculture, land conservation practices, exploiting the job creation potential, and strengthening value addition in the agricultural sector is decisive. Reforming agriculture reduces emission, narrows income inequality, and realizes sustainable development on the continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Green Deal is the cornerstone of a comprehensive strategic package (European Green Deal Strategic Framework, EGDSF) which aims at transforming the EU into a climate-neutral and competitive economy by 2050. The present paper analyses the EGDSF policy design and investigates how it will affect EU environmental policy. It highlights that environmental policy areas are not characterized by the same level of ambition and are not equally equipped in terms of legislative initiatives (setting regulatory and economic instruments) to deliver on that ambition. When considering both these aspects, the policy areas of climate and energy (including GHG emissions from transport) emerge as the driving force of the EGDSF. Instead, in the biodiversity policy area, there is an evident mismatch between environmental objectives and legislative initiatives, which, in the long term, could jeopardize the achievement of all the key EGD goals, given their indivisibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have continued to grow persistently since 1750. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) entered into force in 1994 to stabilize GHG emissions. Since then, the increasingly harmful impacts of global climate change and repeated scientific warnings about future risks have not been enough to change the emissions trend and enforce policy actions. This paper synthesizes the climate change challenges and the insofar insufficient mitigation responses via an integrated literature review. The fossil industry, mainstream economic thinking, national rather than international interests, and political strive for short-term interests present key barriers to climate mitigation. A continuation of such trends is reflected in the Dice model, leading to a 3.5 °C temperature increase by 2100. Despite receiving the Nobel Prize for integrating climate change into long-run macroeconomic analysis via the Dice model, increases in global mean temperatures overshooting the 1.5 °C to 2 °C Paris targets imply an intensified disruption in the human–climate system. Past and present policy delays and climate disruption pave the way for solar radiation management (SRM) geoengineering solutions with largely unknown and potentially dangerous side effects. This paper argues against SRM geoengineering and evaluates critical mitigation solutions leading to a decrease in global temperatures without overshooting the Paris targets. The essential drivers and barriers are discussed through a unified approach to tipping points in the human–climate system. The scientific literature presents many economically and technologically viable solutions and the policy and measures required to implement them. The present paper identifies the main barriers to integrating them in a globally cooperative way, presenting an efficient, long-term, and ethical policy approach to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2020 climate and energy package adopted in 2009 sets three key targets for EU Member States: 20% cut in greenhouse gas emissions (from 1990 levels); to ensure 20% of renewables in final energy consumption and to achieve 20% improvement in energy efficiency from 2005 levels. The paper analyses the progress of selected countries in achieving climate and energy targets by 2020. Baltic States, namely Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia were selected for comparative assessment of their achievements in GHG emission reduction, energy efficiency improvement and use of renewable energy sources. Indicator's framework was constructed to capture the most important drivers of GHG emission reduction from fuel combustion. These indicators allow to compare countries in their achievements by assessing their main energy and climate change policies. The analysis and comparison of the trends of the main indicators allows to define the best performing country and the reason of this. Policy implications were developed for Baltic States to pursue further progress in achieving energy and climate targets for 2030 and 2050. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses efforts to control and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The authors propose a strategy for the mitigation of global climate change by means of manging the market economy to change investment and consumption decisions. The climate change problem can be addressed by focusing on private decisions and by accounting for local conditions, the authors state. Other topics include the economic concept of common goods and not paying the price for the long-term social cost of GHG emissions. INSETS: Low-Tech and High-Tech Solutions for Air Conditioning Load;Broken Markets and Policy Stumbles;Cambridge Energy Alliance.

The paper explains the findings of the MC3 Project (Meeting the Climate Change Challenge). This project brought together over 100 researchers, practitioners, civil-society leaders, and policy-makers, led by researchers from Royal Roads University, Simon Fraser University, and the University of British Columbia, with 12 major research partners from the public and private sectors, including the Union of British Columbia municipalities. Researchers conducted a detailed evaluation of 11 leading, yet different, municipalities across the province to identify the leading innovators and innovations on climate action. The case studies revealed the following key drivers of innovation, in order of prominence: the legislative and policy framework, supported by provincially led incentives and tools, access to partnership funding and intermediary support, and framing the issue as critically important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Scientific evidence suggests that to have a 75 per cent chance of limiting warming in 2100 to 2°C above the pre-industrial level, the cumulative emissions of CO2 over the period 2010-50 should be capped at 657.1 Gt. The objective of this article is to examine the distribution of such an emission budget by applying different ethical perspectives. In particular, the article first analyses the paths for sharing the emission budget, that is, the major families of distributive patterns that vindicate a number of elementary principles and criteria of distribution. Subsequently, it presents and discusses the shares of the emission budget attributed to states, regions and groupings of states according to the paths investigated and it draws some reflections on the implications of such shares for the ethics of mitigation. Finally, it advances some lessons for international climate policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper summarizes the main characteristics of the RCP8.5 scenario. The RCP8.5 combines assumptions about high population and relatively slow income growth with modest rates of technological change and energy intensity improvements, leading in the long term to high energy demand and GHG emissions in absence of climate change policies. Compared to the total set of Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs), RCP8.5 thus corresponds to the pathway with the highest greenhouse gas emissions. Using the IIASA Integrated Assessment Framework and the MESSAGE model for the development of the RCP8.5, we focus in this paper on two important extensions compared to earlier scenarios: 1) the development of spatially explicit air pollution projections, and 2) enhancements in the land-use and land-cover change projections. In addition, we explore scenario variants that use RCP8.5 as a baseline, and assume different degrees of greenhouse gas mitigation policies to reduce radiative forcing. Based on our modeling framework, we find it technically possible to limit forcing from RCP8.5 to lower levels comparable to the other RCPs (2.6 to 6 W/m). Our scenario analysis further indicates that climate policy-induced changes of global energy supply and demand may lead to significant co-benefits for other policy priorities, such as local air pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate policy is complicated by the considerable uncertainties concerning the benefits and costs of abatement. We do not even know the probability distributions for future temperatures and impacts, making benefit–cost analysis based on expected values challenging to say the least. There are good reasons to believe that those probability distributions are fat-tailed, which implies that if social welfare is based on the expectation of a constant relative risk aversion utility function, then we should be willing to sacrifice close to 100 percent of gross domestic product to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. I argue that unbounded marginal utility makes little sense and that once we put a bound on marginal utility, this implication of fat tails goes away: Expected marginal utility will be finite even if the distribution for outcomes is fat-tailed. Furthermore, depending on the bound on marginal utility, the index of risk aversion, and the damage function, a thin-tailed distribution can actually yield a higher expected marginal utility (and thus a greater willingness to pay for abatement) than a fat-tailed one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latest research shows that there is only a realistic chance of restricting global warming to 2 °C if a limit is set to the total amount of CO2 emitted globally between now and 2050 (global carbon dioxide budget). We move this global budget to the forefront of our considerations regarding a new global climate treaty in the post-Copenhagen process. [The authors are members of the “German Advisory Council on Global Change” (WBGU). The WBGU recently published a study on “Solving the climate dilemma: The budget approach.” This paper builds on the fundamental ideas and findings of the WBGU study and demonstrates that the budget approach could serve as a cornerstone for an institutional design for a global low-carbon economy.] Combining findings from climate science and economics with fundamental concepts of equity, the “budget approach” provides concrete figures for the emission allowances that are still available to countries, assuming they want to prevent the destabilization of the planet’s climate system. Our calculations demonstrate that the time pressure for acting is almost overwhelming—in industrialized countries and also in emerging economies and many developing nations. We suggest several institutional innovations and rules to manage the global and the national CO2 budgets in a transparent, fair, and flexible way. A sober analysis of the state of the art of climate change science and of the state of multilateral attempts to create an effective climate protection accord so far reveals that the budget approach can provide crucial orientation for the negotiations toward a comprehensive post-Copenhagen climate regime. The approach facilitates at the same time an institutional design for a low-carbon global economy, setting the necessary incentives for decoupling economic growth from the burning of fossil fuels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In order to determine the potential of production practices for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, it is important to quantify the GHG emissions associated with various types of production. The methodology from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) adjusted for conditions in Canada was used to calculate the GHG emissions from the Canadian pork industry for census years from 1981 to 2001. Emissions of CH4, N2O and CO2 from animals, their facilities and the crops used to feed them were estimated. The Pork Crop Complex (PCC), defined as the area used to grow the crops that feed all Canadian swine, was estimated using the recommended livestock feed rations. Fertilizer application and the use of fossil fuel were down-scaled from the national crop areas to the PCC. This study also estimated the GHG emission intensity based on the total weight of live animal production (destined for either slaughter or export). The growth of the swine population led to an increase in GHG emissions from the pork industry by 54% between 1981 and 2001. The main GHG was CH4, representing about 40% of the 6.7 TgCO2equiv. total in 2001. Nitrous oxide and fossil CO2 both accounted for about 30%. Due to changes in management practices, the GHG emission intensity of the Canadian swine industry decreased from 2.99 to 2.31 kg of CO2equiv. per kg of live market animal during the same period. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This Article challenges the prevailing view that state action on climate change is misconceived because it cannot meaningfully impact greenhouse gas emissions. We argue that inducing technological change provides an independent ground for state programs; one can think globally and still, act locally. Technological innovation is essential to successful climate policy and subject to a distinct market failure—technology spillovers that undermine investment incentives. State action can significantly enhance technological change, as promoting innovation is less dependent on large-scale government action and its inherent uncertainties favor the diversity sustained by multiple state programs. These observations suggest a two-tiered strategy: primary federal responsibility for reducing greenhouse gas emissions while state policies focus on promoting technological change. This Article concludes by proposing measures designed to support this complementary federal-state framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the economic aspects of climate change. The article describes how greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are global phenomena that require careful analysis in order to ascertain the effects of global warming and to provide helpful advice to policy makers. The scientific processes involved in linking GHG to global climate change are discussed, describing the effect of consumer consumption and production in the emission of such gases as methane, nitrous oxide, and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). The global economic effect of global warming is discussed in relation to risk analyses, the link between ethics and economics, and the role of international policy in eliminating carbon emissions.

There is substantial uncertainty regarding baseline greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions forecasts--i.e., how GHG emissions will grow over time in the absence of policy intervention. Thus baseline uncertainty should be a key consideration in setting GHG emissions targets as a mitigation strategy to respond to global climate change. At a minimum, the emissions target must be less than the baseline level to induce changing behavior and new investment. Despite this fundamental policy criterion, baseline considerations have played only a minor role in target setting under international climate policy. Baseline uncertainty applies to both absolute and intensity based emissions targets. It is demonstrated that one advantage of intensity targets is reduced uncertainty in the projected baseline, however there will always be some residual uncertainty in model projections. To illustrate the importance of considering baseline uncertainty in GHG target setting, the Bush Climate Change Initiative is analyzed against its projected baseline as a case study of a modest intensity target. Based on comparison with historical data, the range of projections by major energy-economic models, past discrepancies in the accuracy of model projections and the added complexity of sector-specific drivers for non-CO2 GHGs, it is shown that the Bush Initiative cannot be guaranteed or even expected to deliver actual reductions against an uncertain baseline. This finding emphasizes the importance of setting a target that accounts for baseline uncertainty to achieve genuine mitigation of GHG emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sweden aims at decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by four per cent by 2008-2012 from the 1990 level. The different measures to achieve this effectively involve local-level organizations. A survey was made among 356 local public and private officers in south-western Sweden to tap respondents' views on different aspects of the climate issue. Regression models were used to investigate the impact of (a) environmental concern and (b) organizational and societal norms on (c) support of policy measures against greenhouse gas emissions, where measures were categorized according to perceived level of acceptability. Here, those easily accepted are defined as low-cost, and those not so easily accepted as high-cost strategies. Overall results indicate that acceptance of climate policy measures depends on both organizational affiliation - where you 'sit' - and professional role - what you 'do'. With respect to where you 'sit', there is a strong correlation between (1) views of the seriousness/threat of climate change, the relevance of climate change to respondents' own organization and (2) organizational norms, societal norms and (3) willingness to accept low- and high-cost strategies for both private and public organizations. Finally, the results show that professional roles have an influence over and above organizational affiliation on the acceptance of both low-cost and high-cost climate policy measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we examine the interaction between technology policy and its impact on the full basket of worldwide greenhouse emissions over the 21st century. The heart of the analysis is the Argonne National Laboratory's AMIGA Modeling System, a technology rich, general equilibrium model that (depending on data availability) characterizes as many as 200 sectors of the regional economies. We suggest in this paper that technologies and technology policies exist which could reduce carbon emissions enough to achieve stabilization targets at relatively modest costs given the size of the world economy. This can be accomplished largely through harnessing market forces and creating incentives with the use of efficient prices on greenhouse gas emissions, combined with complementary programs and policies to reduce market failures and to promote new technology improvements and investments. [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]

International concern about climate change has led to the Kyoto Protocol, negotiated in 1997, which contains legally binding emission targets for industrialized countries to be achieved during the commitment period 2008–12. While proponents of the Protocol celebrate it as a breakthrough in international climate policy, opponents say that its approach, namely setting targets and timetables for emission reductions, is seriously flawed. This paper provides a critical assessment of the Protocol's potential performance and discusses amendments to foster its effectiveness and efficiency. It concludes that, even without any effective emission reductions in the initial commitment period, the ratification of Kyoto is important for the further policy process of climate protection. The Kyoto Protocol has established a flexible, broad-based, international mechanism that provides a valuable starting point for shaping efficient climate policies in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Kyoto Protocol is stimulating the development of emissions-trading schemes at the national and international levels. These are being introduced alongside existing policy instruments such as carbon taxes and negotiated agreements, leading to complex problems of policy interaction. But the topic of policy interaction remains under-researched. This paper aims to improve understanding of such interactions by examining the conditions under which a cap-and-trade scheme for carbon-dioxide emissions may usefully coexist with carbon/energy taxes, support mechanisms for renewable electricity, and policies to promote energy efficiency. The paper argues that each of these instrument combinations may be acceptable, provided they contribute to either improving the static or dynamic efficiency of the trading scheme, or delivering other valued policy objectives. But, since the coexisting instruments may raise overall abatement costs while contributing nothing further to emission reductions, the objectives and trade-offs within the policy mix must be explicit. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses how carbon emissions have been increasing in British Columbia (B.C.) each year since 2010, and it mentions the B.C. government's climate action policies and the proposed impact of a carbon tax on emissions in the Canadian province. The B.C. economy is addressed, as well as the B.C. government's policy on greenhouse gas mitigation. Canada's National Inventory Report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is examined.

The article offers the author's insights on the role of assessing the contribution of a community to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in climate change mitigation. The authors say that international organizations have developed protocol for measuring community-scale emissions. They state that communities consume and import materials and goods that are made elsewhere. They cite the significance of measuring emissions for the relevance and usability of GHG inventory. They add that local governments have focused on emissions that are related to in-boundary energy use.