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The global level of climate change agreement and the extensive development of China's industrialization process have caused China to face severe pressures regarding energy conservation and emission reduction. Tourism industry plays an important role in promoting steady economic growth and improving ecological environment in China. The agglomeration economic effect it produces can reduce carbon emissions, but the crowding effect may not be conducive to low carbon development. Therefore, how to reduce carbon emissions while promoting the development of tourism industry has become an urgent problem. This paper measures the level of tourism industry agglomeration and carbon emission in 30 regions of China and uses the method of spatial econometrics to analyze the impact of tourism industry agglomeration on carbon emissions. The empirical results prove that tourism industry agglomeration can reduce the carbon emissions of local and neighboring regions in China. However, this does not mean that the larger the scale of tourism industry agglomeration, the more conducive to the reduction of carbon emissions. For developed tourism groups, the impact of agglomeration effect on carbon emissions of local and adjacent areas shows a U-shaped relationship. When the agglomeration level exceeds 1.963, the expansion of agglomeration scale will increase local carbon emissions. For underdeveloped tourism areas, there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between agglomeration level and carbon emissions both in local and adjacent areas. When the agglomeration level reaches 1.883, the expansion of agglomeration scale will reduce local carbon emissions. The conclusions provide a basis for Chinese government to guide the low-carbon development of the tourism industry from another perspective.

Climate change has always been an agenda for the international community, individually and collectively, due to global warming and unusual weather conditions. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) believes that the adequate deployment of clean energy can achieve the targets of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. Many countries have shown their commitment to decrease their carbon emission levels substantially, and they have done so by resorting to renewable energy sources. Renewable energy generation opens a viable door for climate change mitigation efforts. Both Malaysia and India are committed to fulfilling their obligation under the Paris Agreement. This comparative study evaluates the laws and policies related to renewable energy in Malaysia and India, as these countries progress towards their commitments under the Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC). This study operates under the comparative qualitative methodological framework and utilises secondary sources for analysis. Based on the comparative expositions, Malaysia can learn measures adopted by India to accelerate renewable energy development as well as to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, which will prove beneficial to the country as well as in order to comply with international conventions and agreements.

The Paris Climate Change Agreement 2015 represents a vindication of environmental multilateralism given that for the first time in the history of international climate change law, over 196 sovereign states voluntarily subscribed to be bound by a treaty for the mitigation of climate change. The Nigerian government has ratified the Paris Agreement, and subsequently undertakes in its National Determined Contributions (NDCs) to adopt some measures for the mitigation of climate change. The usefulness of the Paris Agreement 2015 in mitigating climate change in Nigeria is contingent on the actual implementation of the Agreement, including the Nigerian NDCs. The Paris Climate Change Decision 2015 recognises and, emphasises that non-party stakeholders including civil societies have some vital roles to play in the successful implementation of the Agreement. This paper examines the role that the Network of Legal Aid Institutions (NULAI) Nigeria can play in the successful implementation of the Paris Climate Change Agreement 2015 in Nigeria, in the light of the recognised role of civil societies in this context. It argues that NULAI can use the instruments of litigation, street lawyering and advocacy to catalyse the successful implementation of the Agreement in Nigeria. On the one hand, it argues that there are possible limitations to the role of NULAI. One such defect is the absence of any justiciable right emanating solely from the Paris Agreement 2015 and, Nigerian NDCs. Another limitation is the low level of awareness of the international climate change law among student law clinicians and staff within the Nigerian universities. The paper concludes by making recommendations on how to surmount the identified problems. A key recommendation is the use of human-right based approached litigation to secure the enforcement of the provisions of the Nigerian NDCs and, the establishment of climate change focused law clinics.

In 2015, Aotearoa New Zealand became a signatory to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (Sendai Framework), the Paris Climate Change Agreement (Paris Agreement), and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Since 2017 Aotearoa New Zealand has been undergoing governance reform to realign priorities and to improve the management of natural hazards and climate change. The aim of this article is to provide a review of how Aotearoa New Zealand is taking steps to improve consistency of planning across the legislative environment, thereby implementing its commitments to the Sendai Framework, the SDGs, and the Paris Agreement. It provides an overview of the national governance arrangements, with a focus on the key legislative tools; identifies how key terms are defined nationally; and provides an overview of the governance arrangements that contribute to the country’s international obligations. The discussion describes how obligations are applied, and considers two “disruptive and proactive” action examples. Four recommended actions are provided to further implement these international aspirations: (1) take into account these international agreements during the development and implementation of all legislation; (2) build awareness, capability, and capacity within central, regional, and local governments to support implementation; (3) actively evaluate the progress of implementing initiatives designed to reduce vulnerability and strengthen resilience; and (4) ensure that more weight and value are given to indigenous planning documents.

The fundamental design and inherent capabilities of the Graph Model for Conflict Resolution (GMCR) to address a rich range of complex real world conflict situations are put into perspective by tracing its historical development over a period spanning more than 30 years, and highlighting great opportunities for meaningful future expansions within an era of artificial intelligence (AI) and intensifying conflict in an over-crowded world. By constructing a sound theoretical foundation for GMCR based upon assumptions reflecting what actually occurs in reality, a fascinating story is narrated on how GMCR was able to expand in bold new directions as well as take advantage of many important legacy decision technologies built within the earlier Metagame Analysis and later Conflict Analysis paradigms. From its predecessors, for instance, GMCR could benefit by the employment of option form put forward within Metagame Analysis for effectively recording a conflict, as well as preference elicitation techniques and solution concepts for defining chess-like behavior when calculating stability of states from the realm of Conflict Analysis. The key ideas outlined in the paper underlying the current and projected capabilities of GMCR include the development of four different ways to handle preference uncertainty in the presence of either transitive or intransitive preferences; a wide range of solution concepts for describing many kinds of human behavior under conflict; unique coalition analysis algorithms for determining if a given decision maker can fare better in a dispute via cooperation; tracing the evolution of a conflict over time; and the matrix formulation of GMCR for computational efficiency when calculating stability and also theoretically expanding GMCR in bold new directions. Inverse engineering is mentioned as an AI extension of GMCR for computationally determining the preferences required by decision makers in order to reach a desirable state, such as a climate change agreement in which all nations significantly cut back on their greenhouse gas emissions. The basic design of a decision support system for permitting researchers and practitioners to readily apply the foregoing and other advancements in GMCR to tough real world controversies is discussed. Although GMCR has been successfully applied to challenging disputes arising in many different fields, a simple climate change negotiation conflict between the US and China is utilized to explain clearly key concepts mentioned throughout the fascinating historical journey surrounding GMCR.

Responding to climate change presents significant challenges on both international and domestic fronts. The current U.S. federal government disclaims a connection between climate change, and human activity, and embraces an environmental program that includes withdrawal from the Paris Climate Change Agreement at international level and retrenchment from regulation domestically. This Article comments on the rollback of Obama-era environmental regulations now taking place at federal level and locates these policies in the context of the domestic polarization and partisanship that now characterizes U.S. politics. It notes that environmental regulation divides the Republican and Democratic Parties but that the response of individual party members may be more nuanced, particularly amongst younger voters. The Article comments on state level initiatives to counteract the effects of climate change that have gathered bipartisan support but are now subject to partisan actions by the federal government designed to limit their effectiveness. The Article concludes with the observation that as the combination of an aging demographic and alignment with a declining fossil fuel industry shrinks the GOP traditional constituency, it is to be hoped that far-sighted politicians from both parties will embrace credibility on this issue as a key component of enhancing their own as well as the planet’s survival.

Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). The European Commission have just stated that hydrogen would play a major role in the economic recovery of post-COVID-19 EU countries. Hydrogen is recognised as one of the key players in a fossil fuel-free world in decades to come. However, commercially practiced pathways to hydrogen production todays, are associated with a considerable amount of carbon emissions. The Paris Climate Change Agreement has set out plans for an international commitment to reduce carbon emissions within the forthcoming decades. A sustainable hydrogen future would only be achievable if hydrogen production is “designed” to capture such emissions. Today, nearly 98% of global hydrogen production relies on the utilisation of fossil fuels. Among these, steam methane reforming (SMR) boasts the biggest share of nearly 50% of the global generation. SMR processes correspond to a significant amount of carbon emissions at various points throughout the process. Despite the dark side of the SMR processes, they are projected to play a major role in hydrogen production by the first half of this century. This that a sustainable, yet clean short/medium-term hydrogen production is only possible by devising a plan to efficiently capture this co-produced carbon as stated in the latest International Energy Agency (IEA) reports. Here, we have carried out an in-depth technical review of the processes employed in sorption-enhanced steam methane reforming (SE-SMR), an emerging technology in low-carbon SMR, for combined carbon capture and hydrogen production. This paper aims to provide an in-depth review on two key challenging elements of SE-SMR i.e. the advancements in catalysts/adsorbents preparation, and current approaches in process synthesis and optimisation including the employment of artificial intelligence in SE-SMR processes. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is a clear gap in the literature where the above areas have been scrutinised in a systematic and coherent fashion. The gap is even more pronounced in the application of AI in SE-SMR technologies. As a result, this work aims to fill this gap within the scientific literature. Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) (project “Multiphysics and multiscale modelling for safe and feasible CO2 capture and storage - EP/T033940/1”); UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

In this chapter starts broadly by discussing the causes of climate change and how it impacts developing countries globally, specifically young people and their communities. It discusses the outcomes from the 2015 Paris Climate Change agreement and challenges to keep global warming within 1.5–2°C; the problems associated with the impact of climate change on developing countries in Africa, and the relevance of developing climate change adaptation models as a mechanism for achieving sustainable development goals. It highlights the unique challenges associated with the impact of climate change in West Africa.

The study aims to test the nexus of green financing with renewable electricity generation and energy efficiency. The study used data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique during the year of 2016 to 2020 in developed and developing countries. The findings show that there is a 24% possibility of worldwide rise in expenditures in renewable energy through energy efficiency projects and probably could fall around 17% much further in 2017 and 2018. This may jeopardize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris climate change agreement. Lack of access to private financing slows the development of green initiatives. Now that sustainable energy is not about science and technology, it is all about getting financing in developed and developing countries. As policy measure, the study suggested to value environmental initiatives, like other infrastructure initiatives, for greater electricity generation and energy efficiency in developed and developing countries. Such infrastructural projects need long-term financing and capital intensiveness. It is further suggested to sustain growth, development, and energy poverty reduction, and around $26 trillion would be required, in terms of green financing, in the developed and developing countries alone by the year 2030 to enhance energy efficiency. To achieve energy sustainability goals in developed and developing countries, recent research suggested some policy implication considering the post COVID-19 time. If such policy implications are implemented successfully, there are chances that green financing would make energy generation and energy efficiency effective.

With an increasing energy demand, energy security is progressively becoming crucial for Malaysia’s socio-economic growth. In addition, with the ratification of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, policies for the energy sector, which are the prime factors of global greenhouse gas emissions should be given thorough attention, especially for a developing economy like Malaysia. This paper is concerned with the design and development of a systems model to predict the behaviours of relevant energy market key indicators in transitioning Sabah’s energy sector towards a deregulated model. The dynamic and systemic nature of the electricity market necessitates a systems approach to model the scenarios projecting across envisaged possibilities in the transition process. Results show that 15% renewable energy penetration in Sabah will provide benefits of improving system performance, reduce fossil fuel dependence and harmful emissions, and increase system sustainability.

Recent evidence and key issues on climate change in Thailand have been presented in the first part of Thailand’s Second Assessment Report on Climate Change (2ndTRAC). The report highlights key findings including 1) a significant country-wide warming of 1.30 oC over the past 48 years (1970-2017); b) significant changes in rainfall patterns at smaller spatial and finer temporal scales; c) significant changes in temperature and rainfall extreme events over the last four-five decades; d) a significant decrease in frequency of tropical cyclones entering Thailand; e) significant rise in sea level in the seas around Thailand at higher rates than the global average; and f) significant projected increases in temperature and rainfall in Thailand by 2100. The first part of the 2nd TARC provides a comprehensive and updated analysis of climate change impacts in Thailand that can be used as an authoritative reference for building understanding and awareness, as well as for designing adaptation and mitigation strategies. Moreover, it can serve as a repository for scientific information to support further research related to impact, adaptation and vulnerability to climate change. Regular assessment of national climate change impacts is essential to informing national policy and to allow policymakers to assess priorities and set meaningful targets in line with the country’s international obligations under the Climate Change Agreement.

2015년 채택된 기후변화 대응을 위한 파리협정은 국제시장메커니즘 활용에 관한 규정을 두고 있다. 기존 교토의정서 하에서는 청정개발메커니즘, 공동이행, 배출권거래제도 등으로 불리우는 교토메커니즘이 도입이 되어서 교토의정서 상 온실가스 감축 의무를 부담하고 있는 부속서 I 국가의 의무 이행에 보조적인 수단으로 활용되었다. 선진국과 개도국 간의 구분이 없이 공희 기후변화 대응을 위한 노력을 해야하는 파리 협정 하에서는 시장원리를 활용하여 모든 당사국이 자국의 국가적 기여 (NDC)의 이행을 위해서 자발적으로 협럭을 하거나 제6조 4항 상의 메커니즘을 이용하는 등 다양한 방법으로 상호간의 협력을 할 것을 규정하고 있다. 이러한 국제시장메커니즘은 상당수의 국가들이 활용을 예정하고 있고, 특히 우리의 경우에는 국가 온실가스 감축 목표 상 해외 감축을 통한 목표 달성을 위한 계획이 마련되어 있는 등 활발한 활용이 예상된다.

Voluntary environmental agreements (VEAs) are often plagued by adverse selection problems, because the regulator has imperfect information about firm-specific production technologies and abatement costs. We explore this issue using the UK climate change agreement (CCA) as a case study. First, we present a theoretical emulation of the programme. Second, we resolve the regulator’s asymmetric information problem by estimating unobserved energy efficiency (EE) using production theory. Third, we use microdata from three confidential manufacturing surveys to empirically test how limited information impacts resource allocation within the scheme. In line with the problem of limited information about firm production technologies, we find that firms with lower levels of EE receive higher CCA tax discounts. This finding holds over a range of robustness tests.

We investigate whether, and how, auditors price risks related to greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) for a sample of firms traded in the US that disclose their CO2 emissions data. Specifically, we assess whether auditors price CO2 physical and transition risks among multiple categories of emission measures as auditor business risks. After controlling for audit fee determinants, we find that auditors assign a fee premium in the presence of greater total and direct emissions measures, signifying auditor perception of greater risk arising from higher emitting clients. Our findings are robust to alternate specifications (endogeneity, headquarter state membership in a cap and trade agreement, the Paris climate change agreement). Our paper contributes to the literature by shedding light on whether and how auditors respond to emissions information through their pricing decision.

The concept of sustainability originated from 1980 to present, during about four decades, it turned from inactive efforts to proactive actions such as the Paris Climate Change Agreement (2015), Millenium Development Goals (MDGs, 2000), and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations General Assembly 2015. According to recent literature, there is connection between the second law of thermodynamics and environmental impact: when energy efficiency is increased, environmental effects are reduced. This trade-off relationship occurs because less energy is needed when it is used efficiently. Therefore, an exhaustive impact analysis of its influential factors is needed. This study employs a thematic analysis, focusing on the overview of available data; that provides an understanding of the relationship between exergy, environment, and energy—explicitly relating to optimal efficiency requirements. Furthermore, this study identifies indicators and measures for adapting to both energy and environmental demands, revealing the underlying, fundamental forces involved with improving efficiency. Although, energy and environment interaction within sustainability criteria requires enormous research efforts, this study exposed a series of related topics in terms of a generalized reference. By covering essential themes in this study, it can be counted a concise reference on the subject for students, researchers, scholars, and practitioners concerning energy, environment, exergy, sustainability, and sustainable development topics.

This chapter first conceptualizes the phenomenon of “negative emotional engagement” (understood as unfavorable behavior toward organizations; see Lievonen et al., The handbook of communication engagement. Wiley, New York, 2018) and introduces a framework for assessing it in relation to city diplomacy and city branding. Second, we demonstrate that negative emotional engagement can have measurable positive outcomes. In the empirical section, we use a mixed-methods case study approach applying content and sentiment analysis to understand how mayoral messages from the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group cross the boundary to the ‘dark side’ by publicly discussing and criticizing President Trump’s decision to leave the Paris climate change agreement. The study illustrates recent phenomena of negative emotional engagement (Lievonen et al., The handbook of communication engagement. Wiley, New York, 2018) and new diplomatic functions of cities (city diplomacy) that leverage city branding. Social media messages and press releases show how mayors, citizens and associations engage with the issue of climate change through disapproving of policies, leading them to be more active in bringing about local changes. This study shows how negative emotional engagements tend to use the rhetoric of a common enemy to motivate people to take participative actions, thus also showing the positive aspects of city diplomacy.

India’s commitment to Paris Climate Change Agreement through its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) will require the energy system to gradually move away from fossil fuels. The current energy system is witnessing a transformation to achieve these through renewable energy targets and enhanced energy efficiency (EE) actions in all sectors. More stringent global GHG mitigation targets of 2 °C and well below 2 °C regimes would impose further challenges and uncertainties for the Indian energy systems. This paper provides a quantitative assessment using bottom-up optimization model (AIM/Enduse) to assess these until 2050 for meeting carbon mitigation commitments while achieving the national sustainable development goals. Energy transformation trajectories under five scenarios synchronized with climate mitigation regimes are explored—Business As Usual scenario (BAU), NDC scenario, 2 °C scenarios (early and late actions), and well below 2 °C scenario. The key results from the study include (a) coal-based power plants older than 30 years under NDC and older than 20 years for deeper CO2 mitigation will be stranded before their lifetime, (b) increase in renewables of up to 225–280 GW by 2050 will require battery storage with improved integrated smart grid infrastructure, (c) growth in nuclear to 27–32 GW by 2050 is dependent on nuclear supply availability, (d) gradual shift towards electrification in industry, building, and transport sectors, and (e) installation of CCS technologies in power and industry sectors. Cumulative investments of up to 6–8 trillion USD (approximately) will be required during 2015–2030 to implement the actions required to transform the current energy systems in India.

This Chapter provides background material for conversations held at the 2020 Global Constitutionalism Seminar (a Part of the Gruber Program on Global Justice and Women’s Rights) at Yale Law School. Awareness of the precarious state of our world has become all the more acute. The materials begin with debates about what role courts play, a question that intersects with what remedies they could or should provide in response to climate change. The Chapter then turns to issues of knowledge about and accountability for current and future environmental harms. The issues are how courts determine what information governments and corporations must make public as well as who has the right to access that information and require disclosure. Recognizing that global problems often inspire calls for global solutions, the Chapter ends with an examination of efforts to constitute a Global Pact for the Environment. The 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement established an array of policy goals and nationally determined contributions (NDCs) on the part of the 180 signatory nations. In 2020, environmental experts and national governments are hoping to build upon this foundation to shape broader commitments to a sustainable future with a Global Pact for the Environment.

Education is key to the advancement of environmental sustainability. Climate change education is a complex topic where a number of factors play key roles. One such factor, namely the ongoing debate around whether climate change is real poses a significant challenge to the delivery of a climate change curriculum. This factor and others suggest the need to revisit the question of education for sustainability across wider social contexts. The purpose of the following article is to extend previous research and consider how education for sustainability is envisioned across culturally diverse settings around the world. Drawing from survey and interview data, distinguished scholars from Brazil, China, Germany, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and the United States of America provided detailed analyses of the social context of climate change and their visions of an education for sustainability. Results of the survey data indicated that the U.S.’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Change agreement, political and economic barriers to climate change, sustainability initiatives, and university-industry linkages were notable contextual features of a climate change pedagogy across the countries studied. In addition, the scholar's visions of an education for sustainability revolved around five main visions: teaching all forms of scientific knowledge as rooted in some level of uncertainty, complexity, and nuance; comprehensive empirical knowledge of climate change that includes its main principles, myths, and debates; critical inquiry, integration, and engagement with global and cross-disciplinary perspectives; transformative and learner-centered pedagogies conducive to a climate change and sustainability curricula; and student-learner authentic participation in the study and mitigation of climate change. The implications for the practice of education for climate change are discussed. It is argued that global insights have the potential to enrich the practice of education for climate change and towards a more sustainable future.

Purpose Disaster risk reduction is prominent in the international policy agenda, and the year 2015 brought together three international policy frameworks that contribute to disaster risk reduction (i.e. the Sendai framework for disaster risk reduction, the Sustainable Development Goals and Paris Climate Change Agreement – COP21). However, there is a dearth of effort at identifying and aligning the specific educational needs of built environment professionals with the three policy frameworks. This is needed to facilitate the incorporation of the contents of the policy frameworks into built environment professionals’ training. Therefore, this study aims to map the educational needs of built environment professionals with the core areas of the three international policy frameworks. Design/methodology/approach This study utilized CADRE (Collaborative Action towards Disaster Resilience Education) research project outcomes alongside the earlier mentioned three international policy frameworks. A comprehensive desk review was done to map the educational needs identified in the CADRE project with the core priority areas of the three policy frameworks. Findings The study revealed the educational needs that are significant towards an effective implementation of the core priority areas of the three international policy frameworks. Practical implications This study would be beneficial to the built environment professionals involved in disaster risk reduction. They will be aware of the specific knowledge areas that would aid the successful implementation of the aforementioned three international policy frameworks. Originality/value The outcomes of the study would be beneficial to higher education providers in disaster risk reduction and sustainable development. It has identified the knowledge and competency gaps needed to be bridged in the curricula to meet the demands created by the international policy frameworks.

There has been growing interest in the distributed solar generation (DSG) system in accordance with the ‘Post-2020 Climate Change Agreement’, especially for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from buildings. In this respect, this study aimed to develop an integrated model for estimating the techno-economic performance of the DSG system on building facades, with a focus on energy demand and supply. The integrated model was developed in five stages: (i) definition of design variables affecting the DSG system on building facades; (ii) establishment of a standard database for the DSG system on building facades using energy simulation; (iii) technical analysis of the DSG system on building facades using the finite element method; (iv) economic analysis of the DSG system on building facades through life-cycle cost analysis; and (v) systemization. Detailed analyses were conducted in three aspects: (i) nonlinearity analysis; (ii) validation of the developed model; and (iii) practical application (to the ‘S’ apartment block in South Korea). With the newly developed integrated model (i-FEM), it was found that the technical performance of the DSG system could be accurately estimated in only 6 s: (i) heating energy demand (1.01%); (ii) cooling energy demand (9.27%); and (iii) building energy supply (3.55%). It is expected that decision-makers (e.g. construction managers or facility managers) can use the newly developed integrated model (i-FEM) to evaluate the potential impact of the DSG system on building facades in a timely and accurate manner.

The release of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Change agreement highlighted the importance of global sustainability internationally. Here, we outline a vision and strategies for developing northern Australia that demonstrate how a focus on sustainable prosperity can both expand historical approaches and current government plans and integrate the biophysical realities with the social, political, and cultural characteristics of the region. We highlight examples of the significant horizontal and vertical integration opportunities that this expanded vision and related strategies provide for (a) land (carbon farming, targeted food production systems, and native title arrangements); (b) water (water resources management); (c) energy (renewable energy production, storage, and distribution); (d) workforce (culturally appropriate ecotourism, Indigenous ranger programs, and protected area management); (e) knowledge services (health care and innovative employment opportunities); and (f) governance (greater participatory governance). We found that realisation of even 10% of these emerging opportunities over the next 10 years alone could result in economic growth worth over AUD 15 billion and 15,000+ jobs for northern Australia as well as the further ecological and social benefits derived from a sustainable prosperity strategy.

This article considers whether the enforcement tools of the Paris Climate Change Agreement 2015 are adequate to the extent that would secure the development of the targeted solar technologies in the Nigerian National Determined Contribution. It finds that there are several tools that would render these tools inadequate.

Through what mechanism do interest groups shape public opinion on concrete policies? In this article, three hypotheses are proposed that distinguish between the effect of the arguments conveyed by interest groups and the effect of interest groups as source cues. Two survey experiments on the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TIPP) and the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change allow the testing of these hypotheses. The resulting evidence from several countries shows that, with respect to interest groups’ attempts at shaping public opinion, arguments matter more than their sources. This is so even when accounting for people's trust in the interest groups that serve as source cues and for people's level of information about a policy. The finding that interest groups affect public opinion via arguments rather than as source cues has implications for the literature on elite influence on public opinion and the normative evaluation of interest group activities.

The recent ratification of the Paris Climate Change Agreement has significant implications for Australia given its emissions intensive economy. It is likely that the electricity sector will need to decarbonize for Australia to meet medium- and long-term emissions reduction targets. This paper explored the potential role of Concentrating Solar Thermal (CST) in a 100% renewable National Electricity Market (NEM) system under different scenarios of CST configuration and subjected the results to sensitivity analysis. A Genetic algorithm (GA) was chosen as the optimization algorithm to seek the least cost combination of renewable generation technologies, transmission interconnectors and storage capacity in the NEM system at hourly temporal resolution. The main finding is that the scenario where all three CST configurations (six, nine, and 12 h of thermal storage) can be deployed achieves a lower system cost than scenarios where the size of thermal storage coupled with CST is limited to one option. The results are sensitive to assumptions of the discount rate, renewable resource availability, and the cost of CST technology. This paper found that meeting demand during winter evenings is the most challenging time period for a 100% renewable NEM power system.

In the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement, 195 countries committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in recognition of the scientific consensus on the consequences of climate change, including substantial public health burdens. In June 2017, however, US president Donald Trump announced that the United States would not implement the Paris Agreement. We highlight the business community’s backing for climate change action in the United States. Just as the US federal government is backing away from its Paris commitments, many corporate executives are recognizing the need to address the greenhouse gas emissions of their companies and the business logic of strong environmental, social, and governance practices more generally. We conclude that climate change could emerge as an issue on which the business and public health communities might align and provide leadership.

Previous studies on environmental performance of the oil sands industry in Canada conclude that its carbon footprint must be reduced. Yet, it remains unclear what threshold of carbon emissions intensity that the industry needs to meet to be within Canada's carbon share following Paris Climate Change Agreement. Here, for the first time, a top-down approach based on planetary boundary is used to identify the threshold of carbon emissions intensity that can keep Canadian oil sands industry within the planet's carrying capacities in absolute terms. The approach follows four steps in scaling down the global carbon budget into national level for Canada and industry level translated into emissions intensity threshold. The results reveal that under both 1.5 and 2 °C targets, the share of oil sands industry of Canada's carbon budget has been exhausted under most downscaling approaches: 10 % and 20 % annual reduction scenarios cannot help the industry to stay within their carbon budget under climate-relevant thresholds. Therefore, a carbon-negative industry is required where a reduction of 101.5–120 % of current emissions intensity is needed. Even in few cases where the industry is still within its cumulative carbon budget, an emission intensity reduction of 88–98 % is required. The results demonstrate the need for rapid transition that goes beyond zero-carbon to carbon-negative oil sands industry to be environmentally sustainable especially under the 1.5 °C target of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. This shows the need for new pathways in the sustainable energy industry such as hybrid renewable-oil sands operations and hydrogen from oil sands resources.

The current debate on climate change is over whether global warming can be limited in order to lessen its impacts. In this sense, evidence of a decrease in the statistical polarization in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions could encourage countries to establish a stronger multilateral climate change agreement. Based on the interregional and intraregional components of the multivariate generalised entropy measures (Maasoumi, 1986), Gigliarano and Mosler (2009) proposed to study the statistical polarization concept from a multivariate view. In this paper, we apply this approach to study the evolution of such phenomenon in the global distribution of the main GHGs. The empirical analysis has been carried out for the time period 1990-2011, considering an endogenous grouping of countries (Aghevli and Mehran, 1981; Davies and Shorrocks, 1989). Most of the statistical polarization indices showed a slightly increasing pattern that was similar regardless of the number of groups considered. Finally, some policy implications are commented.

This research was presented at the Sustainable Economic Growth in Regional Australia Conference (SEGRA), in Albany, Western Australia, October 2016. Renewable energy (RE) is needed for the low-carbon future envisioned in the 2015 Paris climate change agreement. This article comparatively evaluates the RE performance of two states in Australia to show how government policies affect energy transitions. The “complex systems” perspective is used as a theoretical lens and it elucidates the constraints to RE transitions. Ambitious targets at state level and sustained political support are required to overcome the multi-dimensional barriers to RE transitions. However, given the complexity of the energy system, it is argued that governments should pursue collaborative efforts across states and with various stakeholders to avoid conflicts, while addressing concerns about rising electricity prices and energy security if the much needed decarbonisation of the electricity sector is to take place.

The renewed emphasis on national political boundaries across Europe would seem to go hand-in-hand with a weaker external personality for the EU. However, there are several prominent examples of EU leadership that challenge this notion, from the December 2015 UN climate change agreement to common sanctions again Russia to a new Global Strategy. This paper examines a policy area that lies at the intersection of populist outrage and external engagement: counter-terrorism. In the wake of the 2015 and 2016 Paris and Brussels terrorist attacks, the EU has made significant strides in enhancing the external dimension of its counter-terrorism policies, particularly in terms of intelligence sharing, formal and informal diplomacy, and the internal–external nexus of security. The article argues that major terrorist attacks in 2015–2016 have served as critical junctures of crisis, driving counter-terrorism policies forward and emphasising the notion of European boundaries beyond any functionalist or securitization explanation. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in Journal of European Integration on 23 May 2017, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/07036337.2017.1327524

Energy saving is a hot topic due to the proliferation of climate changes and energy challenges globally. However, people's perception about using smart technology for energy saving is still in the concept stage. This means that people talk about environmental awareness readily, yet in reality, they accept to pay the given energy bill. Due to the availability of electricity and its integral role, modulating consumers’ attitudes towards energy savings can be a challenge. Notably, the gap in today's smart technology design in smart homes is the understanding of consumers’ behaviour and the integration of this understanding into the smart technology. As part of the Paris Climate change agreement (2015), it is paramount for Singapore to introduce smart technologies targeted to reduce energy consumption. This paper focused on the perception of Singapore households on smart technology and its usage to save energy. Areas of current research include: (1) energy consumption in Singapore households, (2) public programs and policies in energy savings, (3) use of technology in energy savings, and (4) household perception of energy savings in smart homes. Furthermore, three case studies are reviewed in relation to smart homes and smart technology, while discussing the maturity of existing solutions.

The sustainable achievement of low-carbon economies is at the heart of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. Government policies are expected, at the country level, to be designed and implemented in support of this commitment. This paper reports on reductions in CO2 emissions achieved by an ongoing federal program in Mexico focused on artisanal or small-scale fisheries (SSFs). Launched in 2008, this technological change-focused program substitutes old two-stroke outboard motors with fourstroke ones, which offer more efficient gasoline consumption and also reduce CO2 emissions. The program's annual emissions reduction target is 0.2% of the total annual national target of 83.2 million tonnes in CO2 emissions reductions, according to the 2014–2018 Special Climate Change Program in Mexico (known by its Spanish acronym, PECC). Based on primary-source information gathered from SSFs through fieldwork at the national level for the period 2008–2015, the reductions achieved in gasoline consumption produce a c...

To achieve the targets in the Paris Climate Change Agreement, carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) will be one of the critical carbon mitigation technologies. For China, the biggest carbon emitter with coal-dominated energy structure, CCUS is expected to play more and more important roles for carbon emissions reduction. This paper looks at a method for designing a pipeline network system for large-scale CO2 capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) in China. On the basis of performing a moderately significant literature review of past papers and models dating back to the early 2000’s, a updated multi-stage mixed integer programming (MIP) model for carbon source and sink matching (SSM) in ChinaCCUS DSS (Decision Support System) is developed. The Jing-Jin-Ji (Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei) region suffering from increasingly serious air pollution is chose as a case study to address the SSM issue with application of the updated model. The modeling results show that around 2200 km pipeline with investment of around $1.6 billion needed to be built to transport the cumulative sequestrated emissions of 1620 Mt CO2 in the planning period of 2020–2050. Compared to the single-stage programming, the multi-stage programming could result to better pipeline connectivity.

The 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was one of the first international environmental agreements negotiated. In the same year, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) for funding biodiversity conservation in developing countries was launched. Yet 25 years later, biological populations and diversity continue to decline both on land ( 1 ) and in the oceans ( 2 ). The main reasons are chronic underfunding of global biodiversity conservation; the lack of incentives for global cooperation; and the failure to control habitat conversion, resource overexploitation, species invasions, and other drivers of biodiversity loss. Dinerstein et al. recently called for a global deal, complementing the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement, for conserving half of the terrestrial realm for biodiversity by 2050 ( 3 ). Here, we explore how such a deal might be implemented to overcome the funding problem in biodiversity protection.

The world’s first universal climate change agreement was adopted by 195 countries in Paris on 12 December 2015. The Paris Climate Conference was the last chance to deliver a global agreement on tackling climate change. The success of the Paris Conference is the culmination of years of efforts by the international community to bring about a universal and balanced agreement on climate change.

The cement industry is the second-largest single industrial emitter in the world and therefore has an important role to play in reducing the intensity of its carbon emissions: participation of the sector is important to contribute to the goal of the Paris Climate Change Agreement to limit global warming. One of the strategies for reducing the carbon footprint of the cement industry is substitution of Portland cement, which is a component of the concrete mix widely used as a construction material worldwide. Geopolymer cement has emerged as an alternative for Portland cement, with several advantages. This study applied the Life Cycle Assessment methodology to quantify the carbon emissions associated with 1m3 of two types of concrete (concrete PC-II cement-based Portland cement vs. geopolymer concrete). Geopolymer concrete presented almost 43% less carbon emissions, while also presenting high physic-chemical performance. It was verified that geopolymer concrete has the potential to help mitigate climate change, and can be employed as part of the plan to minimize the emissions associated with the construction sector. Keywords: Portland Cement, Geopolymer Cement, Life Cycle Assessment, Carbon Emissions, Construction Sustainability.

International shipping is at a crossroads as regards decarbonization. The Paris climate change agreement in 2015 (COP21) was hailed by many as a most significant achievement. Others were less enthusiastic, and more recently American President Trump decided to take the U.S. out of the agreement. Four years earlier, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) had adopted the most sweeping piece of regulation pertaining to maritime greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction, in the name of the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI). In addition, one year after COP21, the IMO adopted a mandatory data collection system for fuel consumption of ships and agreed on an initial strategy and roadmap on the reduction of GHG emissions from ships. This paper takes a critical look at the above and other recent developments and focuses on the challenges faced by the industry if a path to significant CO2 reductions is to be successful. Difficulties and opportunities are identified, and the paper conjectures that the main obstacles are neither technical nor economic, but political.

We use data from the Carbon Disclosure project (CDP) to measure firms' beliefs about climate regulation, their plans for future abatement, and their current actions on mitigating carbon emissions. These measures vary both across firms and time in a manner that is especially pronounced around the Paris climate change agreement announcement. A simple dynamic model of carbon abatement with a firm exposed to a certain future carbon levy, facing a trade-off between emissions reduction and capital growth, and convex emissions abatement adjustment costs cannot explain the data. A more complex two-firm dynamic model with both information asymmetry across firms and reputational concerns fits the data far better. Our findings imply that firms' abatement actions depend greatly on their beliefs about climate regulation, and that both informational frictions and reputational concerns can amplify responses to climate regulation, increasing its effectiveness.

The need for developed countries to take a lead in the global fight against climate change is generally acknowledged and was intrinsic to the 2015 Paris climate change agreement. An understanding of the way in which environmental policy in advanced nations has developed and which policies have had a significant impact on the reduction in the emissions of various pollutants may yield important policy prescriptions relevant to the current climate change negotiations. In this paper we consider how Japan's little-known environmental interest rate policy and voluntary pollution control agreements contributed to Japan's ecological modernization and how these policies compare with the more traditional regulatory approach. Our results show that Japan's use of an environmental interest rate policy was an effective policy as a complement to the more traditional regulatory approach.

With over 200 countries reaching an agreement with the stated aim of restricting global warming to “well below 2° C above pre-industrial levels” – the most comprehensive climate change agreement was recently signed. Though most of the hard work lies ahead, it marks an important first step for the collective global community to address climate change. Fossil fuels continue to remain one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and for many developing countries high levels fossil fuels continues to enable an overconsumption of fossil fuels. Given the sensitivity of governments to subsidy reforms, this study examines the household welfare implications of the removal of fossil fuel subsidies. It finds that while welfare implications are unambiguously positive for government the results are mixed for private households, although in an overwhelming majority of cases, the results are positive. However, even in the cases where the welfare implications are negative for private households we find that it is possible for governments to carry out the reforms in such a way as to be welfare improving to households incomes by compensating them with some of the fiscal savings gained from the subsidy reform.

Under the UNFCCC, governments have adopted a universal climate change agreement, the Paris Agreement, near the end of 2015 covering nearly all countries from 2020, and will endeavor to find ways to scale up efforts before 2020 beyond the existing pledges to curb emissions, so that the world can stay below the agreed maximum 2 °C temperature rise. In view of long-term planning strategy, many countries have adopted the year 2050 goals, and science strongly indicates that any further delay in appropriate global mitigation efforts will increase the pressure towards our low-carbon future. This paper discussed the multiple challenges and searches for the optimal pathways in promoting the transformation of future renewable energy systems in Taiwan, especially its practical implementation aspects. While developing Taiwan׳s climate legislation and strategies, in addition to having the participation of both the public and private sectors in order to act aggressively to overcome policy obstacles, active dialogues with the stakeholders and the general public were also promoted which helped to improve public awareness and build up consensus. The end result is the promulgation of the 2015 Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act which stipulates Taiwan׳s short and long term climate goals and development of corresponding measures, and the formulation of Taiwan׳s Nationally Determined Contribution which serves to foster a facilitative environment and create tremendous business opportunities for the booming green industry in Taiwan.

Sustained international diplomatic efforts culminated in the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement by 196 countries in December 2015. This paper provides an overview of the key provisions of the agreement that are most relevant to the tourism sector: much strengthened and world-wide participation in greenhouse gas emission reduction ambitions, an enduring framework for increased ambitions over time, improved transparency in emissions reporting and a greater emphasis on climate risk management through adaptation. The declared carbon emission reduction ambitions of the tourism sector and international aviation are found to be broadly compatible with those of the Paris Agreement, however, claims of reduced emission intensity in the tourism sector since 2005 and a roadmap by which emission reduction ambitions for 2020 and 2035 might realistically be achieved both remain equivocal. The need for international tourism leadership to improve sectoral scale emission monitoring capacity to meet the increasi...

Know your limits. This familiar adage is not an inspirational rallying cry or a recipe for bold action. It serves better as the motto for the tortoise than the hare. But, after many false starts over the past twenty years, states were well advised to heed it when negotiating the Paris Agreement. While it is still far too early to say whether the Agreement will be a success, its comparatively modest approach provides a firmer foundation on which to build than its more ambitious predecessor, the Kyoto Protocol.