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The Mekong Delta has been identified by the International Panel on Climate Change as one of the three most vulnerable areas in the world as sea levels rise due to climate change. The Vietnam Government has implemented a range of policies to assist migration in order to address these environmental problems. While much research has focused on the environmental causes of, and responses to, climate change there has been less research on the impact of environmentally motivated responses to climate change on labour force and human capital factors. This paper examines the experience of the Vietnam Government in encouraging internal migration from vulnerable agricultural areas to urban industrial cities, to explore the human capital effects of these environmentally motivated response to climate change. The paper first presents the environmental argument for migration in response to climate change, together with examples of what the Vietnam Government has done to encourage migration from the rural (originating) areas to other rural resettlement and city (receiving) areas. It then uses data collected as part of recent study into the impact of government encouragement for internal migration to explore the labour force and human capital impacts in both the originating region and receiving areas. The findings suggest that while there are social and economic advantages there are challenges, including ensuring that job opportunities are available, migrants and appropriate skills, and that labour contracts provide for job security and healthy and safe working result in improved living conditions. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a more integrated approach that acknowledges and addresses associated human capital (skills upgrading) and business development needs and integrates these with environmentally-motivated policies.

This paper provides an analysis of climate change mitigation policies assessment with a cross-reference to the principles of sustainable energy development. There is a close relationship between climate change, energy policies and tools aiming at sustainable energy development targets (i.e. promotion of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency measures and climate change mitigation tools). Therefore, a ranking of climate change mitigation tools based on their impact sustainable energy development targets is necessary in seeking to ensure harmonization of policies and their synergy effect. The main tasks of the article are to define the European Union sustainable energy development targets, to analyse energy and climate change mitigation policies and their interactions and to propose a framework for climate change mitigation policies assessment and ranking. Moreover, the paper applies the proposed climate change mitigation policies assessment technique for an appraisal of climate change mitigation policies in Lithuania. The main findings of this paper are related to the development of a new technique for climate change mitigation policies assessment and application of this technique for ranking the climate change mitigation policies in Lithuania.

Energy-intensive industrialization and various anthropogenic actions by humans over centuries have resulted in a huge build up of Greenhouse gases triggering consequential ‘Greenhouse effects’ and ‘Global warming’. This, in turn, has caused global climate change with adverse impact on ecology, environment, economy and human health. Among other things, the economic impact of global warming and climate change/aberration has been widely acknowledged to be phenomenal. In past few years, climate change economics has focused on diagnosing the economic underpinnings of climate change and offering positive and normative analyses of policies to confront the problem. While overlapping with other areas of environmental economics, climate change economics has a unique focus because of distinctive features of the climate problem, including the long time scale, the extent and nature of uncertainties, the international scope of the issue, and the uneven distribution of policy benefits and costs across space and time. The ‘Kyoto Protocol’ (1997), ‘Bali Action Plan’ (2007), and of late Copenhagen Accord (2009), have effectively provided, among other things, the institutional mechanisms and broad operational framework for funding such of those initiatives at local, regional and global levels that can limit and progressively reduce greenhouse gas emissions through carefully designed mitigation and adaptation actions. In this paper, an attempt has been made to discuss the various economic and financial implications in climate change impact assessment and thereby help formulation of appropriate strategies, including the mode of transfer of resources and technologies from the developed to the developing economy to respond to the various adverse impacts of climate change, primarily through mitigation and adaptation actions. The emerging business opportunities, borne out of economic responses to climate change management and Emissions trading in the post-Copenhagen scenario, is also briefly discussed.

Philosophy of sustainable future of mankind is the search for knowledge and understanding of the nature and meaning of the universe and life. The knowledge is most important achievement of Homo sapiens present civilization. Under the progressing the threat of the impact of the climate change system to the biosphere of the planet Earth, which is changing living conditions, our civilization has to meet the challenges and establish a path for long term survival. Present global social order, life style, education, ethics and daily practice of humans needs to undergo a fundamental renewal to meet the needs for long term survival during and after the third millennium. The discussion in the paper presents a contemporary sciences approach to the present the Nature, energy, drinking water, food, credit and societal crisis of humankind at 2010. The present civilization or our humankind is facing the largest complex societal crisis, which is also closely inter-related with the impact of the climate change system or evolving planet Earth Biosphere «crisis». The impact of the climate change system may in the long run change: biology, geography and living conditions within the biosphere, from suitable ones of the last 12.000 years, to environment not suitable for Homo sapiens to live. It is making more complicated or complex of the present social crisis of: energy, drinking water, food and credit. In 2010 we are entering difficult times for humankind. The corporate and individual social responsibility is a part of our society with much more importance as we are thinking at present. The possibility for survival is closely connected with social technology/technique of the «Sustainable Future of Humankind» or harmony of our civilization with the Nature of the planet Earth 3 . The corporate and individual social responsibility will have to play a more important part in future, for new great achievement of our civilization to overcome the crisis of living conditions within the biosphere of the planet Earth and present credit, energy, drinking water, and food crisis of our global community. The sustainable future of mankind or harmony of our civilization with the nature of the planet Earth is therefore an option for mankind to survive approaching impact of the climate change system at the biosphere of the planet Earth.

Different explanations have been presented why the recent UN Summit on Climate Change failed. One explanation which has not been highlighted extensively is related to the fundamental conflict between the current economical system and the urgent demand of drastic reductions of greenhouse gases. Since the climate crisis demonstrates that the environment and the climate badly adjust to the needs of the economy, what is needed is instead the need for an adjustment of the current economical system. This paper discusses some of the current tendencies in the global economy which are neither sustainable nor desirable. It also tries to identify some principles for the design of a completely new global way of producing, consuming, trading and transporting. The reference for change is the need for democratization and localization of the economy.

Climate change affects the mining region both directly and indirectly; and among the different environmental impacts of mining a very prominent one is damage to water resources. If mining is conducted below water table, ground water flows into the excavation site. It needs excessive ground water withdrawal that creates lowering of water table and resource depletion in the surrounding region. Water availability is dependent on rainfall. Subsurface reservoirs or aquifers are a blessing of nature to ensure water availability. The distribution pattern of the groundwater resources are influenced by the geomorphology, topography, terrain characteristics, geo-tectonic disturbances, characteristic of the source, recharging zones etc. Of late, this valuable resource is getting affected and progressively depleted by the change of climatic conditions. Talcher coalfield of Mahanadi Coalfield (MCL) – a subsidiary of Coal India Limited is one of the important coal-bearing regions in Orissa. One major river i.e., Brahmani river is passing in the NE direction of the Talcher area. Jharia Coalfield occupies an important place in India's industrial and energy scenario by virtue of being the storehouse of Prime coking coal. Damodar is main river passing over southwest direction of Jharia coalfield. The paper focuses on the impact of climate change on the changing pattern in respect of the characteristics of geology, rainfall and water-table fluctuations of both the Talcher and Jharia coalfields in the study area.