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This paper explores the close interaction between environmental hazards and non-environmental factors inducing people to leave their areas of origin, augmented by the struggles they face and their urban survival strategies. Focusing on Aila-induced migrants in a slum in Khulna city, the study questions the conventional notion that environmental hazards singularly propel coastal inhabitants' migration. Instead, it asserts that migration results from a convergence of multi-causal factors, notably, the interplay between environmental hazards, socio-political and economic vulnerabilities, and proximity to ecologically fragile regions. Initially driven by subsistence needs, migration has transformed into something greater for many marginalized individuals. These migrants develop strong bonds with specific locations and location-specific networks, which facilitate their transition to urban life and allow them to mitigate the challenges associated with urban living. This study sheds light on the nuanced dynamics of climate-induced migration, emphasizing the necessity for comprehensive policy responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ASEAN countries face significant environmental challenges contributing to climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation, and soil degradation. Green banking can help redirect investments toward environmentally friendly activities and discourage deforestation by incentivizing sustainable financing and penalizing unsustainable practices. The article examines the potential benefits of green banking in promoting sustainable financing and discusses the challenges and opportunities for its implementation in ASEAN countries. This article was prepared using a simplified PRISMA method using selected literature and legal materials. The findings suggest that green banking can be vital in promoting sustainable financing and addressing deforestation in ASEAN countries. However, it requires a collaborative effort from stakeholders, including financial institutions, policymakers, and civil society. Importantly, there is a need for legal norms in several ASEAN to be carefully reformulated to support green banking performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study has focused on the effective media, organizations, celebrities, politicians, and ordinary people that are interested in climate change across Twitter. A quantitative content analysis based on the cross-sectional analysis method was performed to assess (1,277,833) tweets from 21st Nov to 10th Dec 2016, which was close to the implementation of Paris Agreement on 4th Nov 2016. The study concluded that positive sentiments and attitudes were dominant compared to negatives, particularly toward media and scientific frames. However, neutral frames formed the biggest frame. This study recommends the unification of the efforts and the declaration of clear views and practical actions by all bodies such as scientists, celebrities, politicians, ordinary people, media, organizations including scientific institutions and centers to construct common knowledge, and evidence through variety ways so as to achieve the highest rate of raising awareness among people worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Behavioral interventions are increasingly being considered as useful complements of traditional climate-policy instruments. These interventions are so far mostly being studied and applied in high-income countries. Here, we examine their application to achieve carbon emissions reduction in low- and middle-income countries. This involves synthesizing evidence from meta-analyses and systematic reviews from developed countries and deriving general insights for developing countries. We also review evidence from primary studies in developing countries, organizing insights by major world regions. We discuss context dependence of findings, as well to what extent behavioral interventions are complementary to, and create synergies with, other policy instruments. We hope that the present overview serves as starting point to expand the currently small evidence base on climate-relevant behavioral interventions in developing countries. Suggestions are made how to move this research forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development has always been a compromise formulation that papered over real conflict between environment and development. Twenty years after Rio, the geopolitical climate is far less conducive to easy compromises. Given an embattled North and a rising South, particularly Asia, the language of zero sum conflict rather than positive sum cooperation is likely to prevail. Green growth offers one way to paper over these conflicts yet again, but it would be prudent to resist this temptation. There is incomplete buy-in to the green growth story, and some in the South are also concerned that this narrative will downgrade poverty alleviation and equity considerations from the sustainable development triad of environment, growth and distribution. In this context, Rio+20 can play a positive role by focusing on national and sub-national institutions and embracing a diversity of national political, institutional and legal contexts; seeking to impose uniformity is likely to chafe. Global efforts can play a supporting role by inducing normative change, stimulate national processes, and provide hooks for domestic policy actors. In addition, Rio+20 should ensure that inclusion of the weakest should remain firmly on the agenda. While the conversations may be difficult, Rio+20 will be most productive if it leads to engagement with fraught geopolitical issues than if, once again, these are papered over. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since entry into force of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1994, negotiations on controlling future greenhouse gas emissions have turned into one of the largest development issues of our time. In February 2005, the Kyoto Protocol entered into force and 9 months later a historical first meeting of the Kyoto Protocol (COP/MOP 1) was held in Montreal side-by-side with the 11th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 11). After several years of stalemate, the Montreal meeting has resulted somewhat unexpectedly in a constructive outcome that has opened the door for new momentum in climate talks. Along with several key technical decisions, an agreement was reached to hold separate talks to discuss the futures of the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol. This paper discusses the main outcomes of the conference and explores possible ways forward. It concludes that success in the UNFCCC process is imperative to address climate change in both developing and developed countries, even if the most effective actions are taken outside the immediate context of the legal process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the question of how to interpret a relationship between income and carbon emissions in a country (the environmental kuznets curve [EKCI for carbon). A very simple and graphical structural model of an EKC is developed, and the problems of applying the concept to carbon are discussed. A major issue is the weak link between demand to avoid damage from climate change and regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions at the country level. The article goes on to interpret three recent papers in this journal in the context of this structural model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

30 years of international climate talks have not prevented the globe from heating up more than 1 degree Celsius over post-industrial times, nor have they kept the year 2022 from breaking new temperature and extreme weather records around the world. Although the international process has been indispensable for building the foundation to move out of the carbon age, it is now time to shift attention away from the acrimonious climate talks and treat them as a sideshow, rather than the solution to the problem. An analysis of 30 years of international climate negotiations shows that multilateral climate diplomacy years ago stopped driving countries' action. National political opportunity structures, normative shifts, economic factors, and external events are what shape countries' climate policies largely independent of international climate negotiations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The disruptions of anthropogenic climate change are increasingly severe. People living in sub-Saharan Africa are especially exposed to these risks, and amongst them young people. It is well established that climate disruptions have the potential to halt education, displace populations, and wreck infrastructure. This rigorous literature review focuses on climate change in the landlocked East African country of Uganda, demographically the world's third youngest country, where young people struggle to get by due to insufficient work opportunities. Extended to other countries in the Eastern and Central African region, the review considers what is known about the intersection of youth livelihoods and climate change; young people's susceptibility to climate disruption due to limited resources and livelihood options; and the constraints around their responses. The review findings suggest the need for substantial youth informed interventions to bolster young people's economic resilience and adaptive capacity given the worsening climate change and prolonged population growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this special issue is on the energy transformations taking place in several European countries (Austria, Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland) and at the federal and subnational (state) levels in the United States with special attention given to California. The cases examined all have federalist structures, and with the exception of the federal level of the United States, all have relatively ambitious climate and renewable energy targets. We compare these states out of an interest in better understanding how federalism interacts with energy transitions. The comparison is also intriguing as at the federal level the United States presents a stark contrast with the federalist European countries considered in this special issue but at the subnational level many similarities can be found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is a long-held belief among scholars and practitioners that the State of California is a notable subnational leader in environmental and climate change policy. This article focuses primarily on four essential contextual factors that explain why and how within the United States' federal system of government California has become such an important leader, performing far in excess of the national government and most other states. These essential factors are preferences, authority, capacity, and effectiveness. The article then moves to the multifaceted implementation strategy California policy makers have employed to realize their environmental goals. Finally, despite the history of strong leadership, the state continues to face a host of significant challenges in realizing its ambitious climate change goals for the coming decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal fisheries communities in sub-Saharan Africa are under high socioeconomic vulnerability in the face of environmental pressures. This article contributes to the current adaptation debate by revisiting the benefits of in-situ adaptation. We assess possible in-situ adaptation strategies amid ongoing vulnerabilities by comparing Ghana and Tanzania. A total of 441 household surveys were conducted in four study sites. The major findings of the study are as follows: First, the three major in-situ adaptation strategies are regular changes of nondestructive fisheries techniques, alternative occupations, and collective action. Second, all three strategies have a significant relationship with income change. Finally, the communities in Tanzania utilized all three strategies more and performed better economically than those in Ghana. On the basis of these insights, we suggest implications of in-situ adaptation for future coastal development in sub-Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) share a common vulnerability to climate change. Adaptation to climate change and variability is urgently needed yet, while some is already occurring in SIDS, research on the nature and efficacy of adaptation across SIDS is fragmentary. In this article, we systematically review academic literature to identify where adaptation in SIDS is documented; what type of adaptation strategies are taken, and in response to which climate change impacts; and the extent to which this adaptation has been judged as successful. Our analysis indicates that much adaptation research is concentrated on the Pacific, on independent island states, and on core areas within SIDS. Research documents a wide array of adaptation strategies across SIDS, notably structural or physical and behavioral changes. Yet, evaluation of concrete adaptation interventions is lacking; it thus remains unclear to what extent documented adaptation effectively and sustainably reduces SIDS' vulnerability and increases their resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers design features of a low-cost, high-impact carbon tax in terms of emissions reductions, drawing on international implementation experience. Costs can be reduced by offsetting carbon taxes with reductions in other taxes, using carbon tax revenue to compensate stakeholders, and incremental implementation. Impacts can be augmented by investing revenue in emissions reduction activity and complementary tax incentives for low-emissions technologies. Jurisdictions that have implemented such carbon taxes have continued to experience strong economic growth. While revenue and distributionally neutral carbon taxes that do not increase the overall tax take or change the distribution of wealth have been effectively introduced in many jurisdictions, this has not been the only approach. The more fundamental conclusion is that carbon taxes are being designed to maximize political acceptability and minimize economic disruption in their implementation context. This evidence of convergence toward low-cost, high-impact carbon tax design elements is establishing a viable pathway for international cooperation on carbon pricing at levels adequate to address climate change. Conversely, recent French experience indicates that carbon tax increases not based on substantial revenue and distributional neutrality may not be viable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous scholars have lately highlighted the importance of cities in the global response to climate change. However, we still have little systematic knowledge on the evolution of urban climate politics in the Global South. In particular, we lack empirical studies that examine how local climate actions arise in political-administrative systems of developing and emerging economies. Therefore, this article adopts a multilevel governance perspective to explore the climate mitigation responses of three major cities in South Africa by looking at their vertical and horizontal integration in the wider governance framework. In the absence of a coherent national climate policy, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban have developed distinct climate actions within their jurisdictions. In their effort to address climate change, transnational city networks have provided considerable technical support to these cities. Yet, substantial domestic political-economic obstacles hinder the three cities to develop a more ambitious stance on climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate impact assessments inform climate change discussions. Integrated use of biophysical and economic models made it possible to move from assessments exclusively focused on the physical impacts, to assessments that incorporate the prospective effects on human welfare. Effects on poverty and livelihoods are better understood. However, even though structural inequalities exacerbate exposure and vulnerability to climate change, the nexus between climate change and inequality remains underresearched. We suggest ways to feature inequalities prominently in climate impact assessments hoping to encourage new research. We suggest how to use modeling capability to explore how existing inequalities may worsen in the face of climate hazards, through perturbation of natural resource systems, unemployment of production factors, a lack of access to human capital and basic services, and socioeconomic attributes that place people at a disadvantage. We also point to the policy analysis that one can develop and areas to improve it going forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the prospects of, and politics and practices around, solar energy in China. It examines two different solar energy technologies, namely, solar photovoltaic (PV) and solar water heaters (SWHs), to understand how different pathways for low-carbon innovation are supported and constrained by (the lack of) political support at the national and local level, the interactions between state and nonstate actors, as well as how they relate to changing practices among consumers. This article also discusses obstacles and trade-offs. We find two very different approaches to solar energy. The solar PV industry in China is experiencing increased domestic growth, after many years of being mainly export-oriented. Prices declined rapidly in recent years, and solar PV also enjoys much political and financial support from the central government and local governments. However, there are high bureaucratic and technical hurdles to get grid connected and access the feed-in-tariff, particularly for individual users. SWHs on the other side are a “homegrown” Chinese technology that is ubiquitous in China, particularly in rural areas; that is easy to install and use; and that has developed from the grassroots levels to mass products with relatively little government support. Although being largely neglected by high-level discussions and plans, SWHs could contribute much to low-carbon transitions that are driven at the local level in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How should we understand the interconnections between environmental change, migration, and conflict in Africa? Should the rise of Islamic terrorism and Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria be directly linked to the drying of Lake Chad? Should cattle raiding in Kenya be seen as a result of drought across East Africa? Does the constrained migration of the pastoral Tuareg in the Sahel causally connect to desertification and their rebellion against governmental forces? Despite the compelling and often persuasive case for directly connecting environmental change to migration and conflict, there is a growing agreement in both the environment-migration and climate-conflict spheres that intervening variables determine if and how environmental change causes population movements and political violence. This article presents a case for migration as an intermediary and bidirectional causal variable. The article argues that close attention needs to be paid to local-level manifestations of conflict and (mal)adaptive forms of migration to understand the potential propensity of environmental change to lead to conflict in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transboundary water resources management in the Equatorial Nile Basin (EQNB) is a politically contested issue. There is a growing body of literature examining water-related discourses which identifies the ability of powerful actors and institutions to influence policy. Concern about the effects of future climate change has featured strongly in research on the Nile River for several decades. It is therefore timely to consider whether and how these concerns are reflected in regional policy documents and policy discourse. This study analyzes discourse framings of water resources management and climate change in policy documents (27, published between 2001 and 2013) and as elicited in interviews (38) with water managers in the EQNB. Three main discursive framings are identified which are present in the discourses on both subjects: a problem-oriented environmental risk frame and two solution-oriented frames, on governance and infrastructure development. Climate change discourse only emerges as a common topic around 2007. The framings found in the water resources management discourse and the climate change discourse are almost identical, suggesting that discursive framings were adopted from the former for use in the latter. We infer that the climate change discourse may have offered a less politically sensitive route to circumvent political sensitivities around water allocation and distribution between riparian countries in the EQNB. However, the climate change discourse does not offer a lasting solution to the more fundamental political dispute over water allocation. Moreover, in cases where the climate change discourse is subsumed within a water resources management discourse, there are dangers that it will not fully address the needs of effective adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small island developing states (SIDS) have been identified as particularly vulnerable to natural disasters and climate change. However, although SIDS have similar geographical features, natural hazards produce different outcomes in different states, indicating variation in vulnerability. The objective of this article is to explore the sources of this variation. With the point of departure in theories about how political institutions affect adaptive capacities, this article sets out to investigate whether government effectiveness has an impact on the vulnerability of SIDS. While claims over the importance of institutions are common in the literature, there is a lack of empirical accounts testing the validity of such claims. This shortcoming is addressed by this study’s time-series cross-sectional analysis using data from the International Disaster Risk database and the Quality of Government data set. The results show that government effectiveness has strong and significant effects on the number of people killed and affected by natural disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate compatible development (CCD) is gaining traction as a conceptual framework for mainstreaming climate change mitigation and adaptation within development efforts. Understanding whether and how CCD design processes reconcile different stakeholder preferences can reveal how the concept contends with patterns of sociocultural and political oppression that condition patterns of development. We, therefore, explore procedural justice and power within CCD design through a case study analysis of two donor-funded projects in Malawi. Findings show that donor agencies are driving design processes and involving other stakeholders selectively. While considerable overlap existed between stakeholders’ “revealed” priorities for CCD, invisible power dynamics encourage the suppression of “true” preferences, reducing the likelihood that CCD will be contextually appropriate and have widespread stakeholder buy in. Visible, hidden, and invisible forms of power create barriers to procedural justice in CCD design. We present five recommendations to help policy makers and practitioners to overcome these barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much has been written recently about the nature, drivers, and impacts of large-scale land acquisitions or “grabbing” in Africa. We argue that current land grabs are a product of ecological scarcity and the opportunities this presents for accumulation and logics of state building. In effect, land grabs represent a reinscription and deepening of sociospatial power inequalities associated with previous eras. Together we term these combined processes ecolonization, as discourses of climate change mitigation and food and energy security facilitate continued and deepening domination of ecological space by domestic political elites and transnational investors, through the United Nations’ Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation and enhance forest carbon stocks projects, for example. The new internal frontiers opened up by processes of capital accumulation are, in turn, fundamental to the reproduction and strengthening of colonial African state formations. Land dispossession thus serves hybrid economic accumulation and political logics across different scales and temporalities. The ways in which these processes are empirically expressed is explored through two case studies from Uganda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, the promotion of renewable energy projects in Chile, especially solar energy projects, has become increasingly important, as energy dependence from foreign fossil fuels has increased and concerns regarding climate change continue to grow, posing a significant challenge to the local economy. Even though recent developments toward a more sustainable energy matrix in Chile have significantly increased the investment in the solar energy sector, social and environmental fragilities, combined with the lack of well-functioning institutions and the historical marginalization of indigenous communities who have been affected by several energy projects, result in gradually increasing conflictive situations. Unless proper mechanisms are designed and implemented to rapidly and correctly address these challenges, Chile could miss the opportunities that solar energy projects can provide to the development of its communities and to the economic growth of its regions. This article studies solar photovoltaics planning in Chile, focusing on the recent developments and the main challenges ahead, and proposes policy recommendations for effectively addressing these challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In context of the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, developing countries are asked to contribute to greenhouse gas control objectives by proposing so-called Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs). Although the concept provides developing countries with complete flexibility to design NAMAs, a majority of proposals seek international support. This article improves our understanding of the matching of NAMA design and international support by exploring (mis-) alignment between support providers' and NAMA developers' prioritization for NAMAs. The article assesses survey responses from support providers in light of records of NAMAs. We conclude that there is a mismatch between support providers' primary emphasis on systems for measuring emissions reductions and the lack of such provisions in existing NAMA proposals. Furthermore, sector preferences may create structural biases in NAMA support. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In our study of climate change discourse in the Mekong River Commission (MRC) over the past decade, we find that climate change policy strategies are framed as science-based actions. Scale is largely expressed in terms of short-term, immediate temporal horizons that are human-dominated and regionally based. Further, we uncover a broadening of climate change discourse across multiple scales to incorporate justice, integrated water resource management (IWRM), development, and security frames. These patterns not only reflect trends in the larger global water governance and climate change discourse and reinforce historic patterns in the Mekong River Basin, but they also signal more strategic efforts by the MRC and member states to attract donor support. In our examination of links between discourse and MRC climate change action, we argue that the MRC’s climate change actions narrowly reflect the production of studies and project scoping rather than real adaptive actions in the basin. We examine official documents of the MRC over the past decade to better understand how the discourse around climate change is framed and to what extent the discourse is linked to climate change actions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The analysis of vulnerabilities can help answer where and how society can best invest in vulnerability reduction. This study aimed at exploring vulnerability and adaptation strategies to climate change of local communities in Bukavu in DR Congo. Participatory action research was used in six villages from three collectivities around the Kahuzi Biega Park. Results showed that (a) perception of climate change depends on what people can see and feel about climate, (b) climate-related risks exacerbated existing problems and created new combinations of risks such as loss of livelihoods and deepening poverty cycle associated, (c) a range of adaptation measures was used or envisaged, and (d) implementation of those measures was hampered by a range of barriers. It is therefore imperative for climate change and climate variability measures to be taken seriously and for adaptation strategies to be integrated into all spheres of public policy making with focus on key economic development sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Political issues can influence the delivery of services and other goals, such as environmental sustainability, within municipalities. However, the influence of political factors on the institutionalization of environmental issues within municipalities has not been examined. We investigate these issues using a case study of a South African municipality that has made considerable progress in institutionalizing environmental issues (particularly climate change related) in the last decade, despite a change in political leadership. The presence of the following factors promoted the institutionalization of environmental governance: (a) political champions; (b) networks between the municipality and other organizations and dense networks within the municipality; and (c) benefits for the municipality from environmental actions. Political issues can enable the process of institutionalization (e.g., by stimulating innovation through political party competition) and also hinder it through political instability (which disrupts patterns in champions and networks) and clientelism (which can cause environmental projects to be discontinued). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we analyze the socioeconomic effects of energy sustainability challenges raised by oil depletion and climate change at the European and global levels. We assess macroeconomic impacts at different period markers from 2010 to 2100 and under different visions of the future of globalization. Fragmented capital markets affect the pace and direction of change and induce additional economic losses in the long term. Regionalized good markets have a positive effect in the long term because less intense international trade moderates the effects of fossil fuel constraints. A sustainable energy future will require implementing policies and measures that are able to (a) provide correct incentives for long-term investments by resorting to other signals than current market prices, (b) incorporate sectoral measures that act complementarily to pricing scheme measures for sectors confronted with biased agents’ behaviors or strong inertias, and (c) foster globalization patterns that are consistent with energy sustainability objectives. The challenge consists in articulating the objectives and the instruments of these different policy and measures triggering the transition toward a sustainable future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global environmental change is real and everywhere, and so is inequality. Such a warmer, stormier, and divided world will create highly differentiated socioecological impacts and responses to climate change with stronger effects on people, places, and livelihoods that contributed the least. This necessitates mitigation, adaptation, and a solid understanding of their interactions with persistent problems such as poverty because uneven distribution of impacts and responses may reinforce existing inequality and vulnerability. Within a frame of political ecology, sociology, and sustainability science and informed by three transnational discourses—sustainability, development, and globalization—this article suggests a mobilizing narrative to think and act. In this format, the narrative must include direction (toward sustainability), distribution (global inclusiveness), and diversity (multiple approaches, methods, and solutions). It must also support arenas for multiscalar dialogs and practices while aiming to replace deep divisiveness and distorted understandings that prevent the emergence of just and synergetic responses to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) represents the strategic linkage between a climate change regime and international forest policy. But the future success of REDD+ will depend, in part, on how policy makers perceive the challenges and opportunities it offers stakeholders. This study investigated perceptions toward REDD+ based on interviews with 60 Indonesia-based key-informants influencing REDD+ policy. Interviewees cited “governance reform,” “network building,” “conservation,” and “economic development” as opportunities. The perceived challenges included “REDD+’s complexity,” “uncertainty of REDD+ decisions,” “REDD+ is a tool of developed countries,” and problems inherent within existing forest governance related to coordination, lack of capacity, ambiguity of legal system, and corruption. Adopting a clientelist perspective we draw attention to the underlying causes of these problems and the implication for REDD+. Despite highlighting significant challenges, most informants viewed the REDD+ mechanism as a potentially useful instrument to improve forest governance. Based on our findings, we suggest that identifying governance reforms that do not require major structural changes in the bureaucratic system in the short-term hold the best chance of success for capitalizing on the opportunities REDD+ may offer in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paradox motivating this article is why California has acted globally by enacting a comprehensive mitigation policy to reduce the emissions of Greenhouse gases, a true public good since the benefits will be shared across the planet, but has not mustered the will to act locally through the adoption of an equally comprehensive adaptation policy for the state to protect its own public and private assets and interests. We attempt to explain the paradox by identifying what it is that differentiates climate change adaptation from mitigation, both substantively and politically. The paradox notwithstanding, we identify several imaginable adaptation policies and strategies that would be commensurate with individual and collective self-interested behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article compares and contrasts the nature and scope of change in the domestic climate governance of India and South Africa between 2007 and 2010. It identifies the actors and networks driving these change processes by applying the concepts of “communities of practice” and a simple, resource exchange–based network. Small communities of practice promoting collective learning, trust, and identity building capture the trends and actor relations well for the South African case. More simple, business-driven networks could be identified in India. Using survey and interview data, this article finds that both countries have generally not undergone a structural, transformative change, yet that includes the collective learning of new norms and values. Differences exist for more specific parts of climate governance. The number of participating actors, the character of the scientific landscape, and the centrality of a governmental actor with a certain knowledge and attitude within a network shape these different change processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change represents a serious threat to the economic growth potential in low income countries. Instead of investing in growth, they may be drawn into strife and conflict. Climate change and the global politics to deal with it, could however also present a number of interesting opportunities for developing countries. Such opportunities may arise in sustainable forestry, new forms of solar, wind or bioenergy and related industries, agriculture or in the programs for abatement and mitigation that are likely to be created. It is an important priority for low-income countries to develop local knowledge and understanding concerning climate change in order to better prepare for both the costs and challenges posed by climate change, as well as to defend their national interests and participate in international negotiations. Creating academic capacity is however a long and painstaking process. We discuss a number of existing initiatives but conclude that more is needed, particularly at the higher level of PhD studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the climate changes during the 21st century, larger cyclonic storm surges and growing populations may collide in disasters of unprecedented size. As conditions worsen, variations in coastal morphology will magnify the effects in some areas, while largely insulating others. In this article, we explore the implications for 31 developing countries and 393 of their cyclone-vulnerable coastal cities with populations greater than 100,000. Combining the most recent scientific and demographic information, we estimate the future impact of climate change on storm surges that will strike coastal populations, economies, and ecosystems. We focus on the distribution of heightened impacts, because we believe that greater knowledge of their probable variation will be useful for local and national planners, as well as international donors. Our results suggest gross inequality in the heightened impact of future disasters, with 50% of the burden falling on the residents of 10 Asian cities and over 40% falling on Manila, Karachi, and Jakarta alone. In light of these huge asymmetries, we believe that careful targeting of international assistance will be essential for the effective and equitable allocation of resources for coastal protection and disaster prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical forests have a central role to play in a new mechanism designed to mitigate climate change, known as REDD+ (Reduced Emissions From Deforestation and Forest Degradation). Through semistructured interviews and content analysis of relevant documents, the perceptions of the opportunities and challenges of REDD+ of institutions, who may be directly implicated in or affected by its implementation are investigated. Research takes place in three Central African countries, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Democratic Republic of Congo, which contain the Congo Basin forest. Perception of opportunities include economic development and poverty reduction, biodiversity conservation, network building, and governance reform. Challenges identified include REDD+’s complexity, lack of technical capacity for implementation, opportunities for participation, benefit sharing, and the traditional system of shifting cultivation. Those involved in designing REDD+ internationally need to understand developing-country perspectives, and institutions at all levels need to work together to develop concrete strategies to improve overall outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bangladesh is one of the most flood prone countries in the world. Two thirds of the country is less than 5 m above sea level. Past monsoon flood records indicate that about 21% of the country is subject to annual flooding and an additional 42% is at risk of floods with varied intensity. Although annual regular flooding has traditionally been beneficial, providing nutrient-laden sediments and recharging groundwater aquifers, the country often experiences severe flooding during a monsoon that causes significant damage to crops and properties with adverse impacts on rural livelihoods and production. The 1998 flood inundated two thirds of the land area, resulting in damages and losses of over US$2 billion, or 4.8% of GDP. Climate models suggest increased precipitation, higher transboundary water flows, and sea-level rise will all increase the destructive power of monsoon floods. Using climate change scenarios out to 2050, hydrological and hydrodynamic models, this article estimates an incremental cost to climate-proof roads and railways, river embankments protecting productive agricultural lands, and drainage systems and erosion control measures for major towns of US$2,671 million initially and US$54 million in annual recurrent costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India is a key actor in global climate governance, a result of its emissions profile, economic performance, and leadership role in the developing world. This article examines the new dynamics that are affecting the Indian position in global climate negotiations, which until recently has reflected a very traditional developing country position, tinged with neocolonial rhetoric. To analyze the Indian position in the era of thickening international legalization, the article considers the different basic views among the Indian policy-making elite. A significant national consensus exists on the notion that the developed countries have not “taken the lead” as was agreed in 1992 with the adoption of the U.N. Climate Change Convention. However, there is an intensive political debate in India revolving around the extent to which the country should take unilateral action on climate change and whether and how to link such measures to the international legalization process, as well as the respective role of per capita entitlements in the Indian international position. Influenced by international negotiations, the domestic policy dialogue is also shifting in India in important ways toward a more “internationalist” and proactive approach. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The clean development mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol is designed not only to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) but also to contribute locally to sustainable development. As a market-based mechanism, CDM has the potential to channel private investments into development activities with economic, social, and environmental benefits. Unfortunately, investments have tended to flow where CDM activities provide higher returns with limited economic and political risks, that is, outside of least developed countries (LDCs). To date, only a handful of LDCs have been able to participate in the CDM. This article discusses opportunities for modifying the CDM rules to provide more opportunities for LDCs. Regulatory reforms, technical assistance programs, and direct registration and certification of CDM activities in LDCs by the UNFCCC Secretariat may help foster CDM activities in LDCs . As negotiations regarding the post-2012 climate regime are afoot, an overhaul of the CDM toward a mechanism more friendly to LDCs is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Judged by the sheer number of clean development mechanism (CDM) projects registered and in the pipeline, India undoubtedly can be seen as a success story as far as the functioning of the local carbon market is concerned. However, questions are repeatedly raised about the efficient working of the CDM, its distributional quality, its effectiveness in meeting broader societal goals, its impacts on sustainable development, to name but a few. This calls for a careful scrutiny and understanding of how exactly carbon governance works in the specific case of India. As demonstrated in the article, India presents a case of market-dominated carbon governance taking place under a weak shadow of hierarchy and with little civil society involvement. This article derives at the overall conclusion that the specific trajectories characterizing the local Indian carbon market point toward globally diverging carbon governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the many calls to reform the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), its conceptual underpinnings are strong and it will most likely survive in the post-2012 climate regime. Some modifications may be considered in the short term to strengthen the effectiveness and transparency of the mechanism without modifying the Marrakech Accords. In the medium term, substantially increased mitigation efforts in developing countries may require a combination of three possible financial mechanisms: the current activity-based CDM albeit improved, a second market mechanism that would seek to improve the long term emission trends of developing countries by promoting broad-based emission reduction programs primarily in the private sector, and a third-- nonmarket--financial mechanism that would provide an incentive for the adoption of policy changes leading to a low carbon path, but where emission reductions would not be used as international offsets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For more than a decade, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) has provided critical support to developing countries for fighting global environmental problems such as climate change and the loss of biodiversity. But recent developments do not bode well for the ability of the GEF to continue playing its pivotal role in support of implementing multilateral environmental agreements. Its already modest resource base has been declining in real terms, and a December 2005 deadline for the conclusion of the fourth replenishment of the GEF (GEF4) passed without a compromise between major donors. The adoption of a resource allocation framework in September 2005 is likely to complicate how the GEF can program its resources in the future, even if replenishment negotiations can be completed by June 2006. Current events reinforce the need for a close look at what the future role of the GEF should be and how resources for addressing global environmental problems in developing countries should be raised.' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the question of whether there is a trade-off between trade liberalization and environmental quality. Using a computable general equilibrium framework, the author examines the economic, environmental, and welfare impacts of alternative policy scenarios, including a tariff reduction scenario, a carbon tax scenario, and a combined trade and environmental reform scenario. The results of the analysis, in the case of Thailand, show that if the country were to pursue greater trade liberalization alone without a concomitant increase in pollution abatement, there is a modest but real risk that it will become more specialized in dirty activity. If the country pursued pollution abatement with out further trade liberalization, the cost in terms of growth does not appear to be significant. When environmental and trade policies are jointly considered, greater substitution away from the polluting energy inputs is observed with the cost on economic growth remaining insignificant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) produced families of 21st century greenhouse gas (CHG) emissions trajectories that aim to be consistent with current knowledge and span a wide range of plausible futures. This study performs a standard econometric analysis on the simulation model outputs from six SRES scenarios to assess the extent to which the projected CO2 and NOx emissions reflect Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) behavior, Consistent with the empirical literature, which offers little consensus on the predictive value of the EKC hypothesis, our analysis finds that some SRES scenarios exhibit EKC behavior while others do not. Those showing EKC behavior have turning points-per captia income levels separating rising and falling emissions-similar to those found in empirical studies. Overall, this analysis supports the SRES scenarios as generally consistent with and spanning a wide range of different interpretations found in the EKC literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today's fragmented world demands creative institutional arrangements to allow governments, international organizations, and civil society actors to join forces in addressing global environmental problems. This article discusses the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) as foreseen under Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol in the context of new models of governance. To do so, it depicts CDM's history, institutional setting and participatory elements. The CDM serves as a concrete example of how new collaborative networks consisting of nation states and nonstate actors can help in implementing international trea- ties. The articles traces the history of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change process to provide a sufficient background for a more detailed discussion of the CDM. On that basis, it provides an analysis of the CDM, and depict the Prototype Carbon Fund, administered by the World Bank, as an example for an innovative model of cooperation between the private and the public sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents findings indicative of important changes in the energy research and development investment of major nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Need for global participation; Role of energy research and development in addressing climatic change; Details on the need for energy research and development in the developing world.

Provides information on a study which proposed a flexible mechanisms of climate technology transfer. Information on the technology transfer under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; Details on the implementation of flexible mechanisms of technology transfer; Conclusions.