Search

This article notes the ever-increasing urgency of immediate action on climate change across all sectors. The publishing industry is aware of the need for action, measurement, auditing, and detailed reporting. Two of the largest STM (scientific, technical, and medical) publishers, Springer Nature and Elsevier, have started publishing annual reports covering their activity on climate change and sustainability. The article also considers attempts that have been made to measure the carbon impact of individual books. Such studies are inconclusive, and may not be helpful if the physical product is still GHG (greenhouse gas) costly in a time when all sectors need to drastically curtail GHG impact. The paper notes the need for continuing and sustained focus on mitigation and adaptation and suggests that the prospects for highly inventive adaptation through the long-established and growing 'digital turn' ongoing in publishing for 60 years are encouraging. A full digital transformation may yet be possible, necessary, and able even, in effect, to subtract the GHG costs of paper publishing from the global balance sheet measuring our climate breakdown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most national and international discussions have not seriously recognized the role religio-cultural practices of indigenous Africans can play in mitigating the effects of climate change. This paper, examines the contribution the indigenous people can make towards the mitigation of the effects of climate change, using the Akan of Ghana as a case study. Mostly, indigenous people who are the major stakeholders in land use in Ghana are marginalized when policies aimed at reducing environmental degradation are made. This has resulted in low gains in the fight against environmental degradation despite several interventions in Ghana. A recent report puts Ghana into a net-emitter of GHG bracket. This means the country has to embark on a Low Carbon Development Strategy to address the situation. This paper, therefore argues that unless indigenous people—major stakeholders of land use—are duly involved; it will be difficult to address the effects of climate change in Ghana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the importance of the implementation and enforcement of the energy efficiency measures for ships. These measures are frequently referred to and used as a tool for carbon mitigation by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from ships in order to protect the Earth's climate. Moreover, these measures can also play an important role in climate adaptation. The purpose of this paper is to look briefly at the current and expected impact of the ships' energy efficiency measures developed under auspices of the International Maritime Organization, i.e.: the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) and the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) on climate change mitigation. Both of them, EEDI and SEEMP became mandatory measures after the adoption of amendments to the Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), and their entry into force in 2013. Furthermore, those measures were also the first legally binding tools relating to climate change, adopted since the Kyoto Protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is an increasingly urgent matter at the national, European, and international levels. In 2021, the European Union pledged to become the first carbon-neutral region by 2050 and to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 55 per cent by 2030. In the book industry, publishing associations are one of the main actors in fostering environmental sustainability. They are represented at the European level by the Federation of European Publishers (FEP). This paper focuses on drivers and opportunities for action on climate within the publishing sector, analysing responses from several senior European publishing association representatives during a series of interviews conducted in May 2022. The interviews revealed differing approaches between European publishing associations that were proactively addressing the topic (push approach) and those whose membership had yet to recognize climate change as a priority issue (pull approach). Overall, publishing associations are well positioned to engage their respective members. The final part of this article suggests some actions that publishing associations could take to help their members to address sustainability. First, to facilitate discussion, regional or international organizations such as FEP or the International Publishers Association could provide support to frame the wider context. Secondly, all climate-related actions in the publishing sector should be concrete, such as implementing carbon calculators or reimagining a more eco-friendly book fair. Finally, the article emphasizes the reputational risk for associations that do not take a position on the issue, and the increasing pressure that could come from the media and the regulatory environment, and suggests a more consistent approach and communication strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the run-up to the Paris Climate Conference (2015), China has formally and confidently announced its commitments to achieve carbon peak by around 2030 or sooner, increase its non-fossil fuels to 20 percent of the primary energy mix by 2030, and cut carbon intensity by 60-65 percent by 2030 as compared to the 2005 level. This paper examines China's policy change and legal development since 1992 that has made its transformation to low-carbon economy an achievable goal. It analyses key mitigation strategies including control of total energy consumption, economic restructuring, demand-side management of energy conservation and energy efficiency, improvement of China's primary energy mix, and expansion of carbon sinks. It investigates the cap-and-trade local pilot schemes in preparation for the launch of a national carbon market in 2017. The paper concludes with cautious optimism that, given the actions taken by China so far, COP21 should conclude with significant breakthroughs for a more effective post-2020 climate regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper adopts the logic of concentric circles to unpack the multi-level approach that characterizes South Africa’s interface with climate change. The post-1994 South Africa interacted with climate change at multiple levels. At some points, South Africa’s response to climate change is guided strictly by the dictates of its overriding national interests. At another, it is a question of either serving a continental ‘representative’ or ‘leading voice’ for groupings of major importance within the global South regarding climate change. Also, South Africa’s climate diplomacy on the global scene ranks relatively high when compared with the scenarios concerning other emerging and even a good number of industrialized economies. Therefore, it is not certain how the policy emphasis is shifting radially across the interest-chain of South Africa’s relations in the context of climate change. As a key finding, this paper argues that South Africa’s super-state posture leaves one to wonder how constructively altruistic is the country’s climate diplomacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last several decades, the European Union (EU) has demonstrated its intention to play an important role in supporting Arctic cooperation and helping to meet the challenges now facing the region. Norway, one of the five Arctic coastal states, and the EU have cooperated closely in this regard, particularly through the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA Agreement). This article examines how Norway’s domestic legislation applicable to its Arctic marine areas has been influenced by the development of EU environmental legislation. Specifically, this paper provides a discussion and analysis of the relevant Norwegian laws and mechanisms used to regulate how EU environmental legislation has been incorporated into Norway’s domestic legislation through the EEA Agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China and the eu are important economies and among the greatest green-house gas emitters in the world. Therefore, strengthening cooperation between the eu and China in the renewable field is vital to prevent the earth from getting any warmer. However, the renewable field which include energy equipment, products manufacturing, and operating systems, is a huge market that is worth billions of dollars. Because of their different economic interest, a trade war (anti-dumping and countervailing investigation) broke out between China and eu in the pv industry which includes solar panels, solar glass and solar-grade polysilicon. Could there be cooperation between China and eu Member States in the photovoltaic fields instead of conflict? This paper illustrates the development of pv solar energy and the conflict between eu and China, discusses the main support policies in both the eu and China and their influence on cooperation and conflict, and compares the differences in strengths and weaknesses between the eu and China. This paper draws the conclusion that cooperation between China and the eu in the pv industry could be achieved, and industrial policies should be adjusted in order to avoid or alleviate the conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognizing that significantly increased renewable-energy share (RES) is a central component of both EU climate and environmental law, the focus of this paper is the point of intersection between these legal frameworks. Renewable-energy infrastructure projects are necessary for climate-mitigation purposes, but they give rise to significant local environmental impacts that have a negative effect on local communities and environmental conditions. The objective of environmental protection, 'to preserve, protect and improve the quality of the environment', does not fully align with the objectives of climate mitigation, which are designed to safeguard the needs of future generations and the long-term environment. While EU environmental policy encompasses 'measures designed to combat climate change', little attention has been afforded in relevant Directives to the impact of climate-mitigation measures on the environment. There is no provision for proportionate treatment of the impacts of these measures in environmental governance procedures. Analysis of the provisions of the EIA and Habitats Directives, which directly impact the authorization of renewable-energy projects, reveals that climate as a component of EU environmental policy is dealt with via the limitation and control of greenhouse gas emissions, an incomplete approach that fails to provide for the development of new large-scale infrastructure that can mitigate the generation of greenhouse gas emissions through provision of sustainable energy sources. The European Union's revised Trans European Network – Energy (TEN-E) Regulation (June 2022) provides that energy infrastructure in the form of projects of common interest shall be deemed to be in the overriding public interest in the context of the Habitats Directive, an exception to that Directive's prohibition on development that could negatively impact protected Natura 2000 features. A proposal pursuant to the EU Commission's plan 'REPowerEU' recommends an amendment to the Renewable Energy Directive to introduce a similar overriding provision in respect of all renewable-energy infrastructure projects. These sidestepping provisions in climate-energy laws, made necessary by the failure of EU environmental law to incorporate effective provisions that promote climate change measures, are an incomplete solution that will limit the regulation of an environmentally responsible approach to increased RES and are likely to be challenged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mainstreaming climate change adaptation into policies and development planning processes is widely acknowledged and advocated as an important means of addressing the myriad impacts of climate change. Kenya, like many developing countries, is very vulnerable to climate change and urgently needs to adapt. However, the country's adaptation mainstreaming efforts are still nascent and largely insufficient. Through a literature review and key informant interviews, this paper identifies Kenya's potential climate-adaptation mainstreaming entry-points and investigates the normative, organizational, and procedural mainstreaming strategies employed. This is done from a horizontal Climate Policy Integration perspective. Three potential mainstreaming entry-points, among them Kenya Vision 2030, the current development blueprint, are identified. The results indicate that while political commitment to, and strategic vision on, climate adaptation is present as exemplified by high-profile champions and the development of the National Climate Change Response Strategy, institutional set-ups remain fragmented and inadequate. Of particular importance is the need to anchor coordination efforts for climate change adaptation in a high-level and cross-sectoral office. Ex-ante assessment procedures, such as Strategic Environment Assessment and Environment Impact Assessment, should incorporate robust climate vulnerability assessments and adaptation requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptation to climate change raises important governance issues. Notwithstanding the increasing attention on climate adaptation at the global and European level, the variety of local conditions and climate impacts points towards a prime role for regional actors in climate change adaptation. They face the challenge of developing and implementing adaptation options and increasing the adaptive capacity of regions so that expected or unexpected impacts of future climate change can be addressed. This paper presents a conceptual framework to analyse the regional governance of climate adaptation. It addresses the following key questions: (1) What are the distinct challenges for the regional governance of climate adaptation? (2) Which concepts can guide the design of new governance arrangements and strategies? (3) What challenges to legal principles are posed by the climate? (4) What research methods are suitable for developing and testing governance arrangements and strategies? We present a framework designed to address each of these questions; it has analytical, design, normative, and methodological components. In the paper, examples from the Dutch regional governance of climate adaptation serve as illustrations of the conceptual argumentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent debates over climate change policy have made it clear that the choice of a social discount rate has enormous consequences for the amount of mitigation that will be recommended. The social discount rate determines how future costs are to be compared to present costs. Philosophers, however, have been almost unanimous in endorsing the view that the only acceptable social rate of time preference is zero, a view that, taken literally, has either absurd or extremely radical implications. The first goal of this paper is to show that the standard arguments against temporal preference are much less persuasive than they are usually taken to be. The second goal is to explore two different avenues of argument that could be adopted, in order to show that temporal discounting of welfare may be permissible. The first involves simply an application of the method of reflective equilibrium, while the second involves consideration of the way that our abstract moral commitments are institutionalized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From 2021 onwards, forests and forestry will for the first time contribute to the European Union's climate action targets. The new Land Use, Land Use Change & Forestry (LULUCF) Regulation commits Member States to achieve carbon neutrality on the basis of an EU-wide system. The system accounts for carbon sequestered and emitted from forests and other land uses like crop- and wetland. What looks like a significant step in the Union's climate policy framework, however, leaves the large potential of Europe's forest sector for climate mitigation untapped. The present article draws this conclusion from a comprehensive analysis of 67 documents related to decision-making on the LULUCF Regulation. It reveals coalitional politics and the salience of the Commission's behavior as key to explain the Regulation's limited scope and concludes with assessing the future role of forests in the Union's climate policy framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is often seen as an issue of intergenerational equity—consumption now creates costs for future generations. However, radical mitigation now would reverse the problem, creating immediate costs for current generations, while the benefits would be primarily for future ones. This is a policy problem, as persuading those living now to bear the cost of changes whose benefits will mostly accrue after their deaths is politically difficult. The policy challenge is then how to temporally match costs to benefits, either by deferring mitigation costs, or by speeding up climatic benefits. Geoengineering may provide some help here, as it might enable climate change to be slowed more immediately, at a lower upfront cost, and allow a greater share of the mitigation and adaptation burden to be passed on to those in the future who will benefit most. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to explore an understanding of hope that seeks to bridge the gap between a contemplative and action-oriented approach to hope. The argument is based in particular on an extensive study of the literature concerning the work of Jonathan Sacks. His reading of hope reaches back to the narrative of the Exodus and highlights several key assumptions to do with the principle of radical uncertainty. The intention is to situate these assumptions within the context of climate change. Most notably, Sacks' concept of hope reveals a transformative response to climate change in which people gradually change their identity. For Sacks the key instrument of transformation for both religious and secular is a public Sabbath. An example of such is provided and Sacks' thinking is set alongside the work of some leading theologians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The disparate fates of the polluter pays principle (PPP) as an instrument of municipal environmental governance in the environmental law of China, India, and the United States illustrate how institutions and culture can shape its use. In China, essential elements of the Chinese legal tradition and an institutionalized devolution of power from the central government to local governments essentially neutralized the Chinese variant of the PPP in one important context by mobilizing certain culturally defined behavioural norms at the local level. In India, the Supreme Court has behaved in accordance with the socially revolutionary role intended for it by the framers of India's Constitution by recognizing a maximalist conception of the PPP as part of Indian law, although other features of India's unique legal culture and institutions have reduced the impact of this development. In the United States, the institutionalized fragmentation of the law-making process within the Federal Government has undermined even the implicit implementation of the PPP, to which US environmental statutes do not refer. The implications of these developments for the PPP as an instrument of municipal but also global environmental governance in climate change mitigation law flow less from the nominal status of the PPP in the laws of China, India, and the United States than from the unique institutional and cultural conditions that prevail there. The result is a case study in how institutions and culture can transform the implementation of a principle of environmental governance that at first glance might seem to be a simple exercise in economic rationality into a different exercise that is not simple at all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since entering office, US president Trump has reversed key multilateral achievements of his predecessors, initiating a new US retreat from multilateral cooperation. For other governments wishing to preserve and deepen existing global agreements, this has posed the question of whether and how multilateral cooperation can work without the leadership and support of the dominant global power. International relations scholars have already debated the possibility of "nonhegemonic cooperation" in earlier periods marked by US unilateralism. This article draws on these previous analyses to evaluate the current prospects and limits of a "multilateralism minus one" in three key global policy areas: nuclear arms control, climate change, and trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Benoit Mayer's new book The International Law on Climate Change is founded on the premise that the principle against transboundary harm is the core principle of climate law. Here, I show that premise to be mistaken. The principle against transboundary harm does not apply to the problem of climate change because climate change is not a transboundary problem. Even if the principle were applicable to climate change, it has been displaced by the climate change treaty regime. Because climate change is in fact a "commons" problem, the core principle of climate law is, or should be, that greenhouse gas emissions must be charged to the polluter (the polluter pays principle). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has multifaceted aesthetic dimensions of legal significance. Global warming alters the aesthetic properties of nature, and further aesthetic changes are precipitated by climate mitigation and adaptation responses of impacted societies. The social and political struggles to influence climate change law are also influenced by aesthetics, as environmental activists and artists collaborate to influence public opinion, while conversely the business sector through its marketing and other aesthetic communications tries to persuade consumers of its climate-friendly practices to forestall serious action on global warming. This article distils and analyses these patterns in forging a novel account of the role of aesthetics in climate change law and policy, and it makes conclusions on how this field of law should consider aesthetic values through 'curatorial' guidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UN climate regime has served as the focal point for interstate cooperation on climate change in the political and legal domains for the last twenty-six years. However, since the lead-up to the Paris Agreement, the regime's interstate elements have been complemented by an evolving transnational sphere of governance in which sub-national and non-state actors engage in voluntary cross-border initiatives. These initiatives serve two key functions: first, they facilitate and implement climate action at the sub-national level and in the private sector, and second, they promote transnational normative frameworks which require members to take active steps to address climate change. This article describes how the UN climate regime has developed to recognize transnational climate governance initiatives, and it reflects on the implications of this development for legal scholarship on international climate change law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We argue that climate law has specific features—including scientific complexity, a strongly transboundary nature, and long-term effects—that make it more challenging to study than other more traditional domains of environmental law. As a consequence, an interdisciplinary perspective may be needed even more for climate law than for the traditional study of environmental law. Climate law is to some extent underestimated by scientists, who should realize that for effective mitigation of greenhouse gases and adaptation to climate change, an optimal design and enforcement through climate law is necessary. Climate law can be expected to become more important with the implementation of the Paris Agreement, and for that reason climate lawyers should receive a more prominent position in the international policy arena of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate law has become a vibrant legal field, offering scholars and practitioners increasingly deep analyses of what climate law is, how it is changing, what is driving those changes, and what those changes mean at the international, national, and local level. The field has elaborated and debated numerous climate-specific issues, including geoengineering, adaptation, and loss and damage. Scholars also have analysed the application of broad legal principles to the climate realm and have examined the intersection of climate law with other disciplines, especially economics and political science. I review these important accomplishments and then argue that the field could build on them in two ways. First, many opportunities exist to incorporate insights from economics, political science, and other disciplines, increasing the range of perspectives reflected in our understanding of how climate law works and how it might be improved. Second, opportunities exist for climate law to learn more from experience with other realms of environmental and non-environmental law as well as with other forms of governance. Pursuing both types of opportunities can foster the field's continuing development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of global warming in the Arctic region present a particular challenge for the European Union (EU), which seeks to profile itself as a leader in responding to climate change. Although the EU strives to prioritize climate protection, the Arctic region remains one of the EU’s major suppliers of energy, particularly oil and gas. The EU must thus strike a balance between climate change mitigation and adaptation, and energy security. The present article analyses the developments of the EU position in this field, particularly in light of the COP 21 negotiations, and the more recent 2016 Integrated European Union Policy for the Arctic. In doing so it seeks to explore to what extent the EU truly is fulfilling its own leadership aspirations in the field of climate change and energy in the Arctic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pursuant to a referral by the unfccc through the Kyoto Protocol, the International Civil Aviation Organization (icao) has developed a ‘basket’ of emission-mitigation measures for international aviation. Technical and operational measures proved inadequate to counter traffic growth, and finally, in October 2016, the icao adopted a framework for a market-based measure. The Carbon Offset and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (corsia) is the primary emission-mitigation tool for international aviation. It aims at ‘carbon-neutral growth’ (cng) from 2020 onward. Yet, even with an increased use of alternative fuels and comprehensive implementation of corsia, the icao’s basket of measures will not produce a reduction in global aviation emissions. This article describes the legal and governance framework and the implementation process of corsia, assesses the scheme’s potential contribution to climate-change mitigation, and proposes a derivative but more ambitious strategy. This would include incorporation of international aviation emissions in the ndcs of parties to the Paris Agreement and a more direct role for the unfccc in determining eligibility of emission units and alternative fuels, with the icao remaining accountable for monitoring, reporting and verification.1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is predicted to lead to an increasing frequency of natural disasters and humanitarian emergencies, yet scholars have not examined how the humanitarian community is responding to this issue. This article examines its initial engagement with the climate change regime and finds it was remarkably coordinated. Humanitarian agencies coauthored submissions to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the leaders of major humanitarian organizations spoke on co-organized panels on the humanitarian perils of climate change. In fact, the overarching trend was cooperation, not competition, among humanitarian agencies. This is an intriguing finding as it runs counter to the dominant account of a humanitarian marketplace in which actors are constantly competing for resources. Instead, this article suggests that the Inter-Agency Standing Committee played a significant role in mobilizing and coordinating humanitarian organizations' initial efforts. It highlights how and to what extent institutionalized cooperation between international organizations enables further cooperation in new issue areas and regimes. Scholars of international organizations, global environmental politics, and humanitarianism will be interested in how cooperation emerged in the humanitarian regime and shaped subsequent interaction with the climate change regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses certain parameters relevant to the effectiveness of the Finnish Climate Act (609/2015) which obliges state authorities to plan and monitor the national climate policy. The Act was enacted predominantly for the purpose of achieving emission reduction in societal sectors outside emissions trading. Although policy planning with legislative basis may be a necessary first step for all-encompassing emission reduction in the said sectors, the architecture of the Climate Act raises questions on, for example, the legal form and specific contents of the climate policy plans, and how the plans are addressed by sectoral legislation. The article discusses certain measures, such as sector-specific governance of policy planning and integration of climate concerns into sectoral legislation, which may be necessary for effective emission reduction. The interface between the Climate Act and sectoral legislation is exemplified through climate law in the Finnish transport sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is the largest and most complicated interdependent issue the world has confronted. Yet there is little negotiation and conflict management knowledge within the climate change context. To address this gap, this theoretical article reviews the sparse extant literature and provides a brief overview of the science of climate change public policy. This review establishes a foundation for examining negotiation and conflict management research questions that emanate from current and future climate change negotiations. Such questions are considered for climate change mitigation negotiations and climate change adaptation negotiations. This article demonstrates how the negotiation and conflict management field can make important contributions to the study of interdependency in a context of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discussions on loss and damage associated with climate change that opened up within the unfccc in recent years constitute the latest attempt of developing states to obtain something akin to compensation from major greenhouse gas emitters for the adverse social impacts of climate change. These discussions generally contemplate a mechanism financed by developed states that would provide direct support to individuals, corporations, and governments in developing countries ('vertical' approach), for instance, through insurance. This article argues that, for practical as well as normative reasons, a loss-and-damage mechanism should instead support vulnerable developing states, in a states-to-states 'horizontal' approach. Accordingly, financial support would be provided to developing states that incorporate vulnerable populations and are responsible for protecting them. Three sets of arguments are developed in support of this proposition. First, attributing loss and damage at the individual level is particularly challenging, whereas horizontal approaches allow consideration of probabilistic harm and compensation through bundle payments. Second, horizontal approaches are more suitable for pursuing goals such as economic efficiency, the reduction of loss and damage, the creation of an incentive for climate change mitigation, and broader goals of social justice. Third, vertical approaches go against prevailing principles of international law and involve unjustified interference in the domestic affairs of developing states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For decades the EU claimed for itself political leadership infighting climate change. Less than two years from now to the global climate conference in Paris (in 2015), however, the EU's climate policy stands at a cross roads: The EU can leave its impact weak or it decides to strengthen it showing global leadership in international climate policy making again. The situation is similar in Germany. Europe's self-styled climate policy leader and architect of an economy-wide energy transformation ("Energiewende") that followed the Fukushima events in 2on, the country now finds itself embattled by industry, political interest groups and consumers, and it risks losing track. If political leaders wish to save the "Energiewende" -- certainly one of the boldest political reforms in decades -- they need to get serious about putting it into practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The legal and political interrelations between national and EU energy policy competencies and the actual policies are multifaceted. In order to understand those interrelations properly one has to analyse both the formal competencies of the EU as enshrined in the Lisbon Treaty and the actual EU policies with their direct and indirect impact on the choice of energy sources. The Treaty grants the EU competence as regards (a) the functioning of the energy market; (b) security of energy supply in the Union; (c) promotion of energy efficiency and energy saving and the development of new and renewable forms of energy; and (d) promotion of the interconnection of energy networks. However, Member States remain in control of choosing between different energy sources and the general structure of their energy supply. Any decision affecting this national competence must be adopted by a unanimous vote of the European Council. EU renewable energy support policy needs to develop within the framework of these mixed and multifaceted competences. Our overall argument is that easy fixes do not work. Considering the different national preferences regarding the energy mix, it is premature to ask for a full-fledged EU energy competence leading to a harmonised support system for renewables. Besides which, the emerging climate and renewables policies could also be a driver for deepened energy integra-tion - rather as a bottom-up than a top-down process. In that sense a framework for 2030 with clear goals for climate mitigation, renewables shares and efficiency are of pivotal importance for the transition towards a low carbon economy by 2050. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU Climate and Energy Package highlights the potential contradictions between the climate change imperative of reducing GHGs emissions and the importance to maintain environmental integrity. While the package supports climate change mainstreaming, it remains to be seen to what extent it succeeds in achieving internal environmental integration between climate change mitigation and other environment-protection objectives. Directive 2009/31/EC on the capture and geological storage of carbon dioxide (hereinafter the CCS Directive) offers a paradigmatic example of this potential conflict. One of the main regulatory challenges arising from the CCS Directive relates to finding the proper balance between the different interests involved and the not-fully-consistent objectives of environmental protection, climate change mitigation, and energy security. The present article will discuss this regulatory challenge and examine how the CCS Directive's regulatory framework for CCS permits a combination of the various interests at stake and the giving of proper weight to concerns about environmental protection. The role that the precautionary principle in conjunction with the proportionality principle may have in balancing climate change mitigation and environment-protection interests will be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preventing dangerous climate change presents a significant political challenge. Extensive, urgent, and sustained political action is required to support necessary technological, economic, and behavioural changes. Yet the long-term, global, and uncertain effects of climate change, combined with the substantial short-term costs of mitigation action create what economists term a 'credible commitment' problem, given the dominance of material considerations and short-term electoral cycles in political decision-making. Accordingly, building effective climate change law is not simply about devising appropriate measures to reduce emissions, but more fundamentally about instituting legal and political 'regime change'. The UK Climate Change Act 2008 represents an important attempt to address the credible commitment problem on a domestic level. Not only does it impose long-term, legally binding emission-reduction targets, it also creates a so-called 'carbon accounting' regime, designed to maintain government focus on meeting the targets. The Act involves a 'pre-commitment strategy' which is intended to have a systemic and transformative effect on government action, and it has been described as having a 'constitutional' significance. The aim of this article is to interrogate this claim to constitutional status. It discusses, first, whether it is appropriate to describe the Act as a constitutional measure and why this classification might matter. Secondly, it considers the likely impact of the Act's substantive and institutional/procedural provisions. Finally, it considers the wisdom of 'climate change constitutionalism', and asks whether this is an approach which ought to be emulated by other states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the role human rights instruments play when states seek to adopt regulatory initiatives in the name of addressing climate change. The article argues that a series of important restrictions exist. Governments responding to climate change need to take into account existing human rights. This observation is particularly relevant for countries implementing Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) projects and for countries taking part in Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects under the Kyoto Protocol. The article likewise argues that special human rights obligations arise in relation to the risks associated with climate change. These place on states a responsibility to secure risk assessment and risk communication while taking steps to mitigate climate change-associated risks. While the article considers these requirements to constitute an absolute minimum, it is argued that they can offer a way of securing that national governments are accountable when it comes to climate change responses. On the other hand, it will be shown that these human rights restrictions will sometimes have the potential to run counter to the adoption of effective climate change responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exigent global environmental threats require concerted global answers and impose great challenges to the international community. Since the 1972 Stockholm UN-Conference, a dynamic and creative development of international environmental law has brought about many important achievements. However, major shortcomings remain to be tackled, and a further globalization of the environmental law with massive impacts on the European and national legal orders is imperative. The European Union can play a leading role in the swift and effective implementation of international law. Today, many EU environmental acts are, in fact, already implementing international stipulations. For an effective future development of international environmental law, a special UN environmental organization appears urgently needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Review of recent literature on adaptation to climate change and general literature on policy processes shows that there are a large number of barriers that hamper the development and implementation of climate change adaptation strategies. To reduce and manage the number of barriers and combine both streams of literature, we propose seven clusters of barriers to adaptation. Little is known, however, about the relative importance of these barriers to climate change adaptation policies and practices. An online survey was conducted between March 2010 and July 2010 among 264 scientists, policymakers, and private actors from different sectors and levels who are involved in climate change adaptation projects and programmes in the Netherlands. The survey aimed to gather their experiences with, and perceptions of, the barriers identified in the literature and encountered in their daily work. Both climate-related and non-climate-related barriers were included in the survey. Data were subjected to both qualitative and quantitative analysis. A survey feedback workshop was organized to discuss the results with several of the survey respondents. Results of this study revealed that respondents considered conflicting timescales as the most important cluster of barriers to adaptation. Other highly ranked barriers include conflicting interests; lack of financial resources; unclear division of tasks and responsibilities; uncertain societal costs and future benefits; and fragmentation within and between scales of governance. Furthermore, the analysis demonstrated that scales matter in understanding the barriers to adaptation: actors from low levels of governance seem to consider the barriers as more severe than actors from high levels of governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ocean fertilization is, at least theoretically, perceived as an option to mitigate climate change. However, theoretical assumptions could not be proved by experiments, in fact recent experiments have endorsed existing doubts. On international level seems to be a far-reaching—at least political—consensus that ocean fertilization should not be applied as climate change mitigation measure, based inter alia on unknown risks for the marine environment. Currently the Contracting Parties of the London Protocol are negotiating an international ban of ocean fertilization projects. Only “legitimate scientific research” shall be exempted from the prohibition provided negative effects on the marine environment can be excluded in this field. There is an ongoing discussion on whether a prior permission regime for research projects would be an adequate and reasonable approach and—finally also—legally admissible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]