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Climate change has become a global issue influencing human survival and development while low‐carbon is the inevitable choice. As the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, China has become an important force that influences the cooperation of climate change. China is a large agricultural country, and the rural carbon emissions have been gradually increasing. We consider rural neighborhood as an important space for the use of low‐carbon ideas to address climate change. There is no specific assessment system for a rural neighborhood. The studies of rural neighborhood low‐carbon mainly focus on the method of calculation carbon emissions. However, only quantifying rural carbon emissions is insufficient. In this paper, a low‐carbon evaluation indicator system has been proposed for rural neighborhood and Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation has been applied to get the low‐carbon degree. Considering the influence and feedback inside the indicator system, Analytic Network Process was applied to get the weights. Furthermore, a case study was carried out for the using of the proposed method in an eco‐village of China. Our practice has proved that the system is easy to operate in rural neighborhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Energy/emission intensity indicators measure the relationship between economic development and climate change. These intensity indicators are preferentially used in assessment criteria for mitigation goals in places such as China. This paper investigates the driving factors of changes in the national CO 2 emission intensity and their contributions to reductions at the sector level in China from 2002 to 2012 using multiplicative structural decomposition analysis (SDA) and attribution analysis. Both Leontief and Ghosh input-output models are used in the study. The empirical results indicate: 1) the energy intensity effect is the main driver that decreases the aggregate emission intensity from both the demand and supply sides; 2) structural effects, such as the energy structure effect and domestic Ghosh structure effect, promote the increase in aggregate emission intensity principally; and 3) to a large extent, sector "smelting and pressing of metals", "manufacture of non-metallic mineral products" and "chemical industry" are the top three sectors that contribute to the negative energy intensity effect. Ultimately, several discussions and conclusions associated with the empirical results, result stability and research extensibility are presented. Highlights • Both Leontief and Ghosh models were adopted to study China's CO 2 intensity. • Multiplicative decomposition was applied to study the intensity changes in 2002–2012. • Energy intensity effect was the major drivers to reduce China's emission intensity. • The structural effects as a whole contributed to the increase of emission intensity. • The domestic allocation structure can be adjusted and optimized preferentially. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objectives Public health co-benefits from curbing climate change can make greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation strategies more attractive and increase their implementation. The purpose of this systematic review is to summarize the evidence of these health co-benefits to improve our understanding of the mitigation measures involved, potential mechanisms, and relevant uncertainties. Methods A comprehensive search for peer-reviewed studies published in English was conducted using the primary electronic databases. Reference lists from these articles were reviewed and manual searches were performed to supplement relevant studies. The identified records were screened based on inclusion criteria. We extracted data from the final retrieved papers using a pre-designed data extraction form and a quality assessment was conducted. The studies were heterogeneities, so meta-analysis was not possible and instead evidence was synthesized using narrative summaries. Results Thirty-six studies were identified. We identified GHG mitigation strategies in five domains – energy generation, transportation, food and agriculture, households, and industry and economy – which usually, although not always, bring co-benefits for public health. These health gains are likely to be multiplied by comprehensive measures that include more than one sectors. Conclusions GHG mitigation strategies can bring about substantial and possibly cost-effective public health co-benefits. These findings are highly relevant to policy makers and other stakeholders since they point to the compounding value of taking concerted action against climate change and air pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of sub-global participation in greenhouse gas mitigation efforts, this paper investigates the effectiveness of a Canada-U.S. emissions bubble under their existing regional trade agreement. It also explores the potential economic impact of carbon tariff harmonization through the implementation of a common Canada-U.S. external border tariff adjustment as a mean to address competitiveness issues. Using a multi-region, multi-sector computable general equilibrium model the paper finds that the creation of an emission bubble between the two countries could improve efficiency. The findings also suggest that a carbon tariff harmonization policy could give rise to distributional issues among Annex I regions and could fail to mitigate the negative competitiveness impacts of carbon abatement policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent climate change statistics attribute over a quarter of carbon emissions to residential energy use in the United Kingdom. To address this, a building standard (Code for Sustainable Homes) was introduced to aim to reduce the levels of carbon dioxide emissions and energy consumption. This paper analyzes how such an environmental standard reconfigures the sociotechnological relations and practices of housing professionals that design, construct, and manage social housing. We focus on how actors engage with the standard’s recommendation for incorporating low and zero carbon technologies into new buildings. We identify diverse practices that emerge from these engagements, which, we contend, have significant consequences for the working relationships of professional actors and for renewable energy provision. By being entwined in, and generative of actors’ practices, we argue that the Code becomes part of the sociotechnological relationships and infrastructures that shape energy provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does the decision to relax by taking a drive rather than by taking a walk cause harm? In particular, do the additional carbon emissions caused by such a decision make anyone worse off? Recently several philosophers have argued that the answer is no, and on this basis have gone on to claim that act-consequentialism cannot provide a moral reason for individuals to voluntarily reduce their emissions. The reasoning typically consists of two steps. First, the effect of individual emissions on the weather is miniscule: the planet's meteorological system is so large, and the size of individual emissions so tiny, that whatever impact an individual emission has on the weather must be vanishingly small. Second, vanishingly small impacts aren't morally relevant because no one could possibly tell the difference between such an impact occurring and it not occurring. In this paper, we show why both steps are mistaken, and hence why act-consequentialism implies that each of us has an individual obligation to do what we can to stop damaging the climate, including by refraining from, or perhaps by purchasing offsets against, our own individual luxury carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The effects of black carbon (BC) aerosol on climate warming have been the study focus in the recent decade, and the reduction of BC is now expected to have significant near-term climate change mitigation. Large uncertainties of BC optical properties, however, still exist and seriously restrict the ability to quantify BC''s climate effects. In this study, advanced instrumentation (a three-wavelength photoacoustic soot spectrometer (PASS-3) and a single particle soot photometer (SP2)) were used to measure black carbon aerosol and analyze its optical properties in a mega-city in South China, Shenzhen, during the summer of 2011. The results indicated that the average BC mass concentration was 4.0 ± 3.1 μg m−3 during the campaign, accounting for ∼11% of the total PM2.5 mass concentration. The PM2.5 light absorption at 405, 532 and 781 nm was 37.1 ± 28.1, 25.4 ± 19.0 and 17.6 ± 12.9 Mm−1, respectively. The average absorption Angstrom exponent of PM2.5 in visual spectrum (AAE405–781 nm) was 1.1 ± 0.1 during the campaign, indicating that the light absorbing carbon mainly came from vehicular emissions, with little contributions from biomass burning emissions. The mass absorption efficiency (MAE) of BC at 532 nm ranged from 5.0 to 8.5 m2 g−1 during the campaign, with an average of 6.5 ± 0.5 m2 g−1, and showed an obvious diurnal pattern with high values in the daytime. The average percentage of internally mixed BC was 24.3 ± 7.9% during the campaign, showing significant positive correlation relationship with the MAE of BC. More quantitative data analysis indicated that the internally mixed BC would amplify MAE by about 7% during the campaign, which stands in accordance with the new finding of a very recent Science magazine paper (Cappa et al., 2012) that the BC absorption enhancement due to internal mixing in the real atmosphere is relatively low, in apparent contrast to theoretical model predictions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Climate change related risks are likely to be addressed, where not already, by new governmental regulations, such as the EU Emission Trading System, carbon taxes, new building codes and energy efficiency standards. However, a gap exists between contemporary research into and knowledge of sustainability embedded carbon accounting and application of these techniques by practitioners. This research addresses the gap between ‘knowledge generation’ of sustainability embedded carbon accounting instruments (research) and sustainability embedded carbon accounting ‘knowledge application’ through use of tools (practice) by examining their relationship, the characteristics of the gap, investigating who can change the current relationship, what changes are feasible in the near and medium terms, and how these changes can best be introduced to forge ahead with cleaner production. Accountants in academe as ‘knowledge generators’ have been vociferous in their calls for accountants in practice to use their professional strengths as appliers of instruments to manage the impacts of business on the environment and the environment on cleaner production by business. For many, carbon is the face of sustainability and the accounting for carbon a method of participating in the sustainability agenda, yet prior research indicates that accountants in practice have been slow to engage with climate change and carbon issues being forced upon them by the environmental crisis. Empirical evidence from a survey of professional accounting firms in South Australia finds that many accounting tools related to sustainability developed by academics are ignored and need greater promotion, yet the results also suggest that, unexpectedly, practitioners apply some ‘knowledge’ tools promoted by researchers confirming that a gap between academics and practitioners exists. The paper concludes that increased collaboration between academic accounting and professional practice will be the only way for evolution of the relationship between research and practice of sustainability embedded carbon accounting in order to forge ahead towards cleaner production. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Improving the management of carbon emissions and the development of cleaner production can be a demanding challenge for business and industry. Within this, accounting for carbon management requires quantification of a firm’s direct and indirect emissions. Unfortunately, however, there is a lack of concepts and tools suitable for use in the measurement of carbon performance both in the production process as well as in the supply chain as a whole. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to explore the role of environmental management accounting and, in particular, the eco-control approach for carbon management as part of the management of a firm’s supply chain. Employing a case study of Korean automobile manufacturers, we explore the roles and usefulness of eco-control as a means of identifying and measuring carbon performance in a production plant. This study finds that eco-control can foster alignment between a firm’s carbon management strategy and carbon performance measurement, and provides useful quantified information for corporate decision makers. In addition, viable mapping of carbon flow in production provides important opportunities to improve carbon performance within the supply chain. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: It is well acknowledged that low carbon emissions is one of the key factors contributing to sustainable urban development and effectively tackling climate change. Adaptive reuse of buildings is a form of sustainable urban regeneration, as it extends the building''s life and avoids demolition waste, encourages reuses of the embodied energy and also provides significant social and economic benefits to the society. Thus, it embraces the different dimensions of sustainability. However, the debates over which sustainability factors are key, and how to address them all in practice, remain unresolved. This study begins with an intensive literature review of the factors that contribute to the goal of sustainable development in the conservation of built heritage. This is followed by in-depth interviews with practitioners who have participated in adaptive reuse projects in Hong Kong. These interviews confirm the reliability of the shortlisted sustainability factors. More importantly, this paper examines the challenges in incorporating a sustainability framework into adaptive reuse projects. The authors stress that the framework for achieving sustainable, low carbon adaptive reuse should be viewed more holistically, integrating social, economic, environmental, urban and political policies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: This paper presents an analytical framework to encompass contributions to the literature on equity in climate change, and highlights the consequences—in terms of future emissions allocations—of different approaches to equity. These include: progressive cuts relative to historic levels; equal per capita emissions, historic responsibility, and ability to pay; and preserving future development opportunities. We show that because climate change goals dictate a stringent global carbon budget, each of the approaches to equity necessarily imposes large costs on at least some groups of countries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]