Search

This paper is a review of research undertaken, and subsequent policy change enacted, in the years 2018 to 2022 regarding the integration of cooking loads and needs into modern energy planning. Building on an earlier paper which described how the dominant global approaches to tackling the enduring problem of biomass-fuelled cooking was failing, and how a new UK Aid programme (Oct 2018) would be seeking to intentionally change international energy policy towards cooking and enable a significant transition in energy use, in this paper we review whether this strategy is being adopted by researchers, governments, and the private sector across the world and whether it is likely to make a significant contribution to the fulfilment of Sustainable Development Goal 7. In particular, the call is for integrated planning of modern energy inclusive of cooking loads—the potential 'Mutual Support' that both can lend to each other. The review considers the international commitments made by donors and governments to this end, the research that positions the use of modern energy as a cost-effective proposition, the urbanisation and societal changes reinforcing such planning, and positions the review in the light of climate change and the need to reach net zero carbon by 2050. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By 2050, people in urbanized areas will account for 68% of the world's population, 80% of which will be concentrated in Asia and Africa. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) introduced in 2011 the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) under the Cancun Adaptation Framework (CAF). Countries of the non-Annex I, described by the UNGeneral Assembly as especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, are invited to develop NAPs to identify adaptation challenges and devise appropriate climate adaptation responses. Recognizing the increasing vulnerability of urban systems to the effects of climate change, in 2019, UN-Habitat defined the supplement of the NAP process's technical guidelines for addressing urban and human settlement issues in NAPs. This paper aims to propose a methodology to assess the urban content of the NAPs after ten years from that the CAF comes into force. The evaluation is based, adapting and expanding, on the methodology used to assess the urban content of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) published by UN-Habitat in 2017. The methodology aims to analyse both key adaptation challenges and responses explicitly or implicitly related to urban systems. Moreover, it aims at understanding the interlinkage of urban content in NAP in relation to other key policies, such as NDCs and National Urban Policies (NUPs). In this perspective, 172 indicators were selected and clustered into nine groups: (i) Geographic Indicators; (ii) General Indicators; (iii) NAPs General Indicators; (iv) NAPs Urban Indicators; (v) NDCs Indicators; (vi) NUPs Indicators; (vii) Urban content in National Policies Indicators; (viii) International policy linkages (including SDGs, Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, Paris Agreement and New Urban agenda); (ix) National plans/policy/strategies/repor ts linkages. The methodology was tested on Brazil's NAP, trying to find general considerations to apply to the countries that officially submitted their NAPs between 2014 to 2020. The test showed that: there is a stronger focus on defining climate adaptation challenges more than responses; climate adaptation challenges and responses are predominantly identified at the national scale, with a focus on policies and strategies at the national level; among the Brazilian NAP, there is "cities strategy", and it means that the NAP has a high urban content. In conclusion, the paper will highlight critical issues and improvements for each of the nine indices analysed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global climate system poses important challenges for the perception and understanding of its functioning from policymakers and the general public. The aim of the paper is to model through gamification, the evolution of understanding regarding the dynamics of climate change and climate change adaptation. Using a framework with repeated feedback loops, the impact of the rate of carbon dioxide absorption by natural ecosystems, the stochastic nature of economic systems and the stochastic and irreversible nature of global climate are analyzed, with the Dynamic Climate Change Simulator with Stochastic and Irreversible Climate Change. The simulator game models one control variable, carbon dioxide emissions and one stock variable, carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere. In addition, the rate of carbon dioxide absorption by natural ecosystems is modeled, with business cycle shocks and climate change tipping points. The ability to control carbon dioxide concentrations to a goal level is evaluated and policy insights are provided about how learning about the dynamics of the Earth's climate through gamification can be advanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviewed GHGs emissions from key sectors in Nigeria as well as institutional and policy responses toward cutting their emissions and drawbacks to the nation...s clean energy drive. Findings reveal that amid increasing sectoral emission of GHGs, the country has made institutional response to climate change mitigation, particularly with the establishment of the Department of Climate Change in the Federal Ministry of Environment. The country has also made significant policy responses toward climate change mitigation through domestication of arrays of international agreements. However, the paper argues that the nation...s rapid population growth and increasing food insecurity will intensify agricultural activities and consequently exacerbate GHGs emissions. Similarly, growing dependence on fossil energy coupled with poor development of the country...s vast clean energy resources will continue to intensify emissions. The paper recommends overhauling of extension services to bridge the gap between scientific innovations and farmers to promote climate-friendly agricultural practices while measures that reduce intra-city and inter-city travels and their related CO2 emission should be adopted. The study also advocates enforcement of compliance to restriction on the years of imported pre-used vehicles within Nigerian roads and prioritization of development of the country...s vast clean energy resources in line with increasing global navigation from fossil energy. Overall, the paper provided insights into Nigeria...s sectoral GHGs emissions, institutional and policy responses toward their reduction which are relevant to policymakers and other stakeholders in identifying gains and areas of intervention toward strengthening the country and other emerging African economies as part of the global search for workable climate change mitigation alternatives pursuant to SDG 13 (Climate Action) and Goal 7 (Environmentally Sustainable and Climate Resilient Economies and Communities) of the African Union...s Agenda 2063.

The EU's work on climate change is key to the regional and international fight against the problem, and disruptions to it have global implications. When analyzing the effects of the UK's decision to leave the EU (Brexit) on EU climate action, this paper looks at two types of impact. The first is related to UK absence from EU climate policy, finance and diplomacy following the actual UK departure from the EU. The second is related to the costs attached to the withdrawal process, including the additional costs and uncertainty created by the delayed UK departure. These latter implications of Brexit have been less explored by the literature, although the last years provide plenty of evidence for them. The paper finds that the impact of Brexit on EU climate action is mainly negative, without denying some potential positive impact and while acknowledging the limitations of a study that entails forecasting in an uncertain political context. Key policy insights Following Brexit, the EU will lose a member that supported its climate action internally and internationally through commitment to high emissions reduction targets at the EU level, policy solutions, and financial and diplomatic support. The withdrawal process itself has had a negative impact on EU climate action: Brexit has hijacked the EU agenda, captured EU human and administrative resources and increased the uncertainty in which investors and businesses operate. Planning for separate European Councils to deal with Brexit could prevent agenda hijacking. Both the EU and UK also need to provide businesses with a clear regulatory framework. A repeatedly postponed Brexit has caused additional damage, by prolonging uncertainty. Continuing to work with the UK on climate during the Brexit negotiations and after the UK departure should be a priority for the EU, as well as ensuring the willingness to cooperate is not spoiled by mutual resentment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), which is often presented as the cornerstone of the EU’s strategy for fighting climate change. The paper analyses the basic design of the scheme, its workings during the first trading period (2005–07), the adjustments made for the second trading period (2008–12) and its performance during the years 2008 and 2009. It also discusses the European Commission’s (EC) proposal to revise the EU ETS for the period 2013–20 and the agreement reached. The paper offers a critical assessment of the EU ETS from a value-theoretic and class-based standpoint, challenging mainstream accounts. Following the consultation and co-decision processes that preceded the adoption of the EU ETS Directive and its amendment, one reaches the conclusion that the EU ETS has become the flagship of the European climate change programme because it is more conducive to the dominant EU industrial capitals that compete with non-EU capitals under strenuous international market conditions. The limited environmental effectiveness, the windfall profits and distributional injustice that characterise the scheme from its start are pitfalls generated from the embeddedness of the scheme in the EU capitalist economies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A number of public policies have emerged worldwide as a response from governments facing climate change effects, drawing the attention of the scientific community to the outcomes and actual effects/benefits these policies have brought so far. One of the challenging aspects related to this context is the integration of the objectives set by climate change policies within the sectoral and regional planning. In this respect, the literature recognizes the relevance of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) as an instrument to deal with climate change issues in the planning process and to support the development of alternatives to respond to climate change policies. The influence of climate change policies on the plans and programs supported by SEA in emerging economies is yet to be verified. The paper relies on the case of Brazil, recognized by its relevance in terms of biodiversity, water resources and climate regulation. In 2009, Brazil introduced the National Policy of Climate Change (NPCC), which established guidelines to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) by 2020. The present paper is based on the analysis of the current SEA practice and the corresponding level of integration of climate change issues, considering the objectives of the NPCC. A set of 29 statements, delivered by the literature, was applied, combined to the content analysis techniques to review the quality of 35 SEA reports produced in Brazil between 1997 and 2014 (out of 40-odd cases). The outcomes indicate the performance is similar to what was found in other contexts, i.e., SEA areas barely address climate change issues. This thus reveals an important gap between the objectives of NPCC and sectoral/regional planning. SEA can contribute to reducing this gap, but it needs more strength to influence the development of sectoral and regional policies and plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the making of local climate governance in the Chinese setting where central-local inter-governmental relations continue to play critical part in almost every policy domain. Through analysing the climate responses of the three provincial-level governments at the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), the paper argues that the process of “experimentation under hierarchy” is relevant to understanding the evolving of the subnational climate regime in the YRD region. We find the preponderance of the central authorities in initiating national climate strategies and galvanising responses at the local level. Meanwhile, provincial governments have been able to leverage climate plans and actions to achieve their own gains. These findings suggest that any optimism about subnational climate activism in a Chinese setting has to be mixed with caution. In fact, the shadow of hierarchical authority structure lingers and plays important part in the initiation of subnational response and spurring climate responses and innovations from below. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a summary and a critical survey of the methodologies and results of the literature on the economics of adaptation. We divide the literature into two broad areas of research. First, we examine the studies that analyse adaptation from a bottom-up perspective. Second, we introduce the studies that examine adaptation using a top-down approach. The first group of studies investigates cost and benefits of adaptation at the sectoral, regional and global level. The second group includes theoretical literature on the relationship between mitigation and adaptation as well as emerging insights from some global Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs), which have recently been extended to include adaptation as an alternative and complementary policy option to mitigation. This latter development has raised issues that represent new challenges for the research community. In particular, understanding how to integrate the vast amount of information provided by the bottom-up literature on climate change impacts and adaptation into global models is paramount. Another challenge is to improve the sectoral and regional coverage of information on adaptation costs and benefits. Currently, much of the information is limited to specific sectors and drawn primarily from developed country contexts. In addition, uncertainty and irreversibility are very marginally tackled by adaptation studies. Finally, the role of adaptation in international climate change negotiations, which is presently growing in importance, remains largely unexplored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with a multigeneration game that provides a new rationale for representing time preference in very long term cost benefit analysis, as it happens typically in the economics of global climate change. One defines an intergenerational game where each generation has a random life duration and transfers the control of the economic system to the next generation at the end of its life. The payoff to a generation is a discounted sum of the expected consumption by the whole infinite sequence of generations, starting with the current one. The equilibrium is characterized by a dynamic programming equation; a unique solution is proved to exist; a numerical technique is proposed and implemented on a continuous time simplified version of the model DICE94. The results show the influence of this form of altruism on the asymptotic steady states of the economy subject to a global climate change effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every country will have to prepare for climate change. Despite obvious risks to national security in terms of safety, food, and infrastructure as well as impending economic losses, countries like the United States (US) have declined to pursue meaningful federal action. The human impact of climate change – specifically climate migration and its health implications – has been largely neglected at a policy level. Yet climate migration is predicted to have tremendous consequences for people in the next 30 years and beyond, and with it comes a host of difficulties – political, cultural, economic, and structural. Preparedness will be of great importance to potential migrants and how they adapt to their receiving (host) locations. Health systems are one of the most significant institutions impacting long-term migration and these systems' strengths and weaknesses will determine the integration and well-being of migrants for years to come. A critical analysis of existing literature exposes that there is little current research on health system preparedness as it relates to climate migration, especially in the US. To help address this gap, this paper focuses on how the American health system, already fraught with limitations, can prepare for the expected increase in mostly internal migrants in the face of climate change. Key policy insights Climate migration in the US will pose huge challenges for health systems because of the American health system's unique, pre-existing weaknesses. To prepare for climate migration, federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial governments should focus on adopting a universal healthcare policy, shifting primary care tasks away from physicians and towards other qualified and more ubiquitous professionals, and investing in telemedicine, retail clinics, and a national electronic health record system. A 'health in all policies' approach, which applies a health lens to legislation, needs to be applied in the context of health system strengthening for climate migration since countless environmental determinants of health and infrastructural decisions shape the vulnerability of communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is clear that developing countries will have to be part of the global mitigation effort to avoid ‘dangerous climate change’, and, indeed, many of them are already undertaking significant actions on multiple fronts to help address this problem, even if they have not yet taken on legally binding commitment under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Since the deployment of GHG-mitigating technologies is already a significant part of this effort and likely to be even more so in the future, drawing lessons from existing programmes can help accelerate and enhance the effectiveness of this deployment process. Accordingly, this article aims to examine the deployment of wind and solar power in India, paying specific attention to the role of public policy in incentivizing and facilitating this deployment, how these policies have evolved over time, what has shaped this evolution, and what the learning has been over this period. Through this analysis, the intention is to draw out key lessons from India's experience with deployment policies and programmes in these two sectors and highlight the issues that will need to be given particular consideration in the design of future domestic policies and international cooperation programmes to enhance the move towards climate-compatible development in India. Many of these lessons should also be relevant for other developing countries that are attempting to balance their climate and developmental priorities through the deployment of renewable energy technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK’s Climate Change Programme introduced an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) for greenhouse gases. Firms in over 40 industrial sectors which have negotiated “Climate Change Agreements” setting quantitative energy efficiency targets can use the ETS to trade over-and under-compliance with these targets. In parallel, a limited number of firms have become major participants in the ETS as a result of an auction of subsidies for additional abatement commitments. The paper describes the UK arrangements and assesses the economic efficiency and environmental effectiveness of the ETS, drawing on evidence of participants’ behaviour both in the incentive auction, and in subsequent trading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured Application: Replacement of black pavements by high-reflective concrete pavements is an easy and cost-effective measure to stem climate change. In addition, concrete is a building material that is fully recyclable at the end of its service life. Furthermore, the construction of concrete pavements demands local resources, avoiding greenhouse gas emissions due to transport. Pavements store heat, which is subsequently released into the atmosphere, heating the surrounding air. Therefore, this process contributes to climate change and global warming. For this reason, the use of high-solar-reflectance (albedo) pavements is seen as one of the potential mitigation methods for climate change. Concrete pavements have a much higher albedo than asphalt due to their light gray color compared with black pavements. Accordingly, the widespread utilization of highly reflective concrete pavements will improve local climate change mitigation. Nevertheless, concrete albedo slightly decreases over time because of weathering. Albedo and solar reflectance index (SRI) measurements were taken on actual precast concrete pavements made with different mixes. The methodology applied for this project is based on the comparison between the asphalt and concrete pavements' reflectivity. Conventional concrete mix designs can provide cool pavements with SRI higher than 29. Replacement of black pavements by highly reflective concrete pavements appeared to be a cost-effective and easily implemented measure to combat climate change. Finally, multidisciplinary studies considering factors such as building materials' albedo, among other mitigation measures, should be performed to provide more precise and reliable guidance to policymakers, stakeholders, decision makers and urban planners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To what extent Climate Change policies adopted by the United States (US) and China are a consequence of their respective domestic and international milieu, is this article's subject of inquiry. It compares the Climate Change policies of the US and China and argues that domestic and international socio-economic and political contexts together have helped shape the manner in which China and the US are dealing with climate change. Both powers collectively contribute about forty-five percent of global Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. Therefore, they are not only the main stakeholders in the Climate Change actions but also the 'responsibility bearers' to deal with 'Global Warming'. Both are nevertheless, failing to comply with the changing climate needs owing to the interplay of domestic and international factors that hamper the creation of efficient climate change policies by both states. Under the current policy environment, prospects for a reasonable GHG emission reduction seem unlikely for the two states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the United States has struggled to develop a comprehensive policy for climate change and concomitant greenhouse gas emissions that addresses the current scientific thinking on the topic. The absence of any clear legislative or executive approach dominated national discussions and the court system was used to litigate a variety of issues associated with global warming. This paper synthesizes actions taken in the three branches of government prior to and immediately following the Obama election. In the Judicial branch, several branches of law have been used to force government and private parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Based on the historic greenhouse gas lawsuit, Massachusetts et al. v. the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), and under the direction of the Obama administration, the U.S. EPA has taken significant action to regulate greenhouse gases. In the legislative branch, a comprehensive energy and climate bill passed the House of Representatives and comparable and alternate energy and climate bills were debated in the Senate indicating hope for legislation in the 111th Congress. However, these bills proved to be unsuccessful, therefore leaving the U.S. EPA and the courts the only options for national climate policy in the near future.