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The realization of national climate change commitments, as agreed through international negotiations, requires local action. However, data is still insufficient to make accurate statements about the scale of urban emissions (UNHABITAT, 2011). The need of comparable emission inventories at city level, including smaller cities, is widely recognized to develop evidence-based policies accounting for the relation between emissions and institutional, socio-economic and demographic characteristics at city level. This paper presents a collection of harmonized greenhouse gases (GHG) emission inventories (the "CoM sample 2013") at municipal level directly computed by the cities and towns that participate in the EU Covenant of Mayors initiative. This is the mainstream European movement of local and regional authorities who voluntarily commit to reduce GHG emissions by 20% or more by 2020. The "CoM sample 2013" (http://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/com/data/index.php? SECURE=123, doi:10.2904/EDGARcom2013) has been carefully checked to ensure its internal consistency and its congruity with respect to internationally accepted guide values for emission factors. Overall, it provides valuable data for the analysis of the heterogeneity of final energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses whether a new paradigm is necessary for independent economic regulation of electricity land closely associated natural gas) systems. We begin by summarizing the nature of the traditional model of electricity reform and the place of economic regulation within it. Next we outline the drivers for changing the current model of electricity regulation, namely, the maturity of the existing model, the reality of changing circumstances, and the coming of age of climate change concern. We go on to discuss the premises on which a new model of regulation should be based. These are: remembering the successes of the current system of regulation; a new focus on processes not just outcomes; a recognition of the economics of climate change; and the appropriate management of uncertainty. We then highlight the key elements of a new model for regulation: new processes of regulation; new models of competition and the issues raised by focus on climate change. The paper draws heavily on the experience of the UK, but has direct implications for the rest of the European Union countries and for other countries whose regulatory systems mirror them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptation is defined as the planned or unplanned, reactive or anticipatory, successful or unsuccessful response of a system to a change in its environment. This paper examines the current status of adaptation to sea-level rise and climate change in the context of European coasts. Adaptation can greatly reduce the impact of sea-level rise (and other coastal changes), although it requires adjustment of coastal management policies to changing circumstances. Consequently, adaptation is a social, political, and economic process, rather than just a technical exercise, as it is often conceived. The Synthesis and Upscaling of sea-level Rise Vulnerability Assessment Studies project has shown that adaptation to sea-level rise is widely divergent among European countries. Crudely, four groups of countries were identified: 1. Those that do not worry about accelerated sea-level rise and should not as their coasts are not susceptible 2. Those that do not worry as they have more urgent problems 3. Those that do not worry but probably should 4. Those that do worry and have started to adapt At the European Union level, while coastal management is a focus, this effort is mainly targeted at today's problems. Hence, this paper suggests the need for a concerted effort to address adaptation in coastal zones across Europe. Sharing of experience among countries would facilitate this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a simplistic dynamic model to analyze the tradeoff between the use of environment-friendly energy and the use of environment-polluting energy in a dynamic world characterized by players that have different interests. Our approach builds upon a neoclassical growth model, integrating different economies, and including pollution as a separate growth factor. The model is cast in a differential game framework with the open-loop information structure. In this setting, we analyze the impact of pollution over time on the fossil fuel/'green' energy ratio. Furthermore, based on a simulation study for the linearized model, we consider the question whether certain cooperative arrangements between countries having different interests can be expected in case pollution shocks occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a model-based approach describing the impacts of climate change on the European energy system. Existing analyses only estimate a limited range of climate impacts over a limited geographical area. Using the POLES model and the results from several climate models, the present paper quantifies the main impacts of climate change on the European energy sector, country by country, thus achieving progress in this direction. As far as energy demand is concerned, our main finding is that higher temperatures will mean that air-conditioning will consume more energy, reaching about 53 Mtoe by 2100 in a scenario with no strong emissions constraints (A1B). On the other hand, less energy will be consumed for heating buildings, falling by about 65 Mtoe per year. This represents a net decrease in energy consumption of about 12 Mtoe by 2100. On the supply side, more constrained and expensive operating conditions for electric power plants will result in lower electricity generation by thermal, nuclear and hydro-power plants, with a maximum decrease of about 200 TWh in 2070 in the A1B scenario and 150 TWh in 2060 and 2080 for a low emissions scenario (E1). These effects vary a great deal across Europe and remain very dependent on the uncertainties affecting the results of the various climate models. This overall uncertainty may inhibit effective decisions. However, the study offers insights not otherwise available without the full coverage of the energy system provided by POLES and climate features provided by climate models. The study identifies the main impacts of climate change in a strategic sector and provides an 'order of magnitude' or 'central trend' for these impacts, which might be useful in an adaptive policy of act, learn and then act again. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Comparative Economic Research is the property of Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Lodzkiego and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Integration of relatively new policy tasks like climate adaptation into established higher-level policy fields is insufficiently understood in the academic literature. This paper proposes a framework to evaluate the integration of climate adaptation into the sectoral policy-making of the European Commission, particularly following the publication of the EU Adaptation Strategy (in 2013). The paper uses a framework of micro, meso and macro-level institutional behaviour drawing strongly on new institutionalism perspectives to identify and explain factors enabling and hindering policy integration. It focuses on integration in the coastal and marine policy sector, which is expected to be particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts, and draws from data collected through a document review and interviews with key informants. The findings show that the integration of climate adaptation is still at an early stage. The integration process appears to be largely dependent on institutional dynamics at the EU-level combined with how member states and wider sectoral stakeholders engage with adaptation concerns. In particular, the ambivalence of some member states and a lack of urgency among sectoral stakeholders has hampered the integration of adaptation goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is recognised as one of the key challenges humankind is facing. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector including data centres generates up to 2% of the global CO2 emissions, a number on par to the aviation sector contribution, and data centres are estimated to have the fastest growing carbon footprint from across the whole ICT sector, mainly due to technological advances such as the cloud computing and the rapid growth of the use of Internet services. There are no recent estimations of the total energy consumption of the European data centre and of their energy efficiency. The aim of this paper is to evaluate, analyse and present the current trends in energy consumption and efficiency in data centres in the European Union using the data submitted by companies participating in the European Code of Conduct for Data Centre Energy Efficiency programme, a voluntary initiative created in 2008 in response to the increasing energy consumption in data centres and the need to reduce the related environmental, economic and energy supply security impacts. The analysis shows that the average Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of the facilities participating in the programme is declining year after year. This confirms that voluntary approaches could be effective in addressing climate and energy issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses how American-style climate change litigation might be adopted by the European Union ('EU') and projects potential methods by which the EU might employ the US model, if it indeed chooses to take the climate change battle to the courts. By synthesising existing US case law in the environment and climate change fields, the paper roughly defines the 'American model' of climate change litigation as parens patriae actions, oftentimes based in the tort of public nuisance, brought by states and other sovereign entities against polluter-defendants. The structural differences between the common law United States and the predominantly civil law European Union are substantial, and the EU has traditionally been averse to enter too far into the American mass torts arena. Accordingly, Europeans have not yet undertaken these types of lawsuits. This paper identifies and examines several realistic options for Europe's possible espousal of the American climate change litigation model through EU law and national law of individual Member States. Although the comparison is admittedly imperfect, I conclude that by drawing on the blueprint of its American counterparts, the EU could viably use Directive 2004/35/EC (environmental liability with regard to the prevention and remedying of environmental damage and the 'polluter pays' principle) and Directive 2003/87/EC (establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading) in a parens patriae-like manner to hold defendants liable for damages caused by climate change. Additionally with case studies focusing on France, Germany and the United Kingdom, national law alternatives exist for individual Member States, as well as regional and local governments, to take action on behalf of their citizens for injuries resulting from climate change, just like sovereign bodies in the United States have done. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the evolution of the new environmental policy of the European Union in the context of the efforts undertaken to moderate the negative effects of climate change. It describes all the activities in the European Union designed to implement new tools of the EU environmental policy, such as low carbon economy technologies, tools that improve the efficiency of managing the limited natural resources, the environmentally friendly transport package, etc. All of them are aimed at laying the foundations of the circular economy, which may also be referred to as a closed-loop economy, i.e., an economy that does not generate excessive waste and whereby any waste becomes a resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The success in achieving the Europe 2020 national objectives depends on the implementation at national level of structural reforms needed to accelerate a growth that is smart, sustainable and favourable to inclusion. The national reform programmes (PNR) represent an obligation for each Member State to "translate" at national level the Europe 2020 objectives. In the Romanian National Reform Programme were established, among other priorities, the improvement of the quality of life through sustainable management of renewable resources and mitigation of climate change effects, increasing the energy efficiency, the management of natural resources and pollution reduction. In this paper there will be analyzed the general objectives of the climate change limitation and combating, the strategies to reduce climate change, implemented at the global, european and national level, and also directions for development of the electricity sector. In terms of global strategies, the main measures adopted by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and through the major Conferences of Parties will be analyzed. At the European level, will be examined the Community objectives relating to the reduction of greenhouse gases emissions and the adopted measures to meet the proposed targets, and at the national level there will be evaluated the measures through which Romania implements the policies set at the global and community level. Regarding the directions of development of the energy sector at the European level there will be exposed and analyzed the measures imposed by the European Commission and the Member States, and at the national level, the main directions for action of the energy sector in Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of economic energy policy is more relevant to International Relations today because of the increase in energy interdependence and its interaction with other issues on the international agenda, climate change in particular. This paper will analyze the progress made and the obstacles that lie ahead for energy policy in the European Union (EU). The objective is to identify the factors that have led the European Commission, especially after 2005, to unleash an remarkable degree of activism in the energy area, despite the lack of an official forum for the establishment of a common energy policy. This resulted in an innovative and ambitious European legislative program, which is examined in this paper and evaluated on the basis of official documents, the recent literature and qualitative interviews with around twenty policymakers and analysts, carried out in Brussels in September 2012. It was clear that the discussion of climate change changed the view of energy issues. The fact that the EU as a whole has a growing energy deficit increased the relevance of the issue of security and also stimulated the search for alternative sources, at the same time that it placed conditions on its external relations, especially with Russia. Important progress was made, in particular with regard to the establishment of strict mandatory standards for the countries that were members of the Energy-Climate Agreement, that justified the leadership role that the EU began to assume in international climate discussions. The search for community responses and convergence among the objectives related to climate change, energy security and economic competitive position suffered enormous pressure with the impact of the global crisis after September 2008. The crisis revealed an institutional framework that was still fragile and, in the context of a recession, ended up reinforcing centrifugal trends around national interests and strategies. At the same time, this made the realization of the investments necessary to move forward with the implementation of policies in the energy and climate area more complicated. On the other hand, there is an undeniable and strong interdependence among the economies in the block, and the European Commission has insisted on defending the gains that could be achieved with community actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To-date, forest resource-based carbon accounting in land use, land use change and forestry ( LULUCF) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC), Kyoto Protocol ( KP), European Union ( EU) and national level emission reduction schemes considers only a fraction of its potential and fails to adequately mobilize the LULUCF sector for the successful stabilization of atmospheric greenhouse gas ( GHG) concentrations. Recent modifications at the 2011 COP17 meetings in Durban have partially addressed this basic problem, but leave room for improvement. The presence of an Incentive Gap ( IG) continues to justify reform of the LULUCF carbon accounting framework. Frequently neglected in the climate change mitigation and adaptation literature, carbon accounting practices ultimately define the nuts and bolts of what counts and which resources (forest, forest-based or other) are favored and utilized. For Annex I countries in the Kyoto Mechanism, the Incentive Gap under forest management ( FM) is significantly large: some 75% or more of potential forestry-based carbon sequestration is not effectively incentivized or mobilized for climate change mitigation and adaptation (Ellison et al. 2011a). In this paper, we expand our analysis of the Incentive Gap to incorporate the changes agreed in Durban and encompass both a wider set of countries and a larger set of omitted carbon pools. For Annex I countries, based on the first 2 years of experience in the first Commitment Period ( CP1) we estimate the IG in FM at approximately 88%. Though significantly reduced in CP2, the IG remains a problem. Thus our measure of missed opportunities under the Kyoto and UNFCCC framework - despite the changes in Durban - remains important. With the exception perhaps of increased energy efficiency, few sinks or sources of reduced emissions can be mobilized as effectively and efficiently as forests. Thus, we wonder at the sheer magnitude of this underutilized resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is to analyse the volumes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the European Union Emissions Trading System's (EU ETS) participants in Latvia in relation to their participation therein. After describing and discussing the EU ETS mechanism and its operation in Latvia in the period 2005-2010, the interconnectedness between the GHG emissions and the EU ETS participants' operation is analysed. The analysis concludes that, although the EU ETS has contributed towards GHG emission reduction, due to the growth of the economy, overall GHG emissions from the EU ETS participants in Latvia are increasing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the European Union environment policy, through the implementation of measures mitigating its deterioration, in a world with limited natural resources and more and more obvious climate changes. The major objectives concern the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, increasing the renewable resources rate in the final energy consumption, as well as energy efficiency. As far as Romania is concerned, the environment policy priorities are related to the quantitative and qualitative improvement of environment infrastructure, the responsible management of natural resources and waste, biodiversity and natural patrimony preservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Desarrollo Económico is the property of Instituto de Desarrollo Economico y Social and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Agroforestry, the integration of trees and shrubs with livestock and/or crops, can make a substantial contribution to mitigating and enabling adaptation to climate change. However, its full potential will only be achieved if the challenges to agroforestry implementation are identified and the most efficient and sustainable solutions are made widely known. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to explore these challenges and to determine the most suitable set of solutions for each challenge that combines local effectiveness with European scale relevance. We performed a two-step “solution scanning” exercise. First, the main challenges to sustainable agroforestry in Europe were identified through 42 participatory workshops with 665 local stakeholders. The solutions to each challenge were scanned and classified into either direct solutions (28) to address climate change or indirect solutions (32) that improve the sustainability of agroforestry. In a second step, the direct solutions were prioritized through expert consultation in terms of their potential benefits for mitigation and adaptation. The most commonly reported barriers were a lack of knowledge and reliable financial support to which the most widely suggested indirect solutions were agroforestry training programmes and the development of safe economic routes. The direct solutions considered as holding the greatest mitigation and adaptation potential were the adoption of practices capable to increase soil organic carbon pools and the implementation of multifunctional hedgerows and windbreaks respectively. Our solution scanning approach can inform the implementation of the European climate strategy in general and to the Common Agricultural Policy in particular by pointing to concrete climate beneficial actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy poverty implies the situation of a household not able to satisfy the required levels of energy services in the house. Nowadays, it became an increasingly pressing problem even in the wealthier EU member states. Factors that play a major role in this development involve the complex interplay or rising energy prices, stagnant or decreasing incomes, high levels or unemployment and the slow rate of redevelopment for improving energy efficiency in residential buildings. It is therefore not surprising that official statistics show that nearly 17% of the EU-28 population is at risk of income poverty, 9.9% constitutes a material deprivation risk and around 23% of the population is considered to be at risk of poverty or social exclusion. The specific study aims to investigate energy poverty and its effect in Central Makedonia, in northern Greece, where the climate is harsher and heating requirements significantly higher than in the other parts of the country. A questionnaire aiming to assess energy poverty in low income urban areas was used. The questionnaire followed the example of a number of different studies that have dealt with the energy consumption of households and its correlation with various socio-economic parameters for various countries worldwide. In these studies the main parameters that were considered were the average household size, their income and the thermal characteristics of the building. A sample was collected after interviewing residents in order to assess the impact on the quality of life, energy consumption and heath of urban residents. The paper hence describes this situation and presents the research results that shows a disability to satisfy socially and materially the required levels of energy services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The states from European Union must take advantage from renewable energy sources in order to revive the economy. Climate change creates new jobs and could reduce energy imports which would stimulate the economy of those states. The European Union should support research in the field, apply more efficient policies in energy, and create economies of scale to get an integrated European energy market in which the main actors can reduce the cost of production of renewable energy. In addition, it is possible to use the comparative advantages of the Member States and not only, like Greece, through solar energy, Southern Mediterranean, through distribution networks interconnections with EU, Russia and Ukraine, through biomass and the North Sea, through wind energy. This paper refers to the evolution and trends of the renewable energy sources and presents some scenarios of it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ever since the inception of the United Nations climate regime in the early 1990s, the European Union has aspired to play a leading part in the global combat against climate change. Based on an analysis of how the Union has developed its foreign climate policy to fulfil this role over the past two decades, the paper sets out to identify the reasons for this evolution. It demonstrates that the EU?s development in this area was co-determined by adaptations to shifting international dynamics strongly bounded by purely domestic concerns. Providing a concise understanding and explanation of how the Union designs its foreign policy with regard to one emblematic issue of its international activity, the contribution provides insights into the remarkably rapid, but not always effective maturation of this unique actor?s involvement in (non-Common Foreign and Security Policy) global politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although they have formerly constituted distinct traditions in the European integration process, EU regulatory activities in environmental and energy policy have now become highly interwoven. Environmental concerns increasingly influence the formulation of the EU's energy policy, especially given the twofold challenge of securing sufficient energy supply whilst also addressing the necessity of combating climate change. In this context, a key question is, how exactly does the EU approach environmental policy objectives as part of its energy policy? Is the 'environmental dimension' of EU energy policy subject to a different regulatory approach than EU environmental policy in general? This paper addresses these questions from a neo-functionalist perspective by comparing the different types of policy instruments adopted by the EU in the two interrelated areas over the past four decades. Overall, this work finds that the EU continues to rely heavily on traditional command and control regulation in the context of air pollution control, whereas the environmental dimension of EU energy policy is frequently controlled by new, less interventionist forms of governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impacts of agricultural land use are far-reaching and extend to areas outside production. This paper provides an overview of the ecological status of agricultural systems across the European Union in the light of recent policy changes. It builds on the previous review of 2001 devoted to the impacts of agricultural intensification in Western Europe. The focus countries are the UK, The Netherlands, Boreal and Baltic countries, Portugal, Hungary and Romania, representing a geographical spread across Europe, but additional reference is made to other countries. Despite many adjustments to agricultural policy, intensification of production in some regions and concurrent abandonment in others remain the major threat to the ecology of agro-ecosystems impairing the state of soil, water and air and reducing biological diversity in agricultural landscapes. The impacts also extend to surrounding terrestrial and aquatic systems through water and aerial contamination and development of agricultural infrastructures (e.g. dams and irrigation channels). Improvements are also documented regionally, such as successful support of farmland species, and improved condition of watercourses and landscapes. This was attributed to agricultural policy targeted at the environment, improved environmental legislation, and new market opportunities. Research into ecosystem services associated with agriculture may provide further pressure to develop policy that is targeted at their continuous provisioning, fostering motivation of land managers to continue to protect and enhance them. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Global warming and air quality are headline environmental issues of our time and policy must preempt negative international effects with forward-looking strategies. As part of the revision of the European National Emission Ceilings Directive, atmospheric emission projections for European Union countries are being calculated. These projections are useful to drive European air quality analyses and to support wide-scale decision-making. However, when evaluating specific policies and measures at sectoral level, a more detailed approach is needed. This paper presents an original methodology to evaluate emission projections. Emission projections are calculated for each emitting activity that has emissions under three scenarios: without measures (business as usual), with measures (baseline) and with additional measures (target). The methodology developed allows the estimation of highly disaggregated multi-pollutant, consistent emissions for a whole country or region. In order to assure consistency with past emissions included in atmospheric emission inventories and coherence among the individual activities, the consistent emission projection (CEP) model incorporates harmonization and integration criteria as well as quality assurance/quality check (QA/QC) procedures. This study includes a sensitivity analysis as a first approach to uncertainty evaluation. The aim of the model presented in this contribution is to support decision-making process through the assessment of future emission scenarios taking into account the effect of different detailed technical and non-technical measures and it may also constitute the basis for air quality modelling. The system is designed to produce the information and formats related to international reporting requirements and it allows performing a comparison of national results with lower resolution models such as RAINS/GAINS. The methodology has been successfully applied and tested to evaluate Spanish emission projections up to 2020 for 26 pollutants but the methodology could be adopted for any particular region for different purposes, especially for European countries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Observatorio Medioambiental is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The high temporal variability of wind power generation represents a major challenge for the realization of a sustainable energy supply. Large backup and storage facilities are necessary to secure the supply in periods of low renewable generation, especially in countries with a high share of renewables. We show that strong climate change is likely to impede the system integration of intermittent wind energy. To this end, we analyze the temporal characteristics of wind power generation based on high-resolution climate projections for Europe and uncover a robust increase of backup energy and storage needs in most of Central, Northern and North-Western Europe. This effect can be traced back to an increase of the likelihood for long periods of low wind generation and an increase in the seasonal wind variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It is now universally acknowledged that climate change constitutes a major threat to human health. At the same time, some of the measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, so-called climate change mitigation measures, have significant health co-benefits (e.g., walking or cycling more; eating less meat). The goal of limiting global warming to 1,5° Celsius set by the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris in 2015 can only be reached if all stakeholders, including households, take actions to mitigate climate change. Results on whether framing mitigation measures in terms of their health co-benefits increases the likelihood of their implementation are inconsistent. The present study protocol describes the transdisciplinary project HOPE (HOuseholds' Preferences for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in four European high-income countries) that investigates the role of health co-benefits in households' decision making on climate change mitigation measures in urban households in France, Germany, Norway and Sweden.Methods: HOPE employs a mixed-methods approach combining status-quo carbon footprint assessments, simulations of the reduction of households' carbon footprints, and qualitative in-depth interviews with a subgroup of households. Furthermore, a policy analysis of current household oriented climate policies is conducted. In the simulation of the reduction of households' carbon footprints, half of the households are provided with information on health co-benefits of climate change mitigation measures, the other half is not. Households' willingness to implement the measures is assessed and compared in between-group analyses of variance.Discussion: This is one of the first comprehensive mixed-methods approaches to investigate which mitigation measures households are most willing to implement in order to reach the 1,5° target set by the Paris Agreement, and whether health co-benefits can serve as a motivator for households to implement these measures. The comparison of the empirical data with current climate policies will provide knowledge for tailoring effective climate change mitigation and health policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union's ambition on environmental issues proves to be highly uneven. While it has agreed on stringent binding sustainability objectives in its reforms of the Common Fisheries Policy in 2013, it failed to reach such agreement on its 2030 climate change objectives at almost the same time. How can we make sense of this uneven performance of the European Union (EU) in environmental policy? The present article argues that integrating the multiple streams approach (MSA) with a focus on business power allows a better understanding of the divergence in the EU's sustainability ambitions across policy fields. Based on this framework, it suggests that Commissioners can be highly influential policy entrepreneurs in the European governance process. Employing a content analysis of relevant documents from the two policy processes as well as interviews with representatives from political as well as non-state actors, the article depicts the suggested dynamics and deduces corresponding lessons for science and politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has discussed ways of regulating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by civil aircraft for almost 20 years. Over the past four years, a consensus has developed about a market-based mechanism in the form of a carbon offset system. This article describes the route to the agreement reached by ICAO's 39th Assembly, in order to contextualise the results and point out some of its limitations. It points to two main factors that contributed to the consensus: the role of the European Union, which sought to lead the negotiations, and the choice of a flexible and ultimately weak mechanism that received support from the international airlines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The protection and management of protected areas must be adapted to the effects of climate change. An important question is if the law on protected areas is capable of dealing with the required changes. In general, both international nature conventions and European Union nature conservation law do not contain any specific provisions on climate change and protected areas. Attention has been paid to this link in non-binding decisions and policy documents. In order to adapt the law to increased dynamics from climate change, more flexibility is needed. This flexibility should not be understood as 'legal' flexibility, in the sense of the weakening nature conservation provisions. Scientific uncertainties on the effects of climate change might conflict with the need for legal certainties. In order to adapt to the effects of climate change, the two crucial elements are the strengthening of core protected areas and connectivity between the core areas. At the international level, both elements can be found in non-binding documents. International law enables the required adaptation; however, it often lacks concrete obligations. A stronger legal framework can be found at the level of the European Union. The Birds and Habitats Directives contain sufficient tools to deal with the effects of climate change. The Directives have been insufficiently implemented so far. Especially the central goals of reaching a favorable conservation status and connectivity measures need to be addressed much more in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study highlights significant discrepancies between CO2 market design and the actual operation of CO2 markets. Our findings are based upon an empirical investigation undertaken in the context of the European Emissions Trading Scheme between January 2009 and May 2010. CO2 markets are examined from a practice-based perspective in which actors are engaged in exchange, representational and normalizing practices. Discrepancies between the actual and intended CO2 market practices are explained using the concepts of framing, overflowing and regulatory capture. We argue that the design of the European Emissions Trading Scheme has been influenced in such a way that it does not actually challenge market participants to reduce their CO2 emissions. In this way, the study challenges the near universal reliance upon CO2 markets as the primary policy mechanism for mitigating climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU is engaged in an ambitious, controversial, and high-stakes experiment to extend the reach of its climate change law. It is seeking to use its market power to stimulate climate action, and to substitute for climate inaction, elsewhere. This is most apparent in relation to the EU’s decision to include aviation in its emissions trading scheme. While we are sympathetic to the EU’s objectives, and do not take issue with its unilateral means, we argue that the EU is not giving adequate weight to the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDRRC). While the status, meaning, and implications of this principle are contested and unclear, it requires that developed countries should take the lead in addressing the causes and effects of climate change. We argue that the concept of CBDRRC retains relevance in the context of unilateral climate action, and that the EU’s Aviation Directive should be interpreted, applied, and where necessary adjusted in the light of it. We put forward two concrete proposals to achieve this end. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this article the authors examine the challenges to the European Union's protected areas by climate change. The authors are critical of the risks that the natural environment will be losing out by climate change including competition for meager resources. Also investigated is the possibility that the Nature Directives is a progressive approach to deal with environmental constraints and at the center of sustainable development as noted by Great Britain Sustainable Development Commission.

In this article, we analyse EU energy policy from the perspective of the EU's long-term commitments to combat climate change. We focus on the policy integration of climate concerns - 'climate policy integration' (CPI). We seek to answer the question: what is the extent of CPI in energy policy, and what factors can explain this level of CPI? After outlining a conceptualisation of CPI that argues for applying a principled priority standard for the assessment of the level of integration of climate policy objectives in other policy sectors, we apply an analytical framework, with factors derived from general theories of European integration and literature on environmental policy integration, to explain the strength of CPI in two sub-energy sector case studies - renewable energy policies and internal energy market policies. CPI is found to be insufficient in both cases, and two factors are highlighted as particularly crucial for furthering CPI: political commitment to CPI, and the strong participation of climate advocates in the policy process. The article suggests that the expansion of EU competence in energy policy does not necessarily provide a guarantee for full and complete CPI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]