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As a key element in its climate change strategy, the UK government launched a greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme in April 2002. The UK ETS is the first-ever national, industry-wide carbon trading scheme in the world and will eventually form part of the global carbon market which is expected to be established under the Kyoto Protocol. This paper assesses the effectiveness of the scheme both in facilitating emission reductions and also as driver towards moving from a fossil-fuel-based economy towards a low-carbon economy. By looking at early developments in the UK ETS and examining the emission profiles of FTSE 100 companies, the paper reveals some serious weaknesses and highlights that the environmental credibility of the market is hampered by low standards of emissions monitoring and reporting. The authors argue that a fundamental review of the UK scheme is required, to improve its environmental credibility and to bring it in line with the planned EU-wide scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the environment-income relationship in the context of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC), and explores the possible role that factors like governance, political institutions, socioeconomic conditions, and education play in influencing this relationship. The results suggest that the EKC exists for carbon dioxide emissions for cross-country data over the period 1984–2002. However, there is nothing automatic about this relationship; policies designed to protect the environment may be responsible for this phenomenon. Two other significant findings are: one, countries with better quality of governance, stronger political institutions, better socioeconomic conditions and greater investment in education have lower emissions; and two, only around 15% of the countries in the dataset have reached income levels high enough to be associated with an unambiguous decline in emissions. The implications of these results are discussed within the context of the international environmental policy arena and the Kyoto Protocol. One of the main objectives of this paper is to bridge the gap between studies conducted on the EKC and developments in the international environmental policy arena. As a final note this paper emphasizes that one needs to connect the body of knowledge on the EKC hypothesis to the international environmental policy arena, despite the apparent difficulty of doing so. One hopes that future studies will further build on this line of thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assessment of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted to and removed from the atmosphere is high on both political and scientific agendas internationally. As increasing international concern and cooperation aim at policy-oriented solutions to the climate change problem, several issues have begun to arise regarding verification and compliance under both proposed and legislated schemes meant to reduce the human-induced global climate impact. The approaches to addressing uncertainty introduced in this article attempt to improve national inventories or to provide a basis for the standardization of inventory estimates to enable comparison of emissions and emission changes across countries. Authors of the accompanying articles use detailed uncertainty analyses to enforce the current structure of the emission trading system and attempt to internalize high levels of uncertainty by tailoring the emissions trading market rules. Assessment of uncertainty can help improve inventories and manage risk. Through recognizing the importance of, identifying and quantifying uncertainties, great strides can be made in the process of Accounting for Climate Change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In theory, the interaction between the worlds of environmental science and policy may seem straightforward. From a realm outside politics and power, scientists provide relevant knowledge about nature upon which informed policy decisions could be based. However, in reality this linear model tends to be replaced by a much more complex relationship where the distinction between facts and values, knowledge and interests is less clear cut. In this paper, I explore links between science, policy and power through an interview study conducted with Swedish carbon cycle scientists and government negotiators to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Drawing on a co-production model of science–policy interplay this paper addresses the implications of a mutually constitutive relationship between carbon cycle science and climate policy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Kyoto Protocol, in its present form, is quantitatively and structurally totally inadequate to combat dangerous climate change. That is--to the authors of this paper--the inevitable conclusion to be drawn from three careful scientific studies on behalf of the Ministry of Environment of the German federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, two published in Beyond Kyoto--A New Global Climate Certificate System. Continuing Kyoto Commitments or a New Global Climate "Cap-and-Trade Scheme" for a Sustainable Climate Policy? (Wicke 2005) and one in Cost Impacts of a "Beyond Kyoto"-Global Cap and Trade Scheme (Wicke 2006) However, as the cited publications demonstrate, by a "structural evolution" of the climate regime, there can and should be an efficient and internationally acceptable beyond-Kyoto system. It is only necessary to combine some brilliant ideas that have already been proposed: the flexible Kyoto cap-and-trade mechanisms (emission trading between states, joint implementation, and the clean development mechanism) "invented" by US scientists and implemented in the Kyoto Protocol should be enlarged to a global cap-and-trade system, while the idea of equal per capita emission rights from India and Pakistan--which has been unfairly written off as not a serious proposal--can be the basic key to fair distribution of emission rights. Additionally, there must be economic corrections and mechanisms within such a free-market-oriented cap-and-trade scheme to make it economically acceptable for all countries to combat successfully dangerous climate change. This system would give incentives for climate-efficient behavior and structures worldwide and provide adequate means and incentives for sustainable, climate-friendly development and for the elimination of poverty--especially in developing countries. This paper attempts to prove both the inadequacy of the current Kyoto system and the feasibility and necessity of such a global cap-and-trade scheme--being nearly completely in line with a recent urgent call for a global cap-and-trade scheme by the World Economic Forum (World Economic Forum 2005). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Germany is the leader among countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in reducing its emissions of the Kyoto basket of greenhouse gases (GHGs), having accomplished an emissions reduction of 18.9 percent from 1990 to 2000. This paper aims to explain the reasons for this success and to examine the impacts of the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol on the development of Germany's climate policy. In order to identify the factors that determined this outcome, we divide our examination of the policy process in Germany since 1987 into five periods and will evaluate it with a focus on policy measures implemented and actors as well as the institutions involved. It concludes that domestic factors, including the participation of the Greens in the coalition government, mainly determined Germany's success in developing advanced climate policies and measures to reduce its GHG emissions. The paper also highlights the importance of the linkage of climate policy with other policies, which provided incentives to those who would otherwise have opposed or remained neutral on the development of climate policy. As such, the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol did not have a direct impact on climate policy development in Germany, but it did have an indirect impact in that it triggered the development of common and coordinated policies and measures at the European Union (EU) level in order to achieve its quantified GHG reduction target of 8 percent committed to under the Kyoto Protocol, as seen in the introduction of an EU-wide emissions trading scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Nowadays, one of the urgent issues regarding global climate change is to discuss the future of the second period of the Kyoto Protocol. However, the divergence of views and opinions among parties in the last Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, held in Durban in December 2011, is still large. One of the bones of contention is whether the emerging developing countries, like China, should make commitments and legally bind themselves to a Green House Gas (GHG) reduction target in near future. As the largest GHG emitting country, China and its energy and climate policies will play an important role in global climate change and will also significantly influence the other countries’ policies and the global climate negotiation. In this paper, we review the current differences among parties in the Durban Conference, and we analyze the recent situation, barriers, and future policies in China. Finally we highlight the impact and potential effect of Clean Development Mechanisms in avoiding China''s barriers regarding climate change. Results show that China is making a great effort to mitigate climate change by establishing and reforming its energy and climate policies in order to achieve a low-carbon development. At the same time, more innovation and international collaboration is needed in China to achieve this goal. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Climate change is one of the major worldwide environmental concerns. It is especially the case in many developed countries, where the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for this change are mainly concentrated. For the first time, the Kyoto Protocol includes an international agreement for the reduction of the net emissions of these gases. To fulfil this agreement measures designed to reduce or limit current emissions have to be brought into force. Consequently, fears have arisen about possible consequences on competitiveness and future development of manufacturing activities and the need for support mechanisms for the affected sectors is obvious. In this paper, we carry out a study of the emissions of gases responsible for climate change in Asturias (Spain), a region with an important economic presence of sectors with intensive emissions of CO2, the chief greenhouse gas. To be precise, in the first place, the volumes of direct emissions of the said gases in 1995 were calculated, showing that the sectors most affected by the Kyoto Protocol in Asturias are iron and steel and electricity production. Secondly, input–output analysis was applied to determine the direct and indirect emissions and the direct, indirect and induced emissions of the different production sectors, respectively. The results derived from the direct and indirect emissions analysis and their comparison with the results of the former allow us to reach some conclusions and environmental policy implications. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

With the adoption of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992) and the Kyoto Protocol (1997), an impressive international regime on climate change has emerged, involving over 190 countries. It includes legally binding quantitative targets on the emission of greenhouse gases for thirty-eight countries as well as for the European Union. In addition, the regime offers guidelines and incentives for countries to develop climate policy. The development of national climate policy strategies is legally binding, but countries are free to select their own policies and measures. Yet, since national climate policy is discussed in and promoted by international institutions, convergence of policies and measures can be expected. We present an empirical analysis of policy output and policy outcome convergence, based on the National Communications of twenty-three European countries. Our results suggest that in most European countries the explorative phase of climate policy has evolved into the selection and further elaboration of a set of core measures (especially in the energy and transportation sectors), implying some output policy convergence so far. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States' new Global Climate Change initiatives, proposed by the Bush Administration on 14 February 2002, reveal the attitude of the U.S. toward future efforts to address climate change. In this paper, the author clarifies this “attitude” by analyzing the content of these new initiatives, and discusses the inititiatives' theoretical consistency, feasibility, and so on. The examination of these initiatives reveals that—value judgements aside—they contain inherent theoretical inconsistencies. A future challenge for the U.S.'s new climate policy will be to make these initiatives effective by ensuring follow-up actions— something that cannot be realized sufficiently by the current scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper assessed the rationality of the "official" reasons why the Bush Administration opposes the Kyoto Protocol and judges the Kyoto Protocol to be "fatally flawed". Most of the reasons why the Bush Administration made this judgment--lack of long-term goals, exclusion of developing countries and lack of linkages between the scientific base and policy--can be dealt with in the process of the development of the Kyoto Protocol much more easily than through the establishment of an alternative from scratch. We find some rationality in the Bush Administration's opposition to the ratification of the Protocol by the United States based on recognition of increases in US greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions above the "payable" level, in addition to security concerns involved in purchasing permits from EIT countries. Other stances of the Bush administration, such as devaluing or neglecting the existing international framework which the international community has achieved through a decade of intense negotiations, e.g. the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, may cause delays in addressing climate change issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To what extent has the European Union (EU) had a benign or retarding effect on what its member states would have undertaken in the absence of EU climate policies during 2008–2012? A measurement tool for the EU policy's effect is developed and shows a benign average EU effect with considerable variation across countries. The EU's policy effectiveness vis-à-vis its member states is explained by the EU's non-compliance mechanism, the degree of usage of the Kyoto flexible mechanisms, and national pre-Kyoto emission reduction goals. Time-series cross-sectional analyses show that the EU's non-compliance mechanism has no effect, while the ex-ante plans for using Kyoto flexible mechanisms and/or the ambitious pre-Kyoto emission reduction targets allow member states to escape constraints imposed by EU climate policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Politics & Policy is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

Copyright of Politics & Policy is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

Copyright of Foro Internacional is the property of El Colegio de Mexico AC 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.)

This article traces the creation of a market for carbon sequestration by trees under the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, describing the problems encountered by UN negotiators as they attempted to abstract, isolate, quantify and commodify a process akin to breathing, which takes place naturally everywhere, anyway. It starts with an overview of the history of the negotiations that defined the commodity and the rules to govern its trade, creating the scarcity conditions for the market to work. It then goes over the key problems encountered and how they were solved. The analysis draws attention to time and risk as critical elements in reproducing uneven development, and suggests that this new market can be understood as an instance of capital involution-that is, an instance where a narrow pattern persistently repeated leads to ever increasing complexity but, instead of evolving into something new, it generates further entrapment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the developing interaction and cross-scale effects between the company-focused EU emissions trading (ETS) and the country-focused international climate regime, in particular the Kyoto Protocol. Key questions discussed are first, what has been the character of selected interactions so far—synergistic or disruptive? Second, what kinds of interaction mechanisms have been driving the interactions; normative, cognitive, or utilitarian? Third, with regard to cross-scale effects, has significant learning taken place between institutions at different levels? Four sub-cases of interaction are analysed: first, the interaction between the Kyoto Protocol as source and the ETS as target which started after the adoption of the Protocol in late 1997. Second, a next phase of interaction started in 2004 when the EU states started to develop national allocation plans (NAPs) where bringing in credits/allowances developed under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) became one compliance strategy. Third, the opposite relationship is examined, i.e., with the ETS as the source and the Kyoto Protocol institutions as targets. The first phase started after the adoption of the 2003 ET Directive and with the developing ETS possibly leading to a more rapid and extensive CDM development than would otherwise have been the case. Fourth and finally, a separate case of interaction deals with the possible role the ETS plays and could play for an emerging global carbon market. Key findings are that these cases are mainly of a synergistic nature. Furthermore, in order to understand the driving forces, it is necessary to draw upon several interaction mechanisms, particularly cognitive and utilitarian ones. Finally, as to cross-scale learning, the post-2012 global regime may avoid pitfalls related to the allocation process experienced by the ETS. But the learning and diffusion potential should not be exaggerated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Nations is formally committed to gender mainstreaming in all policies and programmes, and that should include policy-making processes relating to climate change. Yet gender aspects are rarely addressed in climate-change policy, either at the national or at the international levels. Reasons include gaps in gender-sensitive data and knowledge about the links between gender justice1 and climate change; and the lack of participation of women and gender experts in climate-related negotiations. This article shares insights and experiences from the international climate-change policy process, recounting the history of women's participation, demonstrating progress achieved, and hoping to inspire women and gender experts to get involved - at the local, national, regional, and international levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the barriers to an effective response to climate change faced by governments and institutions. Developments to prevent environmental degradation in countries including Brazil, China, and India are considered. It is stated that governments and corporations face a challenge in reconciling keeping the costs of producing goods and services low and doing so in an environmentally conscious manner. It is suggested that the involvement and cooperation of these influential bodies is necessary to ensure effective environmental protection.

The three Kyoto flexible mechanisms-emissions trading, the clean development mechanism (CDM), and Joint Implementation (JI)-have always been controversial. Proponents saw the mechanisms as clever tools to ensure environmental outcomes were achieved at least cost. Reducing the costs of compliance, they argued, would make righter environmental targets possible, and certainly more politically feasible. Detractors have argued that the flexible mechanisms commoditize Earth's atmosphere in a manner that will allow dubious projects and the exchange of ‘hot air’ to substitute for serious engagement on climate change. This chapter reviews the Kyoto flexible mechanisms, which will become fully operative during the period 2008 to 2012. The review assesses their progress and success to date, examines the problems that have emerged, and considers suggestions for future developments in climate policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]