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The New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (NZ ETS) broke new ground in ETS design. Drawing from analysis of core policy documentation, this paper examines the rationale, outcomes, and outlook for three key innovations – broad sectoral coverage with some upstream points of obligation, the absence of a hard limit on system emissions, and a two-part cost containment mechanism – following the first decade of operation. It also provides comparative assessment with the European Union Emissions Trading System and California Cap-and-Trade Program. The NZ ETS was designed around the principle of least-cost compliance with international responsibility targets and a core assumption that the Kyoto Protocol emissions market would converge toward an efficient emission price aligned with rising global mitigation ambition. This assumption did not become a reality. As a result, the NZ ETS has produced a functional cross-sector trading market but little incentive for domestic mitigation to date. In late 2019, amendments were introduced to reform sectoral coverage, unit supply, and price management features so the system will better support New Zealand's targets under the 2015 Paris Agreement and 2019 Zero Carbon Act. However, substantial technical and political challenges remain to set near-term domestic mitigation ambition, phase out industrial free allocation, determine the mitigation contribution from the land sector, and design the agricultural emissions pricing regime. The evolution of the NZ ETS, relative to other systems and in response to national circumstances, offers insights that can inform the future development of emissions trading globally. Key policy insights Since 2008, the NZ ETS has successfully pioneered broad cross-sector emissions trading with upstream energy-sector obligations and deforestation obligations with afforestation crediting. Pricing of biogenic agricultural emissions is anticipated from 2025. The government's failure to adapt unit supply and cost containment mechanisms to changing market conditions has undermined incentives for domestic mitigation, resulted in a large bank of participant-held emission units, and subjected the market to long-term policy uncertainty. A cap on auctioning and new price management features will better equip the NZ ETS to support New Zealand's domestic emission reduction targets, but strategic questions remain about the future role of the land sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relying on complex interdependence as a theoretical approach, this paper investigates the hypothetical damage that the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement could represent for Africa in terms of climate finance. In June 2017, President Donald Trump publicly declared the U.S. intention to withdraw from further participating in the multilateral Paris Agreement. To keen followers and analysts of the U.S. climate policy beyond its borders, such unilateral action was never a surprise. Rather, it is nostalgic of the experience of the Kyoto Protocol, particularly how more or less similar move unduly prolonged the global climate negotiations up till late 2015 when the Paris Agreement came about. Although the Paris Agreement is remarkable as it represents the first states-wide climate deal, it however left a number of issues unresolved. Notable among which is climate finance which has remained the most contentious and of critical concern to developing countries, particularly in Africa. Pitted against the fact that Africa contributes less to climate change and, ironically, the hardest-hit by the phenomenon, the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement aggravates concerns around climate finance and, indeed, portends additional burdens for a continent that is still struggling to cope with the untoward fallout of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Forests have always played an important role in agreeing on accounting rules during the past two decades of international climate policy development. Starting from activity-based gross-net accounting of selected forestry activities to mandatory accounting against a baseline-rules have changed quite rapidly and with significant consequences for accounted credits and debits. Such changes have direct consequences on incentives for climate-investments in forestry. There have also been strong arguments not to include forests into the accounting system by considering large uncertainties, procedural challenges and a fear of unearned credits corrupting the overall accounting system, among others. This paper reflects the development of respective accounting approaches and reviews the progress made on core challenges and resulting incentives. Main text: The historic development of forest management accounting rules is analysed in the light of the Paris Agreement. Pros and cons of different approaches are discussed with specific focus on the challenge to maintain integrity of the accounting approach and on resulting incentives for additional human induced investments to increase growth for future substitution and increased C storage by forest management. The review is solely based on scientific publications and official IPCC and UNFCC documents. Some rather political statements of non-scientific stakeholders are considered to reflect criticism. Such sources are indicated accordingly. Remaining and emerging requirements for an accounting system for post 2030 are highlighted. Conclusions: The Paris Agreement is interpreted as a 'game changer' for the role of forests in climate change mitigation. Many countries rely on forests in their NDCs to achieve their self-set targets. In fact, the agreement 'to achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century' puts pressure on the entire land sector to contribute to overall GHG emission reductions. This also concerns forests as a resource for the bio-based economy and wood products, and for increasing carbon reservoirs. By discussing the existing elements of forest accounting rules and conditions for establishing an accounting system post 2030, it is concluded that core requirements like factoring out direct human-induced from indirect human-induced and natural impacts on managed lands, a facilitation of incentives for management changes and providing safeguards for the integrity of the accounting system are not sufficiently secured by currently discussed accounting rules. A responsibility to fulfil these basic requirements is transferred to Nationally Determined Contributions. Increased incentives for additional human induced investments are not stipulated by the accounting approach but rather by the political decision to make use of the substitution effect and potential net removals from LULUCF to contribute to self-set targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is a significant threat to sustainable development (SD). Using the Log-Mean Divisia Index Method (LMDI) a decomposition of the data on the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the European Union (EU) in 2000-2013 is carried out. To detect if decoupling of the environmental variable represented by the GHG emissions from the economic variable represented by the GDP was taking place in the EU economy, the changes of the GHG emissions were divided into three effects. These factors include the economic activity (scale), the composition or structure of the EU economy with respect to the countries, and GHG intensity of the countries. The aim of the paper is to detect if decoupling of the GHG emissions from the GDP development in the EU took place and to detect the factors of this development. The intensity effect was mainly responsible for the reduction of the GHG emissions in the EU while the scale effect contributed to their increase. The role of the composition effect was only marginal; however, it was positive. As the intensity effect often showed the high negative values, the total effect was often negative as well, which means that decoupling of GHG emissions from GDP took place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been argued that the preoccupation of individual nations with economic growth and development has contributed to environmental degradation. Economic nationalism is viewed as a hindrance to international strategies that can be used to slow the rate of environmental degradation. This paper argues that, in the case of Singapore, the means to mitigate environmental concerns are largely driven by material interests. Emissions control measures have been introduced provided they have been deemed economically feasible. But this has not prevented the city state from being a socially responsible member of the global community. This paper argues that, in today's context, policies that appear to be “nationalist” may not be totally inconsistent with policies that could help to improve the standard of living of all members of the international community. Selective engagement in regional and global initiatives realistically portrays the policy choices of many nation states. This paper contends that environment-related initiatives have to be seen in terms of reconciling the dual objectives of maximising the national interest and mitigating the global problem of environmental degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Kyoto Protocol entered into force on February 16, 2005. Emissions reductions targets established by the protocol will be met by domestic policies and by three international flexible mechanisms: clean development, joint implementation, and emissions trading. Following a value-theoretic and class-based approach, the purpose of this paper is to analyze these flexible mechanisms. In particular, the paper investigates the nature and adoption of flexible mechanisms, and their class and environmental links and implications. Carbon-intensive capitalist firms and developed economies are found to be exerting great influence on the shaping and implementation of flexible mechanisms. Environmental effectiveness and justice, and equal sustainable development raised and claimed by worker-citizens, social movements, local communities, and developing countries have not been secured. Thus flexible mechanisms do not present a real challenge to current institutions and practices for sustainable climate conditions for the workers-citizen of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper argues that the problem with the targets and timetable approach to climate policy is that it ignores uncertainty about costs. An alternative approach on coordinating short run prices within a long run emissions targeting framework is outlined. A global economic model is used to demonstrate the nature of the economic uncertainty about climate policy and the gains to be achieved by equalizing carbon prices across countries. The paper also shows that although price and quantity-based systems appear to be similar they can fundamentally change the international transmission of economic shocks. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Climate change response, including the implementation of the Kyoto targets as the first step, calls for technological innovation of future sustainable energy systems. Based on the Danish case, this paper evaluates the type of technological change necessary. During a period of 30 years, Denmark managed to stabilize primary energy supply, and CO2 emissions decreased by 10%, during a period of 20 years. However, after the introduction of the Kyoto Mechanisms, Denmark has changed its strategy. Instead of continuing the domestic CO2 emission controls, Denmark plans to buy CO2 reductions in other countries. Consequently, the innovative technological development has changed. This paper evaluates the character of such change and makes preliminary recommendations for policies to encourage the use of the Kyoto Mechanisms as an acceleration of the necessary technological innovation. [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]

The objective of this paper is to assess recent developments and prospects for future changes in United States (US) climate strategy. In doing so, the paper explores some of the key factors that have shaped strategies and policies to date, distinguishing between factors related to institutional and governance structures, linkages between science and policy, energy technology and the role of interest groups. Against this background, the paper attempts to explore future development paths for US climate policy. More specifically, the paper assesses opportunities for policy changes compared to the preferences of the current administration, and the prospects for future linkages between US and international climate change strategies. In brief, the paper argues that substantial changes are unlikely to take place in the near to medium term, leaving open, however, the possibility of wide-ranging changes in domestic politics or major incidents that could facilitate a shift in the perceived need for near-term action. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

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]

There are several air pollution issues that concern the international community at the regional and global level, including acid deposition, heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants, stratospheric ozone depletion, and climate change. Governments at the regional and global levels have entered into various agreements in an effort to deal with these problems. This paper deals with two major global atmospheric change issues: stratospheric ozone depletion and climate change. The focus is on the policy responses of the United States to these global issues. The United States has signed and ratified international agreements to deal with both problems. The Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer have led to an effort in both developed and developing countries to phase out ozone depleting substances. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has been signed and ratified by over 180 countries. The UNFCC contained no binding targets and timetables for emissions reductions. The Kyoto Protocol (1997) to the UNFCCC did contain targets and timetables for reductions of greenhouse gases on the part of developed countries. The United States has signed but not ratified the Kyoto Protocol. The United States has experienced some movement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on the part of various levels of government as well as the private sector. The policy process is constantly informed by scientific research. In the case of stratospheric ozone depletion and climate change, much of this work is carried out under the auspices of international scientific panels. From a policy perspective, there is a great deal of interest in the use of indicators for assessing the scope and magnitude of these problems, both for fashioning policy responses as well as assessing the impact of adopted programs to reduce ozone depleting substances, and potentially, greenhouse gases. This paper will discuss some of the indicators used for stratospheric ozone depletion and climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper argues that the development of the Ecosystem Services framework, which has recently emerged as an internationally recognized framework for valuing 'the 'natural capital' of ecosystems, presents a number of opportunities for heritage management and the archaeological record, arguing that the inclusion of archaeological and palaeoenvironmental 'value' within this framework presents an opportunity to incorporate heritage alongside a range of other critical 'services'. It presents a short case study focusing on the problems facing the preservation of peatland archaeological sites and deposits in situ alongside developments within peatland conservation and restoration initiatives partly driven by the ability of healthy, functioning peatlands to sequester carbon and hence mitigate climate change. It is argued that this drive towards peatland re-wetting may bring both positive benefits and opportunities for heritage management but also presents a number of practical issues, which now require active engagement from the archaeological community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

About 25 years ago, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change claimed that the greenhouse gases, in particular Carbon Dioxide, are mainly responsible for global warming and its adverse effects. The claim rapidly became an absolute and incontrovertible truth regardless of countless scientific counterevidences. Such international trend was directed to a birth of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol, the detailed norm to the Convention. Even to this very day, the "man-made climate change" operates as implicit prerequisite of continuing international climate conferences and international environmental law studies. The paper tries to introduce a viewpoint from the scientific skepticism towards man-made climate change and figure out the political calculations inside Kyoto Protocol. By doing so, the author demonstrates that serious concern about the environment barely exists in current climate response system and attempts to adduce suggestions that should be made in future climate change conferences. [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: The world driven by the concern for climate change and by growing prices for fossil fuels is trying to make a more drastic shift towards renewable energy sources (RES). The Kyoto Protocol mechanisms are considered to assist this process in both developed and developing countries. The scope of this paper is to analyze the so far gained experience by the implementation of the clean development mechanism (CDM), in order to investigate its role in the formation of wind energy markets in developing countries. For this purpose we make a brief overview of existing incentives for the RES support within hosting countries. Then, we exploit the available CDM databases in order to identify the influence of CDM activities on the development of the corresponding wind energy markets. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper examines the early operation of the Kyoto Protocol's non-compliance procedure since 2006. Several important non-compliance cases recently or currently before the Kyoto Compliance Committee of the procedures and mechanisms deserve to be analysed and discussed. As we may see, the enforcement branch of the Compliance Committee has dealt with some important cases of non-compliance; Among them, from the viewpoint of interpretation or application of international environmental treaties, the question of compliance by Croatia would be particularly interesting. What must be noticed is that the Kyoto Protocol's NCP has prepared a multilateral forum which enables both the parties and the enforcement branch to base their arguments on international legal perspectives. This examination will also contribute to contested theories of compliance with international legal rules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is a project based mechanism introduced by the Kyoto protocol (1997). Among other unsettled issues pertaining to CDM, this paper explores a dynamic implication of CDM baseline. A continuous time dynamic duopoly model of an incumbent firm and an entrant firm is constructed. We show that CDM baseline plays an important role when the incumbent (leader) and the entrant (follower) choose their timing of CDM project investments. Because of the baseline, the entrant's investment with higher technological potential gets postponed, while the incumbent invests earlier than otherwise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Kyoto Protocol, is the first legal instrument with a compromise to reduce the production of greenhouse effect's Gases. In Argentinean legislation the United Nation's Convention as well as the Kyoto Protocol are included in internal laws in the Law 24.295 and the law 25.438. The objective of this paper is to review the origins of these two international instruments; their incorporation to the Argentinean internal law; and to determine the state of the art of its application and the effectiveness of the Argentinean laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is supposed to be an important mechanism for addressing climate change. Up to now, the theoretical foundation of EU ETS has been widely acknowledged, but empirical research on its current situation has only been published recently or is forthcoming. Therefore, this paper is aimed to summarize the main arguments of empirical studies on the EU ETS, in terms of two aspects, i.e., the operating mechanism and economic effect of the EU ETS, which are two crucial topics and have been attached much attention. Based on the shortcomings of current research and future requirements of the EU ETS evolution, finally, we also present some further directions of the EU ETS research. Overall, the research overview here may be helpful to recognize the features of the EU ETS and its effect on others. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The long-term increase in Earth''s temperature is known as the global warming or the greenhouse effect. Taking into account the fact that the ice age only involved a global temperature variation of around 4°C, it is clear climate change is arguably one of the greatest environmental threats the world is facing today. The impacts of disruptive change leading to catastrophic events such as storms, droughts, sea level rise and floods are already being felt across the world. In this context, the signing of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 has been argued to be a historic step in reversing the inexorable increase in the emission of the greenhouse gases. The primary achievement of the Protocol has been so-called commitment of countries referred in the Annex I of the Protocol to reduce their emission of GHGs some 5% below their country specific 1990 level. On February 5, 2009, Turkish Parliament ratified an agreement to sign the Kyoto Protocol after intense pressure from both the European Union and international environmental organizations; however, so far it has not taken any step to bring about real reductions in emissions. In short, Turkey simply signed but ignored the Protocol. Present paper investigates Turkish position vis-à-vis Kyoto Protocol and critically questions Turkish policies in that area. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper analyses environment subject present in public policies for Legal Amazonia, including the Public Forests Management Law (Law 11.284/06), approved with the purpose of regulating public forests management in Brazil and promoting sustainable development. The Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is suggested as a forest conservation mechanism. Through an hypothetical "zero" deforestation scenario and 100% of not emitted carbon linked to forest conservation projects, an economic revenue equivalent to the logging activities was estimated, and could be obtained in carbon market, contributing to maintenance of climatic equilibrium reducing Greenhouse Gases emissions, as well as keeping preserved biodiversity and environment services values related to standing forest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to assess the economic impacts of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by decreasing industrial output in Canada to a level that will meet the target set out in the Kyoto Protocol. The study uses an ecological–economic Input–Output model combining economic components valued in monetary terms with ecologic components – GHG emissions – expressed in physical terms. Economic and greenhouse gas emissions data for Canada are computed in the same sectoral disaggregation. Three policy scenarios are considered: the first one uses the direct emission coefficients to allocate the reduction in industrial output, while the other two use the direct plus indirect emission coefficients. In the first two scenarios, the reduction in industrial sector output is allocated uniformly across sectors while it is allocated to the 12 largest emitting industries in the last one. The estimated impacts indicate that the results vary with the different allocation methods. The third policy scenario, allocation to the 12 largest emitting sectors, is the most cost effective of the three as the impacts of the Kyoto Protocol reduces Gross Domestic Product by 3.1% compared to 24% and 8.1% in the first two scenarios. Computed economic costs should be considered as upper-bounds because the model assumes immediate adjustment to the Kyoto Protocol and because flexibility mechanisms are not incorporated. The resulting upper-bound impact of the third scenario may seem to contradict those who claim that the Kyoto Protocol would place an unbearable burden on the Canadian economy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper argues that there is an urgent need to reframe the current climate change debate, not as a scientific assessment of the extent of human impact on nature, but as a 'perfect political dilemma' involving questions of human injustice and insecurity, the symptoms of which are: widening gaps between the poor and the rich; and a climate in crisis with high security risks. It concludes that in order for the climate debate to move beyond the current stalemate, the international community needs political leaders who understand science and who are willing to seek fair, equitable and just political solutions to a scientifically based challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1990 carbon dioxide emissions in Africa have increased by about 50%. The total carbon dioxide emissions of the entire African continent are not, however, anywhere near those of countries such as India or China. Yet certain African countries have per capita emissions comparable to some European countries. What is the outlook for Africa? How should African countries respond as it becomes increasingly likely that climate change is occurring? Increased industrial growth and more foreign investment in Africa, especially in countries that are politically and economically stable, have led to huge commercial developments such as the In Salah gas project in Algeria, which releases more than a million tons of carbon dioxide annually; and synthetic fuel plants and power stations in South Africa that generate more than 350 million tons per year. In this perspective should some African countries be required to limit greenhouse gas emissions or should they be immune to 'environmental taxation'? This paper critically reviews the carbon dioxide problem in some parts of Africa and its role in climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National, regional, and international actors can use a range of different policies to increase the demand for forest-based carbon sequestration. Demand for these services has, the potential to significantly impact the decisions of landowners, land managers, and private investors by increasing the incentives for creation or maintenance of forest ecosystems. The Kyoto process is at the center of discussions regarding the market for carbon services although it is not the only relevant source of demand. The authors recommend an approach to climate change regulation that requires actions beyond the current scope and term of the Kyoto Protocol. The four areas addressed in this paper are: (1) increasing regulation-based demand for carbon reductions by improved implementation and increasing coverage, (2) increasing voluntary demand for carbon reductions, (3) increasing the percentage of carbon reduction that derives from land use, land use change, and forestry, and (4) ways to stimulate demand for forest-based carbon sequestration generally by reducing transaction costs and contractual risks and in a particular country by recommending policy changes in Panama. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is a rapidly changing and developing region which is making the transition to a market based economy. Along with economic reforms, the countries of the region are engaged in substantial environmental reforms, including climate change mitigation activities. Mitigation of, and adaptation to, the consequences of climate change are costly processes. It is therefore of great importance that the national and international mechanisms addressing these problems use methods both environmentally sound and economically efficient. Through two case studies that address the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and the Green Investment Scheme (GIS) in Romania, this paper explores challenges, related tasks and main problems in the establishment of mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol in Central and Eastern Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Australia and Canada have been active participants in international climate change negotiations since the early 1990s and have often shared negotiating positions. This paper discusses why, in spite of considerable similarities in national circumstances, the Canadian government chose to ratify the Kyoto Protocol in 2002, while the Australian government decided against doing so. It is argued that a range of factors led to a narrower conception of the national interest in the case of Australia, which encouraged a focus on the short-term, economic costs of implementing the Protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since entry into force of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1994, negotiations on controlling future greenhouse gas emissions have turned into one of the largest development issues of our time. In February 2005, the Kyoto Protocol entered into force and 9 months later a historical first meeting of the Kyoto Protocol (COP/MOP 1) was held in Montreal side-by-side with the 11th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 11). After several years of stalemate, the Montreal meeting has resulted somewhat unexpectedly in a constructive outcome that has opened the door for new momentum in climate talks. Along with several key technical decisions, an agreement was reached to hold separate talks to discuss the futures of the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol. This paper discusses the main outcomes of the conference and explores possible ways forward. It concludes that success in the UNFCCC process is imperative to address climate change in both developing and developed countries, even if the most effective actions are taken outside the immediate context of the legal process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperate forest ecosystems have recently been identified as an important net sink in the global carbon budget. The factors responsible for the strength of the sinks and their permanence, however, are less evident. In this paper, we quantify the present carbon sequestration in Thuringian managed coniferous forests. We quantify the effects of indirect human-induced environmental changes (increasing temperature, increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration and nitrogen fertilization), during the last century using BIOME-BGC, as well as the legacy effect of the current age-class distribution (forest inventories and BIOME-BGC). We focused on coniferous forests because these forests represent a large area of central European forests and detailed forest inventories were available. The model indicates that environmental changes induced an increase in biomass C accumulation for all age classes during the last 20 years (1982–2001). Young and old stands had the highest changes in the biomass C accumulation during this period. During the last century mature stands (older than 80 years) turned from being almost carbon neutral to carbon sinks. In high elevations nitrogen deposition explained most of the increase of net ecosystem production (NEP) of forests. CO2 fertilization was the main factor increasing NEP of forests in the middle and low elevations. According to the model, at present, total biomass C accumulation in coniferous forests of Thuringia was estimated at 1.51 t C ha−1 yr−1 with an averaged annual NEP of 1.42 t C ha−1 yr−1 and total net biome production of 1.03 t C ha−1 yr−1 (accounting for harvest). The annual averaged biomass carbon balance (BCB: biomass accumulation rate-harvest) was 1.12 t C ha−1 yr−1 (not including soil respiration), and was close to BCB from forest inventories (1.15 t C ha−1 yr−1). Indirect human impact resulted in 33% increase in modeled biomass carbon accumulation in coniferous forests in Thuringia during the last century. From the forest inventory data we estimated the legacy effect of the age-class distribution to account for 17% of the inventory-based sink. Isolating the environmental change effects showed that these effects can be large in a long-term, managed conifer forest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When planning sampling in an experiment where soil organic carbon (SOC) content is expected to change, it is necessary to know how many samples will need to be taken to demonstrate a change in Soc and after how long this change will be detectable. Much has been published on the number of samples required to demonstrate the minimum detectable difference in SOC. but less on how long it takes for this change to be detectable. In this paper, a model of SOC dynamics is used to estimate the minimum time taken for a change in total SOC content to become measurable under different carbon inputs, land uses and soil types. For free air carbon dioxide enrichment (FACE), and other experiments in which SOC is expected to increase, relationships between the percentage change in C inputs and the time taken to measure a change in SOC are presented, for two levels of sampling intensity corresponding to the maximum that is practically possible in most experiments (∼100 samples) and that used regularly in field experiments (10-20 samples). In FACE experiments, where C inputs increase by a maximum of about 20-25%, SOC change could be detected with 90% confidence after about 6-10 years if a sampling regime allowing 3% change in background SOC level (probably requiring a very large number of samples) were used, but could not be detected at all if a sampling regime were used that allowed only a 15% change in background SOC to be detected. If increases in C inputs are much below 15%, it might not be possible to detect a change in soil C without an enormous number of samples. Relationships between the change in C inputs and the time taken to measure a change in SOC are robust over a range of soil types and land uses. The results demonstrate how models of SOC dynamics can be used to complement statistical power analyses for planning when, and how intensively, to sample soils during experiments. An advantage of the modelling approach demonstrated here is that estimates of the minimum time taken for a change in soil carbon to become detectable can be made, even before any detailed soil samples are taken, simply from estimates of the likely increase in carbon inputs to the soil (via expected changes in net primary production). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is widely agreed that the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is a useful international instrument that encourages and reinforces the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), and also that it should be further promoted as a way to fill the gap in energy and GHG efficiency between industrialized and developing countries. A number of problematic issues have become apparent, however, during the past two and a half years of experience with the CDM. This paper identifies some of these and provides possible insights into their nature and possible resolution. While some technical aspects such as baseline setting are crucial and are being resolved gradually through accumulated experience, other political aspects such as the utilization of public funding need more discussion (rather than formal negotiations). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Convincing the United States to mitigate its greenhouse gas emissions is critical to spurring a stronger and more durable international response to climate change. This paper focuses on current US action on climate change and the potential for future US emissions targets in both domestic and international arenas. Five topics are covered: (1) the evolving politics of climate change in the United States; (2) the impact of climate change on the US presidential election; (3) lessons learned from the Kyoto process; (4) the prospects for the United States re-engaging internationally; and (5) how to design an international regime that would encourage US participation. While federal mandatory emission targets will take more time, a great deal is happening in the United States at the state and local level. These actions are changing the politics of climate change in the United States in ways that lead many US experts to believe that a stronger national policy is inevitable. Even so, climate change is not playing a significant role in the November 2004 US presidential election campaigns, although a related issue, energy policy, features more prominently. Regardless of who wins the election, the United States will not ratify the Kyoto Protocol and may not return to the Kyoto process to negotiate emission targets beyond 2012. To secure US participation, any international climate treaty must build on prior US domestic regulation and start with exceptionally modest targets for the United States that become more stringent over time. Countries seeking to engage the United States on climate change should keep an open mind about non-Kyoto approaches, given lingering skepticism in the United States about the United Nations and the Kyoto process. The international community should encourage the United States to do more by making good on the emission mitigation pledges they have undertaken and by giving priority to convincing the United States to act at home rather than negotiating... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last years, when the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol became dependent on its ratification by Russia, the protocol's prospects appeared quite uncertain. To a great extent this uncertainty was reinforced by the contradictory declarations of Russian officials--promises of imminent ratification that alternated with critiques of the Kyoto regime, including comments that it is discriminatory in character and unacceptable for Russia. The decision-making process on ratification in Russia has not been transparent and elements of uncertainty are dominant. How has the situation changed as a result of the European Union--Russia Summit held in Moscow in May 2004? The answer to that question suggested in this paper is based on the fact that the compromise reached at the summit had the following impacts: (1) it placed the ratification process within a new institutional framework; (2) it had a number of positive implications for facilitating ratification, speeding it up, and reducing uncertainties and risks; (3) it consolidated the positions of the supporters of the Kyoto Protocol in Russia and weakened its opponents; (4) at the same time, the new institutional framework for ratification has led to a number of new uncertainties and risks that may hinder ratification; and (5) the problem, so far, is that that the new risks are not yet fully recognized and protocol supporters continue to counteract the former threats without realizing that the new front lines deviate significantly from the former ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to examine the repercussions in Japan wrought by the Kyoto Protocol, which it signed in 1997, and to point the way for the country's response in the next and future rounds of protocol-related negotiations. This challenge is met by first reviewing Japan's past negotiating positions at the international level and relevant movements inside the country prior to and after it signed the protocol, and then by examining the protocol's effects on Japan. This review finds that the following points are important to be aware of when attempting to understand Japan's dynamics relating to the Kyoto Protocol: (1) it is the only internationally agreed text to address climate change; (2) it is the only major multilateral environmental agreement ever adopted in Japan, giving it special significance to domestic actors; (3) the negotiation process represented a new approach to foreign policy; and (4) its negotiation was part of a learning process for Japan on multilateral negotiations on climate change. Japan has now begun to prepare for a new round of climate change negotiations, and the learning that has occurred is now reflected in two very distinct views within Japan as to the ways to move forward. As Japan's government works to merge the demands of all ministries concerned, its position in future negotiations is likely to remain vague externally; internally, on the other hand, the Japanese people will be increasingly concerned about climate change policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the impact of national development policy on land cover change and associated carbon fluxes at a Peruvian Amazon frontier. Remote sensing and field transects reveal changes in forest carbon stocks and accumulation rates. Deforestation was most rapid along the Interoceanic Highway during 1986–91 when credit and guaranteed markets were available, resulting in emissions of 708,000 Mg C yr−1, of which 14% was offset by secondary regrowth. Despite continued population growth, deforestation slowed during 1991–97 when fiscal austerity measures were imposed, resulting in emissions of 389,000 Mg C yr−1, of which 41% was offset by regrowth. Strategies to conserve frontier forests are compared in terms of carbon, biodiversity and economic costs and benefits. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Kyoto Protocol is a landmark in international environmental law. As the first derived legal instrument of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, its negotiation has been pioneering, and consequently the path has not always been smooth. This paper outlines the international political history of the Kyoto Protocol, placing the key events in the negotiation process in the context of the national and interest group politics that have characterized the climate regime for the past decade. The key aims, intervening politics, and subsequent outcomes of the pivotal Conferences of the Parties (COPs) pertaining to the Kyoto Protocol--The Hague, Bonn, and Marrakech--are described. An evaluation of the Protocol is then made, using a mix of public choice and international relations theories. The final section takes a broader perspective, placing the Kyoto Protocol within the international climate regime and other multilateral environmental negotiations, which may affect its operationalization and effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five years down the road from Kyoto, the Protocol that bears that city’s name still awaits enough qualifying ratifications to come into force. While attention has been understandably focussed on the ratification process, it is time to begin thinking about the next steps for the global climate regime, particularly in terms of a deeper inclusion of developing countries’ concerns and interests. This paper begins doing so from the perspective of the developing countries. The principal argument is that we need to return to the basic principles outlined in the Framework Convention on Climate Change in searching for a north–south bargain on climate change. Such a bargain may be achievable if we can realign the policy architecture of the climate regime to its original stated goals of sustainable development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This is an overview of Session 2c dealing with the regulatory, policy and economic issues related to carbon dioxide and its impact on global climate change. The information is taken from the two papers presented in this session (the U.S. Perspective by Dennis Leaf and the European Perspective by Hans J.H. Verolme) and from the panel discussion that took place at the end of the session. The overview focuses primarily on the policy responses of both the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK) to changes in global atmospheric pollution. To a lesser extent, the progress of policy responses to these changes is discussed. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has been signed and ratified by over 180 countries. The UNFCCC contained no binding targets or timetables for emissions reductions. The Kyoto Protocol [United Nations. Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. UNEP.IUC/99/10. Chatlelaine, Switzerland: United Nations Environment Programme''s Information Unit for Conventions, for the Climate Change Secretariat, 1997] to the UNFCCC did contain targets and timetables for reductions of greenhouse gases on the part of developed countries. The US has signed but not ratified the Kyoto Protocol. The US has experienced some movement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on the part of various levels of government, as well as the private sector. The UK''s commitment to reducing green house gases is laid down in the UK Climate Change Programme 2000. The UK is a member of the European Union (EU). In this context, an example of EU-wide progress, the voluntary agreement with car manufacturers to reduce CO2 emissions in new vehicles, will be discussed. In addition, there will be some discussion on the UK CO2 trading scheme that created the first market in the world in April 2001. Overall, the policy process is constantly informed by scientific research. In the case of climate change, much of this work is carried out under the auspices of international scientific panels. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

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]

The Fourth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change was concluded on 14 November 1998 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Unlike Kyoto in 1997, this conference was on a smaller scale and was convened as a technical work session, its aim being to produce a plan of action and a timetable for a programme of work for the next two years. This paper summarizes the main outcomes of the conference and looks at the way in which the International Nuclear Forumorganized the nuclear industry's representation. In particular, the paper assesses the impact of the nuclear industry's message regardingthe avoidance of greenhouse gas emissions, and goes on to consider what lessons can be reached for raising the industry's profile at future climate change conferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]