A bargaining game analysis of international climate negotiations

Science.gov (United States)

Smead, Rory; Sandler, Ronald L.; Forber, Patrick; Basl, John

2014-06-01

Climate negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have so far failed to achieve a robust international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Game theory has been used to investigate possible climate negotiation solutions and strategies for accomplishing them. Negotiations have been primarily modelled as public goods games such as the Prisoner's Dilemma, though coordination games or games of conflict have also been used. Many of these models have solutions, in the form of equilibria, corresponding to possible positive outcomes--that is, agreements with the requisite emissions reduction commitments. Other work on large-scale social dilemmas suggests that it should be possible to resolve the climate problem. It therefore seems that equilibrium selection may be a barrier to successful negotiations. Here we use an N-player bargaining game in an agent-based model with learning dynamics to examine the past failures of and future prospects for a robust international climate agreement. The model suggests reasons why the desirable solutions identified in previous game-theoretic models have not yet been accomplished in practice and what mechanisms might be used to achieve these solutions.

Modelling the International Climate Change Negotiations: A Non-Technical Outline of Model Architecture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Underdal, Arild

1997-12-31

This report discusses in non-technical terms the overall architecture of a model that will be designed to enable the user to (1) explore systematically the political feasibility of alternative policy options and (2) to determine the set of politically feasible solutions in the global climate change negotiations. 25 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab.

Colloquium - Where are the international climate negotiations heading to?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Auverlot, Dominique; Barreau, Blandine; Olivia, Franck; Baecher, Cedric; Dutreix, Nicolas; Ioualalen, Romain; Guyot, Paul; Campagne, Jean Charles; Collomb, Etienne; Dahan, Amy; Aykut, Stefan C.

2012-11-01

In the context of the symposium 'Where are the international climate negotiations heading to?', the Center for Strategic Analysis publishes three notes in a mini-report. These notes are based on the main findings of two studies conducted for the CAS on the international perception of the scientific discourse on the matter and the evolution of international climate negotiations. Since the adoption of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992, the gap has been widening between the progress of negotiations to reach an agreement to organize the international fight against climate changes, and the phenomenon of climate change itself. Successive reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which highlighted the human responsibility in the matter, also highlighted the risk of irreversible disasters and the need to act quickly to limit the rise of the global average temperature. States Parties to the Convention agreed in 2010 on the development of an agreement based on countries' voluntary commitments to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases. But now, the countries promises are not enough to delay the prospect of global warming and its consequences. It is now crucial to set more ambitious goals. In June, the conference 'Rio +20', organized twenty years after the Earth Summit, however, has shown that developing countries (DCs) and emerging countries regarded the fight against poverty as a priority and an essential prerequisite for sustainable development: section two of the declaration adopted at the summit clearly states so. This is why a global agreement that will effectively fight against climate change should include ambitious targets in reducing gas emissions, but it cannot stop there: it must also take into account the fight against poverty and implement financial and technological transfers as referred to Cancun in 2010, as well as measures to support adaptation to climate change to meet the demands of

Small island developing states and international climate change negotiations: the power of moral ‘‘leadership’’

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Águeda Corneloup, de I.; Mol, A.P.J.

2014-01-01

Being at the frontline of climate change, small island developing states (SIDS) hold a serious stake in climate negotiations. However, these countries usually are marginalized in the international political arena, due to their lack of structural power. This paper explores the strategic influence of

Development and outlook for agriculture in international climate negotiations. Climate Report no. 48

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tronquet, Clothilde; Foucherot, Claudine

2015-02-01

Agriculture has a specific role to play in current and future climate change. This carbon-intensive sector, which is responsible for 13.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, is also highly exposed to the impacts of climate change, including a downward trend and increasing variability in yields. Yet agriculture's capacity to adapt and potential for mitigation also make it part of the solution to climate change. The agricultural sector is often treated as a poor relation in international climate negotiations, which is inappropriate given its specific characteristics and fundamental role. The aim of this report is to consider how agriculture can participate effectively in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations and identify the main challenges faced by this sector in the coming years. An analysis of the history of negotiations and their current situation belies the idea that agriculture plays no part in the UNFCCC process, although it does not enjoy specific consideration as a sector. It falls within the scope of various mitigation and adaptation mechanisms, while its effective participation remains limited. Since 2009, agriculture has also been included in the COP negotiation process and is currently part of the UNFCCC's Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA). However, agriculture is only at the first stage of a long and complex negotiation process which cannot be expected to be completed during COP21. While we can hope for COP21 to achieve progress in dialogue regarding monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) or the adoption of a landscape approach, the SBSTA's work on agriculture will continue beyond 2015, representing a vital step before the development of any operational tools. Multilateral initiatives such as the Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture are meanwhile helping to mobilise the international community regarding agricultural issues, in parallel with

Governing climate? 20 years of international negotiations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aykut, Stefan; Dahan, Amy

2015-01-01

As greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere have reached a record level in 2013, the authors propose an analysis and an assessment of international negotiations and governance on the climate issue since the Kyoto protocol. They precisely describe the mechanics of these negotiations, recall their different steps (the IPCC creation, the Rio conference, the UN Convention, the Kyoto protocol), describe the emergence of the different concepts which have been used to define the negotiation framework, comment the definition of the three main structuring principles of the struggle against climate change (precautionary principle, principle of common but differentiated responsibility, right to development), and outline the role of adaptation. They discuss the negotiation context, the emergence of a European leadership, the failure of the Copenhagen conference, and the importance of domestic policies. They also address other related concerns: the maintenance of the prevailing model of economic growth, national sovereignty, the postures of some companies and sectors. The authors present and analyse the situation and posture of different countries: USA, China, emerging powers like Brazil and India, Europe, Germany and France. They make some propositions to build up a new type of international climate governance, and outline the need of a convergence of international energy, commercial and development agendas, and of the development of a bottom-up approach

After Kyoto: equity stakes and efficiency in the negotiation on the climatic change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blanchard, O.; Criqui, P.; Viguier, L.; Trommetter, M.

2000-01-01

The first difficulty to get over in the international negotiation on the climatic change, has been and still remain the distribution of the efforts and the research of the equity in the objective determination. This paper aims to show that facing the different interests of each countries, a single rule of differentiation is not possible. The first part is a review of the different charts of the objectives differentiation discussed or proposed in the international negotiation process on the greenhouse effect. It aims to find a bond between the the charts and the equity. The second part proposes the quantification of a scenario of the emission licenses attribution for 2030 for all the world countries. (A.L.B.)

Countries in transition and the developing countries in the negotiation on the climatic change. Stakes of the Kyoto conference

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blanchard, O.; Cavard, D.; Faudry, D.; Girod, J.; Menanteau, P.; Viguier, L.

1997-10-01

This document presents the positions of the countries in transition and the developing countries in the phase of the negotiations on the climatic change between 1994 and 1997, then takes stock on the pilot phase of the actions of the associated implementation. The negotiations stakes and the frame of the discussions are also presented. (A.L.B.)

Climate change negotiation simulations for students: responses across gender and age.A case study: San Francisco State University World Climate Exercises

Science.gov (United States)

Rasheva, E. A.

2015-12-01

For decades, role-play and simulation exercises have been utilized for learning and policy decision making. While the power of Model UN simulations in building first-person experience and understanding of complex international issues is well known, the effectiveness of simulations for inspiring citizen engagement in scientific public-policy issues is little studied. My work hypothesizes that climate-change negotiation simulations can enhance students' scientific literacy and policy advocacy. It aims to determine how age and gender influence the responsiveness of students to such simulations. During the 2015 fall semester, I am conducting World Climate exercises for fellow graduate and undergraduate students at San Francisco State University. At the end of the exercise, I will have collected the responses to an anonymous questionnaire in which the participants indicate age and gender. The questionnaire asks participants to describe their hopes and fears for the future and to propose public and personal actions for achieving a strong climate change agreement. I am tracking differences to determine whether participants' age and gender correlate with particular patterns of feeling and thinking. My future research will aim to determine whether and how strongly the World Climate Exercise has affected participants' actual policy engagement. This work will also reflect on my experiences as a World Climate facilitator. I will describe the facilitation process and then discuss some of my observations from the sessions. I will specify the challenges I have encountered and suggest strategies that can strengthen the learning process. World Climate is a computer-simulation-based climate change negotiations role-playing exercise developed by Climate Interactive in partnership with the System Dynamics Group at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Climate policy and ancillary benefits. A survey and integration into the modelling of international negotiations on climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pittel, Karen; Ruebbelke, Dirk T.G.

2008-01-01

Currently informal and formal international negotiations on climate change take place in an intensive way since the Kyoto Protocol expires already in 2012. A post-Kyoto regulation to combat global warming is not yet stipulated. Due to rapidly increasing greenhouse-gas emission levels, industrialized countries urge major polluters from the developing world like China and India to participate in a future agreement. Whether these developing countries will do so, depends on the prevailing incentives to participate in international climate protection efforts. This paper identifies ancillary benefits of climate policy to provide important incentives to attend a new international protocol and to positively affect the likelihood of accomplishing a post-Kyoto agreement which includes commitments of developing countries. (author)

Climate Watchlist: Key issues for Cancun negotiations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chandani, Achala; Siegele, Linda

2010-11-15

We must mitigate and adapt to climate change. On this, the international community is agreed. But exactly how to do that is still up for debate. There were high hopes that last year's UN climate talks in Copenhagen would deliver a legally binding agreement for action on climate change. But the outcome — the Copenhagen Accord — was instead a political 'statement of intent' that fell significantly short of expectations. Now, after a year of interim meetings and several negotiating texts, parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are gathering in Cancun, Mexico, to try again. Their success will largely depend on settling disputes — particularly between the developed and developing world — about six key issues: shared vision; adaptation; climate finance; technology transfer; reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation; and post-2012 emissions reduction targets.

CLIMATE CHANGE, Change International Negociations?

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Gao Xiaosheng

2009-01-01

@@ Climate change is one of key threats to human beings who have to deal with.According to Bali Action Plan released after the 2007 Bali Climate Talk held in Indonesia,the United Nations Framework on Climate Change(UNFCCC) has launched a two-year process to negotiate a post-2012 climate arrangement after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012 and the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference will seal a final deal on post-2012 climate regime in December,2009.For this,the United Nation Chief Ban Ki Moon called 2009"the year ofclimate change".

Climate geopolitics. Negotiations, strategies, impacts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gemenne, Francois

2015-01-01

As countries are not equal in front of the climate change issue (some contribute more than the others, some will be more heavily impacted, some are more dependent on fossil energies, some could be affected by population movements related to the degradation of their environment), and as countries are to adopt measures for a more sustainable development while facing huge geopolitical challenges which affect international negotiations, this book aims at describing and analysing these issues which illustrate serious imbalances between countries. These issues relate to the development of energy policies, to geographical and demographic constraints. The author describes how the climate has become an international political issue, and a field of complex interactions with international relationships. After having recalled the origins of greenhouse gas emissions and their main expected impacts, he analyses the various responsibilities, describes these different impacts, outlines how global warming is basically unfair: the less responsible countries will be more impacted than the responsible ones. He also discusses mechanisms of international cooperation which have been implemented to address this issue: adaptation and mitigation policies, associated negotiations. He notices that the strongest mitigation efforts are, the least necessary adaptation efforts will be. He discusses the issue of financing and necessary financial and technological transfers to help southern countries in reducing their emissions without compromising their development. He highlights the current status of negotiations, their organisation, the present actors and forces, and their main point of tension

Climatic change. What solutions?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vieillefosse, A.

2009-01-01

From 1990 to the present day, worldwide greenhouse gas emissions have increased by about 25%. Fighting climatic change has become an urgency: we only have 15 years in front of us to inflect the trajectory of worldwide emissions and to avoid a temperature rise of more than 2 deg. C during this century. Therefore, how is it possible to explain the shift between the need of an urgent action and the apparent inertia of some governing parties? How is it possible to implement a worldwide governance capable to answer the urgency of the fight against climatic change? These are the two questions that this pedagogical and concrete book tries to answer by analysing the different dimensions of climatic change and by making a first status of the building up of the international action, and in particular of the Kyoto protocol. For the post-2012 era, research and negotiations are in progress with the objective of reaching an agreement for the Copenhagen conference of December 2009. Several architectures are possible. This book shades light on the advantages and limitations of each of them with the possible compromises. It supplies a pluri-disciplinary approach of the international negotiations, often considered as complex by the general public. Content: 1 - understanding the climatic change stakes: climatic stakes, the main actors behind the figures, the technical-economical stakes; 2 - understanding the present day architecture of the fight against climatic change: strengths and weaknesses of the Kyoto protocol; encouraging research and technology spreading; the other action means in developing countries; 3 - what structure for a future international agreement?: the Bali negotiation process; the ideal vision: an improved Kyoto protocol; the pragmatic vision: individualized commitments; the negotiation space; preventing a planned fiasco. (J.S.)

Climate change: Update on international negotiations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Silverman, L. [Dept. of Energy, Washington, DC (United States). Office of Policy

1997-12-31

This paper outlines the following: United Nations` framework convention on climatic change; the United States` climate change action plan; current issues to be resolved (targets/timetables, policies, advancing commitments of all parties, and compliance); and implications for clean coal technologies.

Bounded rationality and social interaction in negotiating a climate agreement

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gsottbauer, E.; van den Bergh, J.C.J.M.

2013-01-01

An agreement on climate change mitigation hinges on large-scale international cooperation. Rational agents are supposed to consider the cost and benefits of cooperation, which then determine their negotiation positions. Behavioral economics provides experimental evidence that decision-making in

Breaking the impasse in the international climate negotiations: The potential of green technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schreurs, Miranda A.

2012-01-01

The slow pace of progress in the international climate negotiations is contrasted by the dynamic changes occurring on the ground as competition among countries for green technology leadership heats up. China, Germany, Japan, and the United States all exhibit interest in being green technology leaders although the United States could fall behind due to lack of strong federal government support for climate action. - Highlights: ► International competition for green technology and energy leadership. ► Green energy technology policy in China, Germany, Japan, and the United States. ► Dealing with the international stalemate in the climate negotiations.

Negotiations on climate change: propositions for a new French strategy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Colombier, M.; Kieken, H.; Tubiana, L.; Wemaere, M.

2007-01-01

The authors propose innovating options enabling political, technological and financial cooperation, for a better negotiation on climate. They identify nine issues: defining a constraining legal and institutional framework which will preserve Kyoto's assets, defining a long term objective (by 2050), implementing credible actions and realistic national commitments, strengthening of carbon markets, defining precisely the role of credit systems, establishing a specific agreement on avoided deforestation, paying particular attention to adaptation, developing means of coordination on technologies, and implementing sector agreements

Climate Change Negotiations Unscrambling Acronyms

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

1992: UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Rio. Common but differentiated responsibility (Annex I vs. non-Annex 1); Industrialized countries to bear full incremental costs of adjustment by developing countries ...

Gender angle to the climate change negotiations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wamukonya, Njeri; Skutsch, Margaret

2002-01-01

The South is likely to suffer more from climate change than the North due to its already vulnerable situation and lack of the necessary resources to adapt to change. But do the interests of men and of women differ as regards climate change and does this have a South-North dimension? This paper

Negotiating climate change agreements - the view from the mineral wool sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loudon, Robert

2001-01-01

Trade associations representing energy-intensive industrial sectors in the UK have negotiated agreements with the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) to enable their members to receive an 80% rebate on the climate change levy (CCL) providing they meet agreed energy saving targets. Insulation manufacturing is represented by Eurisol and the Mineral Wool Energy Savings Company (MINESCO). Rock wool and glass wool manufacture uses energy for blending, melting, fiberising, curing, cooling, cutting and packaging. However the mineral wool sector has already made significant improvements in energy efficiency over the last 20 years. Confidentiality issues led to Eurisol appointing consultants to advise on how individual plants could achieve further energy savings. Cadogan Consultants developed a strategy that incorporated both qualitative and quantitative issues and allowed the energy saving potential at each site to be identified. MINESCO agreed energy saving targets with the DETR in December 2000, but much work remains to be done

The rules for land use, land use change and forestry under the Kyoto Protocol. Lessons learned for the future climate negotiations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoehne, N.; Wartmann, S.; Herold, A.; Freibauer, A.

2007-01-01

This paper provides an overview of the rules for accounting emissions of land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) for the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. It first describes the rules in detail, it then provides an overview of the history of negotiations that led to these rules and provides resulting conclusions for future international climate negotiations. We conclude that the current rules can be better understood in the light of the negotiation history. For the future, we conclude that first an agreement on the objectives of including LULUCF in the future climate regime should be developed, e.g. to contribute significantly to the ultimate objective of the convention. Further, a solid set of data should be developed that can assess the magnitude of possible options. The rules should be scientifically sound, complete and balanced as well as unambiguous before the quantitative targets are defined. They should further be simple and inclusive to include all carbon pools, i.e. provide incentives to avoid deforestation and unsustainable logging in all countries

Copenhagen Climate Change Conference: The Current Situation and the Future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Broughton, Emma

2010-01-01

The Copenhagen climate change conference has failed to meet expectations but has also led to a shift in the structure of multilateral negotiations on climate change. States have reclaimed negotiations, while the UN-centred structure has been weakened. Relations between developed and emerging countries have shifted, with the latter influence growing. There has also been an increased participation of civil-society actors (NGOs) in the debate. A new negotiation structure is emerging but it faces the difficult challenge of avoiding fragmentation

European Union Climate Change Policy: in the nexus of internal policy-making and itnernational negotiations

OpenAIRE

Cao, Hui

2012-01-01

The aim of the dissertation is to examine the European Union s climate policy in the nexus of domestic policy-making and international negotiations. I firstly test the EU s internal climate policy-making by applying the rational choice institutionalism on the model of institution and preference affect EU s policy outcomes and conclude that: as the EU has a convergent preference, the EU s unique decision-making procedure, the entrepreneurship and EU s membership had been driving EU s climate...

Climate research and climate negotiations - status and prospect; Klimaforskning og klimaforhandlinger - status og utsikter fremover

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Torvanger, Asbjoern; Fuglestvedt, Jan; Holtsmark, Bjart; Naess, Lars Otto

1997-12-31

This report describes the climate process from the preliminary work on the Climate Convention to the negotiations about the Berlin mandate about the increased commitments of the industrialised countries to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases. Future prospects are discussed up to the Kyoto meeting in 1997. A status survey is given of the climate research and possible man-made climate disturbances. The various countries take different positions on some of the most important issues in the negotiations: (1) Are the various countries to have the same goal, or should the goals be differentiated?, (2) Goal and dating of emission reductions, (3) Selection of measures and means, (4) Flexibility in the fulfillment of commitments over time, (5) Only carbon dioxide or more greenhouse gases?, (6) Is binding of carbon dioxide through net forest growth to be included in the negotiations? 32 refs., 52 figs.

Global Climate Change as Environmental Megacrisis

OpenAIRE

Endter-Wada, Joanna; Ingram, Helen

2012-01-01

The authors analyze global climate change utilizing insights from the governance and crisis management literatures that seek to understand the prospects, nature, characteristics and the effects of cataclysmic events. They argue that global climate change is a mega-crisis hiding in plain sight yet there has been no proportionate mega-crisis response. People are still grappling with how to make sense of climate change, how to bridge multiple ways of knowing it, and how to negotiate collective c...

Negotiations on climate in deadlock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mary, Olivier

2014-01-01

This article discusses the reasons of the failure of the negotiations on climate which took place in Warsaw in November 2013. Despite some agreements on projects (notably to avoid deforestation), evolutions are being blocked by financial issues. Besides, emerging countries and NGOs largely disagree with the posture of big countries. The future of the carbon market is also put into question again

Taking credit : Canada and the role of sinks in international climate negotiations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, D.

2001-01-01

This report serves as a guide in explaining the significant, but complicated role that terrestrial carbon sinks play in international climate negotiations and the continuing need for major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The role that terrestrial carbon sinks should play in the Kyoto Climate Change Protocol was one of the main reasons for impasse in negotiations at the treaty talks in the Hague in November 2000. The issue is based on the allowance of countries to receive credits under the Kyoto Protocol for using forests and lands to absorb and store carbon. Storing carbon could be part of a menu of options to slow the build-up of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. However, it was argued that without strong crediting rules and guidelines, countries like Canada could use interpretations that would allow them to weaken the emission reduction commitments made under the Protocol. This paper explained why some countries support expansive crediting of sinks and others are strongly opposed to their inclusion in the Protocol. The paper also provided a technical explanation of the science of sinks and the carbon cycle upon which policy decisions must be based. The five chapters of the report were entitled: (1) sinks and international climate negotiations, (2) counting carbon in the industrialized world, (3) counting carbon in the developing world, (4) terrestrial carbon sinks as carbon offset mechanisms, and (5) effects of land use practices and climate change on carbon exchange in terrestrial ecosystems. A decision regarding the allowance of carbon sinks will be reached in the talks scheduled for the end of July 2001 in Bonn, Germany. refs., tabs., figs

The Inuit and climate change

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fenge, T.

2001-12-31

Marked climate change has been forecast for regions in high latitudes by global climate models presented by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Observations and reports of significant alterations to the natural environment of Canada's north have been reported by Inuit and other indigenous peoples using their traditional ecological knowledge as a reference. Global climate change appears to be the cause for the changes noted. Many aspects of climate change need to be addressed, such as research, outreach, impacts, adaptations and international negotiations. Based on the strong partnership that had been developed between the Inuit and four federal agencies, three territorial governments and four indigenous people's organizations in support of the Northern Contaminants Program, Inuit are now seeking a partnership with the federal government to address the issues mentioned above concerning climate change. refs., 1 tab.

Transnational Climate Change Governance and the Global South

OpenAIRE

Chan, Sander; van Asselt, Harro; Forschungszentrum für Umweltpolitik

2018-01-01

Alongside intergovernmental climate change negotiations, a groundswell of climate actions by cities, regions, businesses, investors, and civil society groups has emerged. These transnational actors seek to address mitigation and adaptation to climate change; independently, with each other and with governments and international organizations. Many have welcomed transnational climate initiatives as a crucial addition to the formal climate regime, contributing to a growing momentum to act on cli...

Climate Objectives and Development: Promoting Convergence between Millennium and Climate Goals in Climate Negotiations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mathy, Sandrine

2015-01-01

The next Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will be held in France in late 2015. The aim of the gathering will be to arrive at an international agreement to keep global warming below an upper limit of 2 deg. C (above 1990 levels) by the end of the century. As the COPs of recent years have shown, this is an ambitious goal and many obstacles stand in its way, among them the development of emerging and developing nations. Why should these countries be forced to restrict their economic development when 'liability for climate change' rests mainly with the developed nations? The question is entirely legitimate, which is why it would probably be more constructive, as Sandrine Mathy advocates here, to negotiate in a way that combines thinking on Millennium Development Goals with climate objectives. As this article shows, it is entirely possible to combine these two types of aim and promote economic development and poverty reduction while, at the same time, striving to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Mathy shows what the common factors are and frames concrete recommendations for establishing a mechanism to promote this convergence between poverty reduction and climate preservation. (author)

Climate change: from Copenhagen to Cancun

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abeysinghe, Achala Chandani; Carlson, John

2011-03-15

A year after the grim UN climate change negotiations in Denmark that resulted in parties merely 'taking note' of a three-page 'Copenhagen Accord', 194 countries met in Cancun, Mexico. Unlike the furore surrounding the Copenhagen negotiations, expectations were comparatively low-key for Cancun. The Copenhagen conference had damaged faith in the UN climate convention as an effective and legitimate negotiating forum. Restoring confidence in this process was a priority for Cancun. Parties were seeking a modest but balanced outcome across all main elements of the 2007 Bali Action Plan (BAP) which includes adaptation, mitigation, finance, technology, and capacity building. By the end of the two week negotiations, countries had finalized the 'Cancun Agreements', which managed to encompass decisions on each part of the BAP. In addition, the conference was widely recognized as having rebuilt fractured negotiating relationships between parties. The conference proceedings focused on the ongoing efforts of the two ad-hoc working groups that were established to find ways to enhance implementation of the convention and to discuss future commitments under the Kyoto Protocol.

The Politics of Climate Change: Can a Deal be Done?

OpenAIRE

Tobin, Paul

2015-01-01

The Paris climate conference in December 2015 has been heralded as a crucial opportunity for achieving global agreement on climate change. Paul Tobin analyses the structure of these negotiations and identifies the key barriers to striking a deal on climate change.

Climate Change and North-South Divide. Between and Within

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-01-01

The traditional North-South divide has persisted through out the negotiations on climate change. Divergent state interests made striking a right balance between development and environmental protection an elusive endeavor as negotiators were striving to adopt a global climate regime. Four principles of international environmental law are of particular concern: the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, the principle of equity, the precautionary principle, and the principle of sustainable development. With economic development being the overriding priority in developing countries, the negotiations leading to the Kyoto Protocol tend to prove that principles could be interpreted in different ways to fit particular interests. This study explains the confrontations between the North and the South and argues that climate change has by far strengthened the North-South divide both between and within. Accordingly, it concludes that there is a need to devise new principles

Challenges and solutions for climate change

CERN Document Server

Gaast, Wytze

2012-01-01

The latest scientific knowledge on climate change indicates that higher greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere through unchecked emissions will provoke severe climate change and ocean acidification threatening environmental structures on which humanity relies. Climate change therefore poses major socio-economic, technical and environmental challenges which will have serious impacts on countries’ pathways towards sustainable development. As a result, climate change and sustainable development have increasingly become interlinked. A changing climate makes achieving Millennium Development Goals more difficult and expensive, so there is every reason to achieve development goals with low greenhouse gas emissions. This leads to the following five challenges discussed by Challenges and Solutions for Climate Change: To place climate negotiations in the wider context of sustainability, equity and social change so that development benefits can be maximised at the same time as decreasing greenhouse gas emissi...

International global climate change negotiations. Hearings before the Subcommittee on Energy and Power of the Committee on Commerce, House of Representatives, One Hundred Fifth Congress, First Session, July 15, 1997--The economic and environmental impact of the proposed agreement -- November 11, 1997--Status of International Global Climate Change Negotiations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-01-01

In these hearings attention was focused on the following: the economic and environmental impact of the proposed agreement; and the status of international global climate change negotiations. US policy must be based on both the best scientific information available and on a clear understanding of the economic impacts of any actions that may be taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Global Responses to Potential Climate Change: A Simulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Mary Louise; Mowry, George

This interdisciplinary five-day unit provides students with an understanding of the issues in the debate on global climate change. Introductory lessons enhance understanding of the "greenhouse gases" and their sources with possible global effects of climate change. Students then roleplay negotiators from 10 nations in a simulation of the…

Information report presented by the Commission of European Affairs about the international negotiations relative to climate change - No. 2391

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deflesselles, Bernard; Lambert, Jerome; Leroy, Arnaud

2014-01-01

The conclusion put forward by scientists is clear-cut and alarming: the current efforts to limit the increase in global temperature to 2 deg. C are insufficient. This was the aim which the international community set itself in order to avoid the catastrophic effect of climate change. In their fifth report, the experts of the IPCC recommend the limitation, before the end of the century, of the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, to 450 parts per million. This level is equivalent, according to the scientists, to a rise in global temperature of 2 deg. C and would imply a reduction of between 40 % and 70 % of global emissions between now and 2050 and would envisage decreasing them to an 'almost zero level' before the end of the century. The last Conference of the United Nations on Climate Change which was held in Warsaw at the end of 2013 (COP19) was a 'stepping-stone' conference according to the very words of its participants. In order to remain on track concerning the global agreement on climate for 2015, two types of decision were taken there: - the notion of bringing nations together in the framework of a global initiative aiming to reduce emissions quite quickly so as to allow humanity to avoid, in the long term, the dangerous threshold concerning climate change, whilst, at the same time, strengthening the capabilities for adaptation; - the idea of moving so as to speed up and bolster the current plan of action. The Warsaw Conference managed to chart the way towards the Paris Conference on Climate in 2015 during which a new world agreement on climate should be signed. However, it also showed that the road will be long and difficult. Basic questions remain unanswered and require a high level of political commitment. The negotiations on climate change of the 20. Climate Change Conference or COP, will take place in Lima between December 1 - 12, 2014. The Conference will thus be the last within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

Point Climat no. 24 'International climate negotiations at COP 18: the art of the Doha-ble'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morel, Romain; Leguet, Benoit; Bellassen, Valentin

2012-01-01

Among the publications of CDC Climat Research, 'Climate Briefs' presents, in a few pages, hot topics in climate change policy. This issue addresses the following points: The Doha climate conference (November 26 - December 8, 2012) allowed the UN process to edge forward. Through the definition of the rules for the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol with a foreseeable increase in the ambition of Annex I countries second period commitments by 2014, the conclusion of the negotiation process stemming from the Bali Road-map and by getting the Durban platform off the ground, the 'Doha Climate Gateway' tries to pave the way for a more ambitious international agreement in 2015. However, the need for interim financing by 2020 was not clearly nor decisively addressed in Doha. Thus, the route to a stronger agreement in 2015 remains a long one

Fighting windmills? EU industrial interest and global climate negotiations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steiner Brand, U.; Tinggaard Svendsen, G.

2003-01-01

Why has the EU been so eager to continue the climate negotiations? Can it be solely attributed to the EU feeling morally obliged to be the main initiator of continued progress on the climate change negotiations, or can industrial interests in the EU, at least partly, explain the behaviour of the EU? We suggest that the EU has a rational economic interest in forcing the technological development of renewable energy sources to get a fast-mover advantage, which will only pay if a sufficient number of countries implement sufficiently stringent GHG reductions. The Kyoto Protocol, which imposes binding reductions on 38 OECD countries, implies that, as a first-mover, the EU will be to sell the necessary new renewable technologies, most prominently wind mills, to other countries, when they ratify and implement the Kyoto target levels. In the latest EU proposal made in Johannesburg, the EU pushed for setting a target of 15% of all energy to come from sources such as windmills, solar panels and waves by 2015. Such a target would further the EU's interests globally, and could explain, in economic terms, why the EU eagerly promotes GHG trade at a global level whereas the US has left the Kyoto agreement to save the import costs of buying the EU's renewable systems. (au)

Climatic change and nuclear

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schneider, M.

2003-01-01

One of the main priorities of the WWF is to increase the implementing of solutions relative to the greenhouse effect fight. In this framework the foundation published a study on the nuclear facing the climatic change problem. The following chapters are detailed: the nuclear and the negotiations on the climatic change; the nuclear close; the unrealistic hypothesis of the nuclear forecast; the nuclear facing other energy supplying options; supplying efficiency for heating, electric power, gas and renewable energies; the consumption efficiency facing the nuclear; the economical aspects; the deregulation effect; the political aspects; the nuclear AND the greenhouse effect. (A.L.B.)

Third national climate change conference proceedings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-01-01

The international issue of climate change was discussed at this AREA (Alliance for Responsible Environmental Alternatives) conference. AREA, a coalition of industry, labour and municipalities from across Canada, was created to reflect the views and represent the interest of Canadians in the Climate Change debate. The role that Canada should play to optimize Canada's response to the Global Climate Change Challenge at the Kyoto Conference was the principal topic of discussion. Specific topics for panel discussions included the economic impacts of climate change, the effectiveness of voluntary mechanisms to reduce greenhouse gases versus government-mandated actions for achieving climate change targets, the issue of how a differentiated system for emission reduction targets and timetables might be implemented, the economic imperatives and the effect of those imperatives on negotiating positions at Kyoto, and various national agendas and the likely outcomes at Kyoto. tabs., figs

Climate change negotiations. COP-2 and beyond

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-09-01

The Second Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-2), which met in Geneva during July, 1996, was only a partial success when considered in relation to its avowed aims, gaining acceptance of the Second Assessment Report by IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), producing an agreed Ministerial Declaration, making real advances towards a protocol, and agreeing Rules of Procedure. This paper describes the main aims of COP-2, consideration of and response to the IPCC`s Second Assessment Report, the COP-2 Ministerial Declaration, some significant statements by individual country delegations at COP-2, lack of progress on Rules of Procedure for the Conference, realization of returning the greenhouse gas emissions in industrialized countries based on the Montreal Protocol, differing views among countries to the Convention on a protocol, prospects for achieving agreement on a legally binding protocol at COP-3 planned for Kyoto, Japan in December, 1997, and recent scientific and technical findings.

Sea Change: US Climate Policy Prospects under the Obama Administration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roman, Mikael [Stockholm Environment Institute, Stockholm (Sweden); Carson, Marcus [Dept. of Sociology, Stockholm Univ., Stockholm (Sweden)

2009-03-15

This report has been produced for the Swedish Government's Sustainability Commission in preparation for the Swedish EU Presidency during the second half of 2009, and consequent Swedish leadership of the EU delegation in the COP-15 negotiations in Copenhagen. The central task of the report is to provide an overview of the key factors that will condition the near-term development of United States climate policy, with a view to the eventual likelihood of the US signing and ratifying a new global agreement in the upcoming negotiations on climate change. While we take note of the importance of factors external to US politics, such as potential developments in bilateral discussions with China and other major greenhouse gas emitters, our analysis focuses primarily on factors that influence US domestic policy dynamics. To accomplish that task, the subsequent pages address three main questions. First, what are the stated goals and contours of the Obama Administration's policies regarding climate change? Second, what are the opportunities and obstacles connected with realizing this agenda - from negotiating and deciding, then effectively implementing it - and via which pathways of action are we likely to see important initiatives being moved? Finally, what are the implications for the negotiations in Copenhagen and beyond? We conclude by identifying a number of important considerations that should be taken into account in preparations for the Swedish EU Presidency and the climate negotiations in Copenhagen

Sea Change: US Climate Policy Prospects under the Obama Administration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roman, Mikael (Stockholm Environment Institute, Stockholm (Sweden)); Carson, Marcus (Dept. of Sociology, Stockholm Univ., Stockholm (Sweden)). e-mail: mikael.roman@sei.se

2009-03-15

This report has been produced for the Swedish Government's Sustainability Commission in preparation for the Swedish EU Presidency during the second half of 2009, and consequent Swedish leadership of the EU delegation in the COP-15 negotiations in Copenhagen. The central task of the report is to provide an overview of the key factors that will condition the near-term development of United States climate policy, with a view to the eventual likelihood of the US signing and ratifying a new global agreement in the upcoming negotiations on climate change. While we take note of the importance of factors external to US politics, such as potential developments in bilateral discussions with China and other major greenhouse gas emitters, our analysis focuses primarily on factors that influence US domestic policy dynamics. To accomplish that task, the subsequent pages address three main questions. First, what are the stated goals and contours of the Obama Administration's policies regarding climate change? Second, what are the opportunities and obstacles connected with realizing this agenda - from negotiating and deciding, then effectively implementing it - and via which pathways of action are we likely to see important initiatives being moved? Finally, what are the implications for the negotiations in Copenhagen and beyond? We conclude by identifying a number of important considerations that should be taken into account in preparations for the Swedish EU Presidency and the climate negotiations in Copenhagen

Figuring out the climate for change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aboud, L.

1995-01-01

Delegates of a round of United Nations-sponsored negotiations on climate change agreed in April that countries have not reduced their emissions of greenhouse gases enough to meet world air-quality goals. Still under negotiation is a decision on what level of emissions reduction is necessary, and how it will be achieved. In the meantime, energy-related industries, environmentalists and others will continue working to influence governments on their energy choices. The April negotiations, held in Berlin, were a follow-up of goals set by the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC), which was held in conjunction with the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Natural gas is widely recognized as the bridge fuel to sustainable energy policies, and A.G.A. has participated in the United Nations meetings as a non-governmental organization to represent the gas industry's interests since before the FCCC was signed in Rio. But if natural gas is to reach its potential worldwide market, the industry will need to continue its involvement. The paper discusses greenhouse gas goals for post-2000 and how the natural gas industry can help to achieve them

The Impacts of Climate Change Negotiation on Domestic Industrial Structure and International Competitiveness

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lim, Jae Kyu; Kang, Yoon Young [Korea Energy Economics Institute, Euiwang (Korea)

2000-12-01

The world community adopted the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 at the third Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC). The main achievement was agreement by developed(Annex I) countries to reduce or limit their greenhouse gas emissions. To assist parties in meeting their emission targets the Protocol sanctions the use of economic instruments such as the clean development mechanism(CDM), joint implementation(JI) and emissions trading(ET). However, there is still significant uncertainty surrounding the Kyoto Protocol for much of the details in the Protocol remains to be negotiated. The challenge now facing those negotiating the Kyoto Protocol is to remove the uncertainty and secure ratification of the Protocol. After the negotiation reaches an agreement in near future, the next main issue to be addressed is the way of involvement of developing countries in emission abatement commitments. The analysis presented in this report is based on the application of a global computable general equilibrium(CGE) model - GTEM-KOR. According to the analysis, compliance with Kyoto Protocol commitments, regardless of the emissions trading, is projected to impose economic costs on Annex I regions in the aggregate. Despite having no emission abatement commitments under the Kyoto Protocol, non-Annex I economies would be affected by emission abatement in Annex I regions undertaken as a result of entry into force of the Protocol. These effects would arise through trade and investment linkages between economies. Although the net impact for non-Annex I regions in aggregate is projected to be positive, there is a range of effects and the net impact for any one non-Annex I country will depend on its particular production and trade structure. As industrialized countries reduce their fossil fuel consumption to meet their emission reduction targets, their demand for fossil fuel imports from non-Annex I countries will decline, leading to lower fossil

Country Stakes in Climate Change Negotiations. Two Dimensions of Vulnerability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buys, P.; Deichmann, U.; Meisner, C.; That, Thao Ton; Wheeler, D.

2007-01-01

Using a comprehensive geo-referenced database of indicators relating to global change and energy, the paper assesses countries' likely attitudes with respect to international treaties that regulate carbon emissions. The authors distinguish between source and impact vulnerability and classify countries according to these dimensions. The findings show clear differences in the factors that determine likely negotiating positions. This analysis and the resulting detailed, country level information help to explain the incentives required to make the establishment of such agreements more likely.

A history of climate change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hastrup, Kirsten Blinkenberg

2016-01-01

This article presents a small community of High Arctic hunters (the Inughuit in North West Greenland) who have always had to negotiate climatic changes with great impact on their living conditions. This points us toward the natural-social entanglements implied in the notion of the Anthropocene......, and to the new intellectual challenges that both natural and social scientists are facing in relation to the current climatic changes. These challenges are discussed through the case of the Inughuit with whom the author has worked over many years. Departing from their dire situation in the 19th century, when...

Climate Change after Cancun: An Agreement on Principles, but lacking Levers of Change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Delbosc, A.; De Perthuis, Ch.

2011-01-01

Climate change and its potentially serious consequences for our planet first appeared on the agenda of major international negotiations at the Rio Summit in 1992. Arduous negotiation ensued, culminating in the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, which set quantified targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to 2012. Since then, the configuration of the highly complex negotiations (on account of the large number of participants and disparity of economic situations) has changed a great deal, as could be seen at the Copenhagen conference of December 2009 and, more recently, the agreement struck at Cancun in late 2010. Anais Delbosc and Christian de Perthuis, close observers of climate-related economic issues, sum up the state of international climate negotiation in this article. Where have we got to? How have the discussions developed? What are the points of agreement and disagreement? What economic mechanisms have been put in place and so on? After reviewing the history, Delbosc and de Perthuis outline the Cancun agreement, before looking in more detail at a 'variable geometry system of commitment'. They show, in particular, how difficult it is to compare the commitments made by the various parties to the negotiations. However, they do stress that the developed countries are, in general, falling short of the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. They go on to formulate a number of proposals designed to take the commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions further, for example by strengthening and unifying the system of measurement and verification of how the various countries are meeting the targets to which they have committed themselves, while nonetheless taking account of their varying situations. Lastly, they propose a more efficient use of the various existing economic instruments, and go on to remind us of the weaknesses that were not resolved by the Cancun agreement, which the Durban Conference, scheduled for late 2011, will have

India's Approach to Climate Negotiations. From the South to the North?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Powell, Lydia

2015-09-01

India's approach to climate negotiations results from the interplay of two distinct logics, an external one and an internal one. While the external logic is derived from quantitative attributes at the aggregate level, such as the overall size of India's economy, the internal logic is derived from qualitative attributes at the individual level such as per person incomes and productivity. For three decades, from the early 1970's to the early 2000's, India's internal and external logics overlapped. India saw the global environmental issue as a struggle of the poor against the rich with itself at the forefront, and it strongly opposed any binding mitigation commitment. The endurance of this position rested on the fact that it was consistent with India's traditional bargaining positioning as leader of the developing world in north-south negotiations, which reflected a mixture of domestic pressure and a preference for a certain world order that favoured the poor. This changed as the size of India's economy grew to match that of large powerful countries. Indeed, by the early 2000's, there was widespread belief that India was on its way to become a 'rising power' and the Indian leadership sought to re-frame its climate position to suit the new label. From then on, India sought to have a more constructive approach and began a shift toward some form of mitigation commitment. In other words, the signals from India on climate policy positions tended to betray a tilt in favour of its foreign policy positions or its 'external logic'. This however led to a growing contradiction with the internal logic, and hence, to a persistent dilemma in India's negotiating posture. But of the two conflicting logics, the internal one is likely to overcome the external one. Immediate concerns such as poverty alleviation, development and the need for economic growth are seen to be more important than the contribution to global climate mitigation action. Thus, there is low probability of India

Asia's changing role in global climate change.

Science.gov (United States)

Siddiqi, Toufiq A

2008-10-01

Asia's role in global climate change has evolved significantly from the time when the Kyoto Protocol was being negotiated. Emissions of carbon dioxide, the principal greenhouse gas, from energy use in Asian countries now exceed those from the European Union or North America. Three of the top five emitters-China, India, and Japan, are Asian countries. Any meaningful global effort to address global climate change requires the active cooperation of these and other large Asian countries, if it is to succeed. Issues of equity between countries, within countries, and between generations, need to be tackled. Some quantitative current and historic data to illustrate the difficulties involved are provided, and one approach to making progress is suggested.

COP21: to save negotiations or to save the climate?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fremeaux, Alexis; Faure, Elisa; Guillou, Antoine

2015-01-01

This note proposes an overview of the main issues which could render an agreement possible at the end of the Paris COP21, and makes some proposals on principles which should be mentioned in the agreement to create a future strong foundation, as well as on tools and measures which could be implemented thereafter. The authors first discuss the content and results of the previous COPs, and comment the negotiation process between Copenhagen and Paris to outline the main challenges and stakes to reach of common agreement. They address the main issues of the COP21 negotiations: mobilisation of 100 billions dollars per year to help emerging countries in reaching a low carbon development mode and to adapt to climate change, how to urgently orient private investments towards a low carbon economy, to base on standards and transparency as two main action levers in case of absence of agreement on carbon price, and definition of needed more ambitious objectives

Greenhouse gas emissions considered responsible for climate change: Environmental indicators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vialetto, G.; Venanzi, M.; Gaudioso, D.

1993-09-01

This paper concerns the more significant environmental indicators related to the emissions of radiatively and chemically/photochemically active trace gases. Reference is made to the preliminary work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and to the proposals made in the framework of the international negotiation on climate change. Aiming to contribute to the definition of a national strategy for the reduction of greenhouse gases emissions, this paper proposes a possible application of the indicators. The calculation of the indicators is based on the emission estimate performed by ENEA (Italian National Agency for Energy, New Technologies and the Environment) for the Report on the State of the Environment edited by the Italian Ministry of the Environment. Finally, the paper suggests an application of such indicators for the international negotiation, in the framework of the Italian proposal for the Convention on climate change

The Ethical Dimension of Climate Change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferrara, V.

2006-01-01

The ethical dimension of climate change and the problem of fairness in implementing Kyoto Protocol and the post-Kyoto phase have become the hinge around which the negotiating process can be re launched or definitely blocked. This article discusses some aspects of the international debate that can be useful in understanding the issues. ENEA conducts no programmatic activities of its own in this field, but, as the national Focal Point for IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), it participates in the international exchange of information on the subject [it

Climate changes, economy and growth: political relationships

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alex, Bastien

2017-03-01

The author addresses the relationships which may exist between climate change and economic growth, by discussing and criticising some common ideas, and the role of the economic parameter in the position of states within negotiations. These common ideas are: the struggle against climate change impedes economic growth, and green economy provides new growth levers. The author also discusses the fact that some countries may feel they have to slow down their growth because emerging countries are facing a strong development and thus have a strong impact on climate changes. He also outlines that political forces which are presently in power, tend to have a critical approach and speech on mitigation measures

Combating climate change: How nuclear science and technology are making a difference

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amano, Yukiya

2015-01-01

Climate change is the biggest environmental challenge of our time. As governments around the world prepare to negotiate a legally binding, universal agreement on climate at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris at the end of the year, it is important that the contributions that nuclear science and technology can make to combating climate change are recognized. Nuclear science, including nuclear power, can play a significant role in both climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Trade and climate change

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tamiotti, L.; Teh, R.; Kulacoglu, V. (World Trade Organization (WTO), Geneva (Switzerland)); Olhoff, A.; Simmons, B.; Abaza, H. (United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) (Denmark))

2009-06-15

The Report aims to improve understanding about the linkages between trade and climate change. It shows that trade intersects with climate change in a multitude of ways. For example, governments may introduce a variety of policies, such as regulatory measures and economic incentives, to address climate change. This complex web of measures may have an impact on international trade and the multilateral trading system. The Report begins with a summary of the current state of scientific knowledge on climate change and on the options available for responding to the challenge of climate change. The scientific review is followed by a part on the economic aspects of the link between trade and climate change, and these two parts set the context for the subsequent parts of the Report, which looks at the policies introduced at both the international and national level to address climate change. The part on international policy responses to climate change describes multilateral efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the effects of climate change, and also discusses the role of the current trade and environment negotiations in promoting trade in technologies that aim to mitigate climate change. The final part of the Report gives an overview of a range of national policies and measures that have been used in a number of countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to increase energy efficiency. It presents key features in the design and implementation of these policies, in order to draw a clearer picture of their overall effect and potential impact on environmental protection, sustainable development and trade. It also gives, where appropriate, an overview of the WTO rules that may be relevant to such measures. (author)

The Economics of Climate Change in Mexico: Implications for National/Regional Policy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Estrada, E.; Papyrakis, E.; Tol, R.S.J.; Gay-García, C.

2013-01-01

The recent Mexican government study, The Economics of Climate Change in Mexico (ECCM), which has largely influenced Mexico's stance on climate change issues and international negotiations, is critically reviewed. Whilst the importance of such government-supported national studies as a first attempt

Differentiation, Leaders and Fairness. Negotiating Climate Commitments in the European Community

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ringius, Lasse

1997-12-31

This report shows that it is possible to negotiate and reach asymmetrical environmental agreements that take into account significant national dissimilarities. It is argued that analytical models and intuitively appealing model-based quantitative indicators of national circumstances can establish premises for negotiations leading to differentiated environmental agreements. While they cannot take the place of political negotiations, they help identify a formula that defines the problem in a resolvable fashion and prevent the bargaining space from expanding uncontrollably. Scholars arguing that symmetrical environmental measures are widely used because they simplify negotiations and prevent countries from pursuing extremist positions, and that salient focal points are significant in negotiation, overlook this argument. In pre-Kyoto European Community climate policy, which this report empirically examines, high transaction costs and EC member states` ability to block economically hurtful agreements were not essential issues. 54 refs., 1 fig., 7 tabs.

Emissions trading and the climate change levy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Connett, Richard

2000-01-01

This paper discusses the flexible mechanisms established in the Kyoto Protocol of the UN Framework on Climate Change focussing on the mechanism whereby countries achieving their target for reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases can trade their excess to countries having difficulty achieving their target. UK measures to meet their commitment, the UK government's proposed climate change levy on the use of energy, negotiated agreements, emissions trading, and the nature, supply and trading of permits are examined. Compatibility with international agreements and the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive, monitoring, and penalties are considered

European Climate Change Policy Beyond 2012

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ulreich, S.

2009-01-01

Europe sees itself on the forefront to combat climate change. Consequently, the European Union has adopted in 2003 a Directive on Emissions Trading and since then, focuses more and more on effective methods to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. So far, there is little knowledge about the further development of Climate Change Policy in Europe after 2012. The EU has already started a review process to define the new legislation starting in 2013. Furthermore, negotiations take place to develop a successor of the Kyoto protocol. The European energy sector can deliver valuable input to the discussion about the coming climate goals and how to achieve them, by addressing the importance of new climate-friendly technologies. Furthermore, the impact of climate change goals on the current investment decisions in the energy sector has to be stressed. Europe will certainly not solve the climate problem on its own, but can help to deliver abatement technologies and to prove, that climate change can be reconciled with economic growth - provided a long-term framework is established that is in line with other goals like security of supply and affordable energy.(author).

A prompt start: Implementing the framework convention on climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chayes, A.; Skolnikoff, E.B.; Victor, D.G.

1992-01-01

A Framework Convention on Climate Change is under active negotiation in the United Nations with the expectation it will be ready for Signature at the Rio Conference this June. Under the most optimistic projections, a Convention will not come into force and be an effective instrument for months, probably years. In recognition of the several institutional tasks that will be of crucial importance whatever the detailed content of the Convention a small group of high international organizations involved in the negotiations was convened at the Rockefeller Foundation's Conference Center at Bellagio in January. The discussions at Bellagio on the need for a Prompt Start on these institutional tasks benefitted from earlier meetings at Harvard in March and at Bermuda in May, 1991, that the co-organizers convened to discuss these and related aspects of the negotiations on a Climate Convention. Those meetings were attended by members of the academic community, officials from the United Nations, and representatives of governments involved in the negotiations

Can role-play with interactive simulations enhance climate change knowledge, affect and intent to act?

Science.gov (United States)

Rooney-varga, J. N.; Sterman, J.; Fracassi, E. P.; Franck, T.; Kapmeier, F.; Kurker, V.; Jones, A.; Rath, K.

2017-12-01

The strong scientific consensus about the reality and risks of anthropogenic climate change stands in stark contrast to widespread confusion and complacency among the public. Many efforts to close that gap, grounded in the information deficit model of risk communication, provide scientific information on climate change through reports and presentations. However, research shows that showing people research does not work: the gap between scientific and public understanding of climate change remains wide. Tools that are rigorously grounded in the science and motivate action on climate change are urgently needed. Here we assess the impact of one such tool, an interactive, role-play simulation, World Climate. Participants take the roles of delegates to the UN climate negotiations and are challenged to create an agreement limiting warming to no more than 2°C. The C-ROADS climate simulation model then provides participants with immediate feedback about the expected impacts of their decisions. Participants use C-ROADS to explore the climate system and use the results to refine their negotiating positions, learning about climate change while experiencing the social dynamics of negotiations and decision-making. Pre- and post-survey results from 21 sessions in eight nations showed significant gains in participants' climate change knowledge, affective engagement, intent to take action, and desire to learn. Contrary to the deficit model, gains in participants' desire to learn more and intention to act were associated with gains in affective engagement, particularly feelings of urgency and hope, but not climate knowledge. Gains were just as strong among participants who oppose government regulation, suggesting the simulation's potential to reach across political divides. Results indicate that simulations like World Climate offer a climate change communication tool that enables people to learn and feel for themselves, which together have the potential to motivate action informed

Understanding developing country stances on post-2012 climate change negotiations. Comparative analysis of Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rong, Fang [Laboratory on International Law and Regulation, School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California, San Diego, 92093 (United States); Center for Industrial Development and Environmental Governance, School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)

2010-08-15

An essential issue in future climate negotiations is how to bring developing countries on board. This paper proposes and applies the two-level interest-based model to analyze the factors that affect the likely stances of the Plus Five countries (Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa) on international climate negotiations. This study finds mitigation capability to be a crucial factor which consists of at least such sub-factors as per capita income, energy endowment, and economic structure, while ecological vulnerability does not seem to play an important role which includes reductions in agricultural outputs, sea-level rise, climate-related natural disasters, and others. The paper proposes six options in an ascending order of stringency that the Plus Five are likely to adopt. The paper suggests that the Basic Four (the Plus Five excluding Mexico), particularly China and India, are less likely to adopt a voluntary commitment to an emissions cap on the national economy in the near future than Mexico, which has the highest mitigation capability among all five. The Basic Four are likely to adopt more stringent climate polices with increasing mitigation capabilities, suggesting the importance of effective international financial and technology transfer mechanisms and further tighten emission reduction targets from developed countries. (author)

Understanding developing country stances on post-2012 climate change negotiations: Comparative analysis of Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rong Fang

2010-01-01

An essential issue in future climate negotiations is how to bring developing countries on board. This paper proposes and applies the two-level interest-based model to analyze the factors that affect the likely stances of the 'Plus Five' countries (Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa) on international climate negotiations. This study finds mitigation capability to be a crucial factor which consists of at least such sub-factors as per capita income, energy endowment, and economic structure, while ecological vulnerability does not seem to play an important role which includes reductions in agricultural outputs, sea-level rise, climate-related natural disasters, and others. The paper proposes six options in an ascending order of stringency that the Plus Five are likely to adopt. The paper suggests that the 'Basic Four' (the Plus Five excluding Mexico), particularly China and India, are less likely to adopt a voluntary commitment to an emissions cap on the national economy in the near future than Mexico, which has the highest mitigation capability among all five. The Basic Four are likely to adopt more stringent climate polices with increasing mitigation capabilities, suggesting the importance of effective international financial and technology transfer mechanisms and further tighten emission reduction targets from developed countries.

Understanding developing country stances on post-2012 climate change negotiations: Comparative analysis of Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rong Fang, E-mail: rongfang98@hotmail.co [Laboratory on International Law and Regulation, School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, University of California, San Diego, 92093 (United States); Center for Industrial Development and Environmental Governance, School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)

2010-08-15

An essential issue in future climate negotiations is how to bring developing countries on board. This paper proposes and applies the two-level interest-based model to analyze the factors that affect the likely stances of the 'Plus Five' countries (Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa) on international climate negotiations. This study finds mitigation capability to be a crucial factor which consists of at least such sub-factors as per capita income, energy endowment, and economic structure, while ecological vulnerability does not seem to play an important role which includes reductions in agricultural outputs, sea-level rise, climate-related natural disasters, and others. The paper proposes six options in an ascending order of stringency that the Plus Five are likely to adopt. The paper suggests that the 'Basic Four' (the Plus Five excluding Mexico), particularly China and India, are less likely to adopt a voluntary commitment to an emissions cap on the national economy in the near future than Mexico, which has the highest mitigation capability among all five. The Basic Four are likely to adopt more stringent climate polices with increasing mitigation capabilities, suggesting the importance of effective international financial and technology transfer mechanisms and further tighten emission reduction targets from developed countries.

Man-made climate change: an overview

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holopainen, E [Helsinki Univ. (Finland). Dept. of Meteorology

1996-12-31

The first major man-made environmental problem was the soil acidification, caused primarily by the massive industrial emissions of sulphur dioxide. Then came the problem of ozone depletion, caused by the emissions of man-made halocarbons. More recently, the possibility of man-made climate change has received a lot of attention. These three man-made problems are interconnected in fundamental ways and require for their solution interdisciplinary and international approach. Narrowing of the scientific uncertainties connected with the problems mentioned above can be expected through international `Global Change` programmes such as the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) and the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP). Periodic assessments of the type produced by the IPCC will clearly be needed. Also in the future such assessments should form the scientific basis for international negotiations and conventions on the climate change issue

Man-made climate change: an overview

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holopainen, E. [Helsinki Univ. (Finland). Dept. of Meteorology

1995-12-31

The first major man-made environmental problem was the soil acidification, caused primarily by the massive industrial emissions of sulphur dioxide. Then came the problem of ozone depletion, caused by the emissions of man-made halocarbons. More recently, the possibility of man-made climate change has received a lot of attention. These three man-made problems are interconnected in fundamental ways and require for their solution interdisciplinary and international approach. Narrowing of the scientific uncertainties connected with the problems mentioned above can be expected through international `Global Change` programmes such as the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) and the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP). Periodic assessments of the type produced by the IPCC will clearly be needed. Also in the future such assessments should form the scientific basis for international negotiations and conventions on the climate change issue

A climate for development. Climate change policy options for Africa

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okoth-Ogendo, H.W.O.; Ojwang, J.B.

1995-01-01

The seriousness of the potential impacts of climate change on development in Africa is now well recognized within, and increasingly outside, scientific circles. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is a landmark in international environmental governance, providing a mechanism for exchange, negotiation and institution-building to re-direct development towards more efficient use of resources, especially energy. The message of 'A climate for Development' is that unless policy-makers fully understand both the international commitments made under the Convention and the essential national development priorities of their own countries, effective action on climate change is unlikely to be realized. The action needed, however, can at the same time stimulate capacity-building, planning and policy change which would strengthen the economic and ecological base of African countries. The climate change issue has hence brought us face to face with the urgency of the basic issues of sustainable development in Africa. The book discusses key issues that cut across all African countries, such as emissions and their impacts, financial resources and technology transfer for emissions abatement strategies. It then provides a sectoral analysis of greenhouse gas emissions and abatement options focusing on energy, industry, agriculture, forestry and transportation. The book concludes with guidelines for options which may be considered by African countries to ensure that climate change concerns are effectively dealt with in the context of their development priorities. 113 refs

Co-benefits of climate policies: a potential keystone of climate negotiations?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cassen, Christophe; Guivarch, Celine; Lecocq, Franck

2015-01-01

This paper analyzes the challenges related to the assessment of co-benefits of climate policies underpinned by the implementation of multi-objective policies which seek synergies between climate policies and other development objectives (poverty alleviation, employment, health etc.). The analysis highlights the increasing interest in co-benefits in the latest 5. IPCC report, in particular by integrated models. Nevertheless, the quantified evaluation of co-benefits is still confronted to several methodological limitations which reduce the scope of co-benefits, particularly at the global level. In a growing context of climate-development approaches in climate negotiations, this article insists on the need to also assess co-benefits of other policies which induce a significant part of GHG emissions. Considering climate policies focused only on Greenhouse Gases emissions reduction limits the range of policy instruments to carbon taxation, tradable carbon emissions permits or dedicated mitigation and adaptation funds. This also hinders the integration of climate objectives in non-climate policies. Analyzing impacts of development policies on Green Gases emissions in the form of co-benefits requires to broaden the range of policy instruments and to take into account other drivers of emissions such as land dynamics. Including these mechanisms in integrated models therefore represents new scientific frontiers for integrated models in the coming years

Climate-society feedbacks and the avoidance of dangerous climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Jarvis, A. J.; Leedal, D. T.; Hewitt, C. N.

2012-09-01

The growth in anthropogenic CO2 emissions experienced since the onset of the Industrial Revolution is the most important disturbance operating on the Earth's climate system. To avoid dangerous climate change, future greenhouse-gas emissions will have to deviate from business-as-usual trajectories. This implies that feedback links need to exist between climate change and societal actions. Here, we show that, consciously or otherwise, these feedbacks can be represented by linking global mean temperature change to the growth dynamics of CO2 emissions. We show that the global growth of new renewable sources of energy post-1990 represents a climate-society feedback of ~0.25%yr-1 per degree increase in global mean temperature. We also show that to fulfil the outcomes negotiated in Durban in 2011, society will have to become ~ 50 times more responsive to global mean temperature change than it has been since 1990. If global energy use continues to grow as it has done historically then this would result in amplification of the long-term endogenous rate of decarbonization from -0.6%yr-1 to ~-13%yr-1. It is apparent that modest levels of feedback sensitivity pay large dividends in avoiding climate change but that the marginal return on this effort diminishes rapidly as the required feedback strength increases.

Responsibility for private sector adaptation to climate change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tina Schneider

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007 indicates that vulnerable industries should adapt to the increasing likelihood of extreme weather events along with slowly shifting mean annual temperatures and precipitation patterns, to prevent major damages or periods of inoperability in the future. Most articles in the literature on business management frame organizational adaptation to climate change as a private action. This makes adaptation the sole responsibility of a company, for its sole benefit, and overlooks the fact that some companies provide critical goods and services such a food, water, electricity, and medical care, that are so vital to society that even a short-term setback in operations could put public security at risk. This raises the following questions: (1 Who is responsible for climate change adaptation by private-sector suppliers of critical infrastructure? (2 How can those who are identified to be responsible, actually be held to assume their responsibility for adapting to climate change? These questions will be addressed through a comprehensive review of the literature on business management, complemented by a review of specialized literature on public management. This review leads to several conclusions. Even though tasks that formerly belonged to the state have been taken over by private companies, the state still holds ultimate responsibility in the event of failure of private-sector owned utilities, insofar as they are "critical infrastructure." Therefore, it remains the state's responsibility to foster adaptation to climate change with appropriate action. In theory, effective ways of assuming this responsibility, while enabling critical infrastructure providers the flexibility adapt to climate change, would be to delegate adaptation to an agency, or to conduct negotiations with stakeholders. In view of this theory, Germany will be used as a case study to demonstrate how private-sector critical infrastructure

In Brief: Science academies' statement on climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Showstack, Randy

2009-06-01

“It is essential that world leaders agree on emissions reductions needed to combat negative consequences of anthropogenic climate change,” national science academies from 13 countries declared in a joint statement issued on 11 June. The statement, issued by the academies of the G8 countries—including England, France, Russia, and the United States—and five other countries (Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa), came in advance of a G8 meeting in Italy in July and prior to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations in Denmark in December. “The G8+5 should lead the transition to an energy-efficient and low-carbon world economy, and foster innovation and research and development for both mitigation and adaptation technologies,” the statement noted. The academies urged governments to agree at the UNFCCC negotiations to adopt a long-term global goal and short-term emissions reduction targets so that by 2050 global emissions would be reduced by about 50% from 1990 levels.

Climate changes - To understand and to react

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2011-01-01

The first part of this report recalls the definition of the greenhouse effect, comments the climate past variations, outlines that climate changes are already here and that greenhouse effect has a human origin, and discusses the expected impacts during the 21. century. The second part presents the basis of international action in the struggle against climate change, outlines the necessity to strengthen this international action, describes the role of Europe in international negotiations on climate, outlines the need of an international agreement on climate, proposes an overview of the French climate policy (national and local actions), and outlines that some political responses do not match with sustainable development (nuclear energy, agro-fuels, carbon capture and storage, shale gas and oil). The third part indicates how one can compute his own impact on climate, and presents some collective and citizen innovative initiatives in the fields of agriculture and food, of energy, of transports and mobility, and of wastes

Climate: negotiations are lacking ambitions. Returns on the sixteenth Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), from the 29 November to the 10 December 2010, Cancun

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blavier, Sebastien; Mazounie, Alix; Cheron, Marie; Gautier, Celia; Chetaille, Anne; Giraud, Adeline; Angerand, Sylvain; Burger, Patrice; Fauveaud, Swan; Frignet, Jerome; Kaloga, Alpha; Vielajus, Jean-Louis; Mathy, Sandrine

2011-03-01

This report proposes an analysis of the COP16 (16. Conference of Parties) by French NGOs committed in international solidarity and in the protection of the environment. The first part addresses the negotiation process in Cancun in terms of transparency and of geopolitical issues, and outlines the lack of ambition of these negotiations as far as the agreement legal form and the objectives of greenhouse gas emission reduction are concerned. After having discussed the issue of financing, the second part discusses stakes, results and challenges regarding various sectors and aspects: adaptation to climate change, agriculture (which has not been addressed in Cancun), forests. The last part proposes and comments a set of recommendations regarding the future legal form of the agreement, financing and sources of financing, adaptation, agriculture, forests, and civil society mobilisation

Dangerous climate change and the importance of adaptation for the Arctic's Inuit population

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ford, James D

2009-01-01

The Arctic's climate is changing rapidly, to the extent that 'dangerous' climate change as defined by the United Nations Framework on Climate Change might already be occurring. These changes are having implications for the Arctic's Inuit population and are being exacerbated by the dependence of Inuit on biophysical resources for livelihoods and the low socio-economic-health status of many northern communities. Given the nature of current climate change and projections of a rapidly warming Arctic, climate policy assumes a particular importance for Inuit regions. This paper argues that efforts to stabilize and reduce greenhouse gas emissions are urgent if we are to avoid runaway climate change in the Arctic, but unlikely to prevent changes which will be dangerous for Inuit. In this context, a new policy discourse on climate change is required for Arctic regions-one that focuses on adaptation. The paper demonstrates that states with Inuit populations and the international community in general has obligations to assist Inuit to adapt to climate change through international human rights and climate change treaties. However, the adaptation deficit, in terms of what we know and what we need to know to facilitate successful adaptation, is particularly large in an Arctic context and limiting the ability to develop response options. Moreover, adaptation as an option of response to climate change is still marginal in policy negotiations and Inuit political actors have been slow to argue the need for adaptation assistance. A new focus on adaptation in both policy negotiations and scientific research is needed to enhance Inuit resilience and reduce vulnerability in a rapidly changing climate.

An economic analysis of climate negotiations: Deciphering a set of incentives for participating, acting and making commitments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Albertini, Jean-Paul; Perrissin Fabert, Baptiste

2015-01-01

Given the complexity of situations, negotiations face the daunting task of motivating 'sovereign' nation-states to cooperate in the fight against climate change. As game theory shows, the interest of rational countries is always to shift the weight of efforts for curbing greenhouse gas emissions onto others so as to profit from climate policies without having to bear the costs. Although it does not account for the full complexity - historical, institutional and ethical - of a country's diplomatic motives for cooperating, the theory does shed light on the conditions for the emergence of solutions based on cooperation. An agreement ultimately comes out of a compromise between economic efficiency, a participation as broad as possible among signatories, and the goals adopted for preserving the climate. Given the shift in paradigms during negotiations at Cancun and the more decentralized approach that has prevailed since then, how credible is a worldwide goal like the 2 deg. C limit set for global warming? These factors force us to reconsider the commitments that countries can reasonably make

A history of the science and politics of climate change: the role of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bolin, B. [University of Stockholm, Stockholm (Sweden)

2007-11-15

In response to growing concern about human-induced global climate change, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was formed in 1988. Written by its first Chairman, this book is a unique overview of the history of the IPCC. It describes and evaluates the intricate interplay between key factors in the science and politics of climate change, the strategy that has been followed, and the regretfully slow pace in getting to grips with the uncertainties that have prevented earlier action being taken. The book also highlights the emerging conflict between establishing a sustainable global energy system and preventing a serious change in global climate. Contents are: Part I. The Early History of the Climate Change Issue: 1. Nineteenth century discoveries; 2. The natural carbon cycle and life on earth; 3. Global research initiatives in meteorology and climatology; 4. Early international assessments of climate change; Part II. The Climate Change Issue Becomes One of Global Concern: 5. Setting the stage; 6. The scientific basis for a climate convention; 7. Serving the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee; 8. The Second IPP Assessment Report; 9. In the aftermath of the IPCC Second Assessment; 10. The Kyoto Protocol is agreed and a third assessment begun; 11. A decade of hesitance and slow progress; Part III. A Turning Point in Addressing Climate Change?: 12. Key scientific finding of prime political relevance; 13. Climate change and the future global energy supply system; Concluding remarks. 9 figs.

Climate change and sustainability in Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alfsen, Knut H.

2001-01-01

This paper discusses the climate history of the Earth, exploring some of the driving forces of climate change along the way. It points out that it may not be the gradual increase in global mean temperature that we have to fear the most. Rather the variability of the climate may pose an even greater threat to us. The paper outlines some possible future scenarios of climate change based on what we now think we know about the causes of climate change and possible future development in emissions of greenhouse gases. It then goes on to describe the current climate negotiations and possible political solutions in the near term, before concluding with a description of the more long-term fundamental challenges we face. The aim of the discussion is to provide a deeper understanding of the climate problem we are facing, as well as the challenges that lie ahead of us, individually as well as a region, in securing the climate aspect of a sustainable development for Europe and the world. The paper is based on a presentation given at the conference Rio + 10 in Dublin in September 2001, made possible by a kind contribution from the European Environment Agency. (author)

Climate change and sustainability in Europe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alfsen, Knut H

2001-07-01

This paper discusses the climate history of the Earth, exploring some of the driving forces of climate change along the way. It points out that it may not be the gradual increase in global mean temperature that we have to fear the most. Rather the variability of the climate may pose an even greater threat to us. The paper outlines some possible future scenarios of climate change based on what we now think we know about the causes of climate change and possible future development in emissions of greenhouse gases. It then goes on to describe the current climate negotiations and possible political solutions in the near term, before concluding with a description of the more long-term fundamental challenges we face. The aim of the discussion is to provide a deeper understanding of the climate problem we are facing, as well as the challenges that lie ahead of us, individually as well as a region, in securing the climate aspect of a sustainable development for Europe and the world. The paper is based on a presentation given at the conference Rio + 10 in Dublin in September 2001, made possible by a kind contribution from the European Environment Agency. (author)

Climate champions? France, Germany and Europe in the negotiations about the Paris Agreement on climate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aykut, Stefan

2016-05-01

This report discusses the role and implications of France, Germany and Europe in the preparation of the Paris Agreement of December 2015. The author first discusses the historical aspiration of Europe to have a role of leadership in the negotiations. Then, he examines and comments the actual results of the COP21 and the content of the Paris Agreement. He analyses situational factors, the economic and political context, the role of the French diplomacy, of Germany and of the European Union. He analyses dynamics which, on the medium and the long terms, has shaped climate governance, notably the red lines defined by China and the USA, and the general framework of negotiations which tend to exclude some important issues which are considered as matters of conflict. The last part proposes a retrospective overview on room and options available for Europe to find a leadership again within the new climate regime implemented by the Paris Agreement

Engaging Reluctant Countries in Climate Change Mitigation Efforts

OpenAIRE

Hagen, Eline Kvamme

2015-01-01

The parties to the UN climate negotiations have time and again failed to agree on ambitious emissions reductions targets that can prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system (UN, 1992, p. 9). Lately, state leaders and UN officials have expressed great hopes for finally reaching a universal and legally binding climate agreement at this year s meeting of the UNFCCC parties in Paris. Game-theoretical perspectives on climate negotiations tell another story. The UN clima...

The adaptation to climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Gameren, Valentine; Weikmans, Romain; Zaccai, Edwin

2014-01-01

The authors address the issue of adaptation to climate change. They first address the physical aspects related to this issue: scenarios of temperature evolution, main possible impacts. Then, they address the social impacts related to climate risks, and the adaptation strategies which aim at reducing the exposure and vulnerability of human societies, or at increasing their resilience. Some examples of losses of human lives and of economic damages due to recent catastrophes related to climate change are evoked. The authors address the international framework, the emergence of an international regime on climate, the quite recent emergence of adaptation within international negotiations in 2001, the emergence of the idea of a support to developing countries. National and local policies are presented in the next chapter (in the European Union, the Netherlands which are faced with the issue of sea level rise, programs in developing countries) and their limitations are also outlined. The next chapter addresses the adaptation actions performed by private actors (enterprises, households, associations, civil society, and so on) with example of vulnerability, and adaptation opportunities and possibilities in some specific sectors. The last chapter presents a typology of actions of adaptation, indicators of adaptation to climate change, and examples of mistaken adaptation

Goal implementation perspectives of the Framework U N Convention on Climate Change in Russian Federation - Federal Objective Program on prevention of dangerous climate change and their negative consequences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bedritskij, A.I.; Berdin, V.Kh.; Karpov, A.V.

1997-01-01

Principal goals and tasks of Federal Target-oriented Program (FTP), system of program measures, its resources ensuring, mechanism for the FTP realization, supervision of execution and data on assessment of its effectiveness are expounded. Results of Russian Federation Inter-department commission activity on climate change issues are cited. Some aspects of negotiation process on Framework U N Convention o climate change are considered. (author)

Climate Change and International Civil Aviation Negotiations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Veronica Korber Gonçalves

Full Text Available Abstract 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.

Equity in Adaptation to Climate Change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gemenne, F.

2009-01-01

Most observers agree that equity has become a key condition for the success of a global agreement on climate, and that any deal that would seem inequitable would be doomed to fail. The UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) makes a distinction between developed countries, developing countries, and least advanced countries; as well as between vulnerable countries and particularly vulnerable countries. The first distinction has to do with equity in mitigation efforts, whereas the latter is concerned with equity in the allocation of adaptation funding (Mace 2006). Adaptation itself is poorly defined: the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change) does not go further than defining it as the adjustment of human or natural systems confronted to a new or changing environment (IPCC 2007). It took a very long time for adaptation to be acknowledged as a key aspect of the fight against global warming. Funding mechanisms were long overdue when they were finally implemented, and remain heavily discussed. A sufficient amount of funding for adaptation appears today as the sine qua non condition for the participation of developing countries to a global deal on climate. This amount has been estimated at US$ 100 billion at least on a yearly basis, including support for mitigation efforts. However, though equity concerns have been placed at the core of the negotiation on mitigation efforts, they have been little addressed in the discussions on adaptation. As a result of this, the criteria that will be used to allocate the adaptation funding remain unclear and vague, which could be detrimental for the negotiation process as a whole. This paper aims to offer a new perspective on this issue, departing from the traditional perspective inspired by retributive justice. (author)

Climate change mitigation in the Forest Sector: what Happened in Poznan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loisel, C.

2008-01-01

Climate change mitigation in the forestry sector was an important topic during the recent Climate Convention conference in Poznan (1- 12 December 2008). Forests appeared in various agenda items of the formal negotiations: - under the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA) concerning policy approaches and positives incentives on issues relating to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries; and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries ('REDD+'), - under the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) concerning methodological aspects on the above, - under the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) concerning the treatment of greenhouse gas emissions and removals related to land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) in Annex I Parties in the context of post-2012 commitments. This note recalls what happened under these agenda items and also on the margins of formal negotiations in relation to climate change mitigation in the forest sector. (author)

Reflections on the international climate change negotiations: A synthesis of a working group on carbon emission policy and regulation in Brazil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lucon, Oswaldo; Romeiro, Viviane; Pacca, Sergio

2013-01-01

This short communication presents a synthesis of a Working Group on Carbon Emission Policy and Regulation held at the University of Sao Paulo, in Brazil. The document looked at the problems with the international negotiations, the options for Brazil as it attempts to control emissions, and ways to leverage the mitigation process. Several options are currently being proposed, but these are neither clear in order to support a solid polycentric approach with adequate metrics, nor a robust international coordination and a sound scientific communication. Brazil has a central role in this process, for having successful initiatives on renewable energy and deforestation control. Its leadership can demonstrate how such policies might take shape. However, the country´s future is uncertain in terms of low carbon development. Although the country is still well positioned among BRICS to find practical solutions to the stalemate in international cooperation, several internal challenges need to be harmonized. - Highlights: • The work presents results of a recent climate change mitigation policies workshop. • It assesses Brazil's potential role in shaping future policies and negotiations. • Policies are evaluated based on domestic and international effects. • Suggests how Brazil's national effort could leverage the international processes

Global climate convention

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simonis, U.E.

1991-01-01

The effort of negotiate a global convention on climate change is one of mankind's great endeavours - and a challenge to economists and development planners. The inherent linkages between climate and the habitability of the earth are increasingly well recognized, and a convention could help to ensure that conserving the environment and developing the economy in the future must go hand in hand. Due to growing environmental concern the United Nations General Assembly has set into motion an international negotiating process for a framework convention on climate change. One the major tasks in these negotiations is how to share the duties in reducing climate relevant gases, particularly carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), between the industrial and the developing countries. The results and proposals could be among the most far-reaching ever for socio-economic development, indeed for global security and survival itself. While the negotiations will be about climate and protection of the atmosphere, they will be on fundamental global changes in energy policies, forestry, transport, technology, and on development pathways with low greenhouse gas emissions. Some of these aspects of a climate convention, particularly the distributional options and consequences for the North-South relations, are addressed in this chapter. (orig.)

Climate change: which stakes? Stakes of climate change. Man and the trajectory of the Earth ship

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bramy, Herve; Rogalski, Michel; Sachs, Ignacy

2011-12-01

A first article recalls what the greenhouse effect is, outlines that the increase of CO 2 concentration due to human activity is indisputable, that the future of the Kyoto Protocol remains hypothetical, that evolving towards a new development mode is a crucial necessity. It also addresses the issue of financing this struggle against climate change, and outlines the importance of international negotiations. A second article outlines the stakes of climate change, notably by referring to the different international summits and to the associated issues (commitments of most countries, technology transfers, and so on). The third article comments the entry into the Anthropocene as a disruption for the joint evolution of mankind and biosphere. The author outlines the need of a new planning for development, and briefly discusses the question of energies

Climate Change and Caribbean Small Island States: The State of Play

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamin, Lisa

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Studies have indicated that climate change is likely to have dramatic negative effects for Caribbean small island developing states. This article considers the main economic effects that climate change is anticipated to have in these vulnerable states, charts the progress of international negotiations at the 2009 Copenhagen conference, and provides a brief analysis of the impact of the Copenhagen Accord on Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS.Although climate change has traditionally been seen solely as an environmental issue, its economic effects on vulnerable developing nations, such as Caribbean SIDS, forces a re-definition of climate change to that of a more complex union of environmental and developmental issues for these states. By highlighting some of the anticipated economic effects of climate change for Caribbean SIDS, the author aims to provide a broader context for the issue of climate change for Caribbean SIDS.

Climate change and global warming potentials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vate, J.F. van de

1996-01-01

Climate change and the global budgets of the two main energy consumption related greenhouse gases, CO 2 and CH 4 , are discussed. The global warming potential (GWP) of the non-CO 2 greenhouse gases is defined and the large range of GWPs of CH 4 in the literature is discussed. GWPs are expected to play an important role in energy policies and negotiations concerning lowering greenhouse gas emissions. (author). 20 refs, 4 figs, 4 tabs

Countries in transition and the developing countries in the negotiation on the climatic change. Stakes of the Kyoto conference; Les pays en transition et les pays en developpement dans la negociation sur le changement climatique. Les enjeux de la conference de Kyoto

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Blanchard, O; Cavard, D; Faudry, D; Girod, J; Menanteau, P; Viguier, L

1997-10-01

This document presents the positions of the countries in transition and the developing countries in the phase of the negotiations on the climatic change between 1994 and 1997, then takes stock on the pilot phase of the actions of the associated implementation. The negotiations stakes and the frame of the discussions are also presented. (A.L.B.)

Will climate change capitalism? The major change of the X XI century

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mistral, Jacques; Tirole, Jean; Rocard, Michel; Artus, Patrick; Benhamou, Francoise; Betbeze, Jean-Paul; Brender, Anton; Charpin, Jean-Michel; Chevalier, Jean-Marie; Contamin, Raphael; Fulda, Bruno; Geoffron, Patrice; Giraud, Pierre-Noel; Gonand, Frederic; Hassan, Fabien; Jacquet, Pierre; Jouvet, Pierre-Andre; Parker, Geoffrey; Perthuis, Christian de; Schubert, Katheline; Suwa-Eisenmann, Akiko

2015-01-01

After an introduction and an interview with an historian on the Little Ice Age of the 17. century, this collective book gathers several contributions. A first set discusses the possible change of capitalism under the influence of the carbon market. The authors discuss the political economy of global warming, the relationship between climate negotiation and carbon price, the ways companies take the carbon price into account in their decisions, and the energy and economic transitions. The second set of contributions discusses the influence of climate on the logics of political choices. The authors address the relationship between natural resources and growth, the macro-economic consequences of climate disruption, how to finance the climate, the virtuous relationships between finance and climate, and why it seems so difficult to act for the climate when considering political ambition and economic lucidity. The third and last set of contributions addresses the possible influence of climate change on geopolitics. The authors address and comment the situation of southern countries with respect to climate change, the American leadership challenged by climate issues, the threat China could be for climate more than for anything else, and the European energy strategy with respect to the COP21. A last article discusses the relationship between global warming and the evolution of the Arctic area

The Atlas of Climate Change. Based on SEAP-CMIP5. Super-ensemble projection and attribution (SEAP) of climate change

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dong, Wenjie; Guo, Yan [Beijing Normal Univ. (China). Normal Univ. College of Global Change and Earth System Science; Ren, Fumin [China Meterological Administration, Beijing (China). National Climate Center; Huang, Jianbin [Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China). Center for Earth System Science

2013-02-01

Outputs from the latest generation of earth system model from world class model development groups for IPCC AR5. Describes quantitatively state historical responsibility for global warming. Demonstrates how the Earth's climate system will change from today up to 2100. Describes how much climate change we may avoid if we take action according to Cancun Pledge ''The Atlas of Climate Change-Based on SEAP-CMIP5'' is intended to satisfy readers' curiosity: how will our climate system change over the next 100 years? It is the first showcase for the state-of -the-art earth system models that released their CMIP5 simulations for the IPCC AR5.The atlas focuses on both the past climate system change from 1850 and the projection of the future climate system change to 2100 using the RCP2.6, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios based on climate models. This provides the research and application community interested in the impact of climate change on fields such as agriculture, ecosystem, environment,water resources, energy, health, economy, risk governance and international negotiation, etc. with the newest climate change projection information. Additionally, the atlas will show the historical responsibility of the developed/developing countries and possible contributions to the mitigation of climate change according to their pledge of GHG emission reduction after the Cancun Agreement as an extension numerical experiment to CMIP5 with NCAR's CESM1.0. The authors will update this atlas after future releases of CMIP5 model outputs and update the figures in the second edition of the atlas in 2012-2013.

Dangerous climate change and the importance of adaptation for the Arctic's Inuit population

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ford, James D [Department of Geography, McGill University, 805 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, QC, H3A 2K6 (Canada)], E-mail: james.ford@mcgill.ca

2009-04-15

The Arctic's climate is changing rapidly, to the extent that 'dangerous' climate change as defined by the United Nations Framework on Climate Change might already be occurring. These changes are having implications for the Arctic's Inuit population and are being exacerbated by the dependence of Inuit on biophysical resources for livelihoods and the low socio-economic-health status of many northern communities. Given the nature of current climate change and projections of a rapidly warming Arctic, climate policy assumes a particular importance for Inuit regions. This paper argues that efforts to stabilize and reduce greenhouse gas emissions are urgent if we are to avoid runaway climate change in the Arctic, but unlikely to prevent changes which will be dangerous for Inuit. In this context, a new policy discourse on climate change is required for Arctic regions-one that focuses on adaptation. The paper demonstrates that states with Inuit populations and the international community in general has obligations to assist Inuit to adapt to climate change through international human rights and climate change treaties. However, the adaptation deficit, in terms of what we know and what we need to know to facilitate successful adaptation, is particularly large in an Arctic context and limiting the ability to develop response options. Moreover, adaptation as an option of response to climate change is still marginal in policy negotiations and Inuit political actors have been slow to argue the need for adaptation assistance. A new focus on adaptation in both policy negotiations and scientific research is needed to enhance Inuit resilience and reduce vulnerability in a rapidly changing climate.

Changing Climates @ Colorado State: 100 (Multidisciplinary) Views of Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, S.; Calderazzo, J.; Changing Climates, Cmmap Education; Diversity Team

2011-12-01

combined in various ways to comprise focused, lively, accurate primers to what we all need to know about climate change. With college classrooms as our intended venue, we are looking at such topics as why the weather in your backyard tells you nothing about global climate change-but a good deal about climate; how tiny molecules warm the planet; how snowpack, drought, bark beetles, fire suppression, and wildfire interact as stress complexes; why (and where) women, children, and the poor are especially vulnerable to harm from climate change; what international policy negotiators argue about; what poets and artists can contribute to understanding and solving the climate problem; and why ecologists are worried about changes in the seasonal timing of natural events. We will describe what we have done and how we did it; offer a few tips to others who might wish to do something similar; and introduce our website.

Climate change politics in the United States from Rio to Johannesburg

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lepetit, P.

2002-06-01

This document on the United States policy towards the climate change problem, presents in four chapters the historical aspects of the US policy in the international negotiations: the kyoto target accepted by the US is far more ambitious than other industrialized nation; after fierce debate a consensus might suggest that climate change represents a significant threat to the world well being and that human activity is responsible; the kyoto process would have been troubled even if G.W. bush had followed B. Clinton approach; whatever its flaws the Kyoto protocol is a building block for any comprehensive agreement on climate change. (A.L.B.)

An Interface between Law and Science: The Climate Change Regime

Science.gov (United States)

Kuleshov, Y.; Grandbois, M.; Kaniaha, S.

2012-04-01

Island countries, as well as it could increase countries' contributions to the future of international environmental law. Vanuatu is pioneering this process in the Pacific and could make a leading contribution to the development of Nationally appropriate mitigation actions by developing country Parties, according to the Bali action Plan and to participate actively in the negotiations of a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol. In studying and transposing the national climate change report, Vanuatu would also sensibly improve its own environmental laws in response to climate change. By building a bridge between law and science in the Pacific, we are training scientists to climate change law, and training lawyers and policy-makers to climate change science; increasing the collaborative process and the cooperation between scientists and lawyers, in drafting national environmental laws and in negotiating international climate change agreements; and enhancing the contribution of small vulnerable islands to the development of the international climate change regime, as it regards to law and to science. Training for climate scientists and for lawyers and policy-makers on climate change science and law will be provided through the USP Course on climate change international law and climate change science - the first course on this type in the Pacific.

Negotiating the discursive intersection of the government of others and the government of self in the face of climate change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lindegaard, Laura Bang

both a boundary and a constitutive moment of government, and, secondly, the realisation that governmentality is somehow intertwined with the continuous becoming of ethical subjects, or, in other words, with continuously negotiated practices of subjectivation. The paper pursues and enforces......-depth analysis of focus group data stemming from sessions in a small Danish village in which citizens accomplish the contested discursive intersection of, one the one hand, a municipal strategy aimed at ’greening’ the citizens’ transportation conduct and, on the other hand, the citizens attempt to conduct...... their own conduct. In this way unravelling the subjectivation that unfolds as the government of others and the government of the self intersect in discursive interaction in the face of climate change, the paper can be seen as contributing more specifically to the yet underdeveloped area of studies...

The human rights approach to climate change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Toft, Kristian Høyer

2013-01-01

are instrumentally applied as a solution to what could be called the “justice problem” in climate negotiations. In order to assess the degree to which human rights could be a useful approach to the justice problem with regard to to climate change, four major issues need to be examined. First...... presently and in the future, needs to be elucidated, as well as (b) the human rights principles that are at stake, and (c) the duties and duty holders involved. Third, the human right to emit greenhouse gases needs to be clarified in the context of subsistence rights and equal per capita emission rights...

Critical list: the 100 nations most vulnerable to climate change

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ayers, Jessica [London School of Economics (United Kingdom); Huq, Saleemul

2007-12-15

Well over a billion people in 100 countries face a bleak future. In these, the nations most vulnerable to climate change, resilience has already been eroded by entrenched poverty, degraded or threatened environments and other problems. The harsher, more frequent natural disasters that are predicted could tip them over the edge into chronic famine or forced migration. Yet these are also the countries that have contributed least to climate change. It is vital that their voices and views be heard in the negotiations to determine the post-Kyoto climate regime. Equally importantly, the countries emitting the most greenhouse gases must redress the balance by establishing robust mitigation programmes and by supporting adaptation.

Ethics and public perception of climate change: exploring the Christian voices in the US public debate

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wardekker, J.A.; Petersen, A.C.; van der Sluijs, J.P.

2009-01-01

Climate change raises many questions with strong moral and ethical dimensions that are important to address in climate-policy formation and international negotiations. Particularly in the United States, the public discussion of these dimensions is strongly influenced by religious groups and leaders.

The greenhouse effect economy: a review of international commitments for the struggle against climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vieillefosse, A.

2008-01-01

After a description of climate change as a physical phenomenon, a review of assessments of costs associated to climate change and to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and a discussion about the decision in a context of uncertainty, the author discusses political challenges, stressing the need for an international coordination, discussing the issue of property rights, the need to build a mutually beneficial agreement between states, and reviewing the different positions and beliefs in various countries. Then, she describes the system implemented by the Kyoto protocol, proposes an assessment of this protocol at the present time, highlights the qualities of this protocol, proposes pathways to improve it, and attempts to draw some perspectives. In a last part, she examines and comments the U.S. posture, questioning the high level of EU's ambitions in front of a lack of action of the United States, questioning also the negotiation framework, the place given to developing countries in this negotiation, and the possibility of taking up transatlantic negotiations again

The climate change convention and developing countries. From conflict to consensus?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gupta, J.

1997-01-01

The climate change problem can only be effectively dealt with if global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can be reduced substantially. Since the emission of such gases is closely related to the economic growth of countries, a critical problem to be addressed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) is: how will the premissible emission levels be shared between industrialised (ICs) and developing countries (DCs)? The thesis of this book is that the long-term effectiveness of the FCCC runs the risk of a horizontal negotiation deadlock between countries and the risk of vertical standstill within countries if there is little domestic support for the implementation of measures being announced in international negotiations. This book explores the nature of the domestic consensus in specific developing countries and the common, converging, diverging and conflicting interests underlying the international consensus. It presents a coherent account of the major North-South conflicts on this issue and explains these conflicts in terms of forthright and compelling arguments

After Kyoto: equity stakes and efficiency in the negotiation on the climatic change; Au-dela de Kyoto: enjeux d'equite et d'efficacite dans la negociation sur le changement climatique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Blanchard, O.; Criqui, P.; Viguier, L. [Institut d' Economie et de Politique de l' Energie - IEPE-CNRS/ Universite Pierre Mendes-France, 38 - Grenoble (France); Trommetter, M. [Institut National de Recherches Agronomiques (INRA), 38 - Grenoble (France)

2000-07-01

The first difficulty to get over in the international negotiation on the climatic change, has been and still remain the distribution of the efforts and the research of the equity in the objective determination. This paper aims to show that facing the different interests of each countries, a single rule of differentiation is not possible. The first part is a review of the different charts of the objectives differentiation discussed or proposed in the international negotiation process on the greenhouse effect. It aims to find a bond between the the charts and the equity. The second part proposes the quantification of a scenario of the emission licenses attribution for 2030 for all the world countries. (A.L.B.)

Climate change and energy: The implications for the Spanish case

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perez Arriaga, J. I.

2007-01-01

This paper examines the mutual implications between the climate change problem and the actual energy-at-a-crossroads situation of the unsustainable world energy model. The implications for the Spanish case are studied as a case example. The paper provides a brief review of the scientific evidence on climate change, analyzes the causes of the present energy dilemma and characterizes the problem to be addressed. The principal challenge for the future climate regime is to identify the nature and level of commitment that will provide sufficient incentives for all countries, with such a diversity of interests. The paper also exposes the most plausible framework for the future climate regime, the basic components of such a regime, the role to be played by the major stake holders and some guidelines for future negotiations. (Author)

Helping UN negotiators protect the poorest

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abeysinghe, Achala Chandani

2011-07-15

UN climate change negotiations are beehives of intense activity. Parallel negotiating sessions, contact groups, drafting sessions and side events all contribute to the complexity. During high-stake conferences like the one held in Copenhagen in 2009, negotiators labour through deadlocked all-night meetings. Adaptation, mitigation, technology transfer and finance are just a few of the controversial and technically challenging issues on the table. The UNFCCC process itself imposes an additional labyrinth that participants must learn. To meet these demands and participate in the negotiations effectively, countries need talented teams of negotiators and expert advisors. The most powerful countries send dozens of delegates: Japan's team has 114 members, and the United States has 155. But Gambia, which leads the 48 countries in the least developed countries (LDC) group, has only four. For the poorest countries, the UN provides funds to support just two delegates.

Meeting the Climate Challenge. Recommendations of the International Climate Change Taskforce

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-01-01

To chart a way forward, an International Climate Change Taskforce, composed of leading scientists, public officials, and representatives of business and non-governmental organisations, was established at the invitation of three leading public policy institutes - the Institute for Public Policy Research, the Center for American Progress and The Australia Institute. The Taskforce's aim has been to develop proposals to consolidate and build on the gains achieved under the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol to ensure that climate change is addressed effectively over the long term. In doing so, the Taskforce has met twice, in Windsor, United Kingdom and Sydney, Australia, where they reviewed and debated detailed research papers prepared by the Taskforce Secretariat, provided by the three founding organisations. The Taskforce's recommendations are to all governments and policy-makers worldwide. However, particular emphasis is placed on providing independent advice to the governments of the Group of Eight (G8) and the European Union (EU) in the context of the UK's presidencies of both organisations in 2005, during which Prime Minister Tony Blair has pledged to make addressing climate change a priority. The recommendations are also made in the context of the start of international negotiations in 2005 on future collective action on climate change, and the need to engage the governments of those industrialised countries that have not ratified the Kyoto Protocol

Negotiated risks. International talks on hazardous issues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Avenhaus, Rudolf; Sjoestedt, Gunnar

2009-01-01

This book fills a major gap in the risk literature, as it brings together two research strands: risks, to which IIASA's research programs have contributed significantly over the years, culminating in the Risk and Vulnerability Program, and international negotiations, on which there is an abundance of published work, much of it resulting from the work of IIASA's Processes of International Negotiations Program. Throughout the book, it is pointed out that there are actor-driven risks, namely those posed by international negotiations themselves, and issue-driven risks which are caused by large-scale human activities. In fact, negotiated risks deal with some of the most serious risks facing humanity: climate change, nuclear activities, and weapons of mass destruction. The book contains both scientific analyses on the nature of internationally negotiated risks and analyses of concrete risks, both of which are of immense practical relevance in the larger context of international negotiations. (orig.)

Information report made by the Commission for European Affairs on international negotiations on climate change. Nr 3248

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deflesselles, Bernard; Lambert, Jerome; Leroy, Arnaud

2015-01-01

In its first part, this report discusses the Lima agreement with questions left to be answered in Paris, and large divergences. It also comments the issue of national contributions and its process which has been adopted in Lima, and highlights the shortcomings of the Lima call. Then, it discusses progresses related to the creation of a Green Fund, and outlines uncertainties for the period 2015-2020. In the second part, it describes and discusses stakes and challenges faced by the Paris conference: the importance of a legally constraining treaty, the necessity of higher level of ambition regarding mitigation, the essential guarantee of control and transparency, the attention paid to the adaptation of the most vulnerable countries, and the need of a sufficient and sustainable financing. The third part addresses the situation and role of the European Union within international negotiations on climate change: position of the EU and of the European Parliament regarding the COP21, publications by Eurostat to assess and measure advances made by the EU. It also addresses the uncertain conciliation with other important interveners like the USA, China, the G7 and the G20

Strategic reasoning and bargaining in catastrophic climate change games

Science.gov (United States)

Verendel, Vilhelm; Johansson, Daniel J. A.; Lindgren, Kristian

2016-03-01

Two decades of international negotiations show that agreeing on emission levels for climate change mitigation is a hard challenge. However, if early warning signals were to show an upcoming tipping point with catastrophic damage, theory and experiments suggest this could simplify collective action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At the actual threshold, no country would have a free-ride incentive to increase emissions over the tipping point, but it remains for countries to negotiate their emission levels to reach these agreements. We model agents bargaining for emission levels using strategic reasoning to predict emission bids by others and ask how this affects the possibility of reaching agreements that avoid catastrophic damage. It is known that policy elites often use a higher degree of strategic reasoning, and in our model this increases the risk for climate catastrophe. Moreover, some forms of higher strategic reasoning make agreements to reduce greenhouse gases unstable. We use empirically informed levels of strategic reasoning when simulating the model.

From Rio 1992 to Rio 2012. Twenty years of negotiations on climate: for which result? Which role for Europe? Which futures?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dahan, Amy; Aykut, Stefan C.

2012-01-01

In a first part, the authors propose an overview of the history of the process of negotiations on climate, recall its framework and operation modalities (governance by the United Nations, operation of climate institutions), and outline geopolitical evolutions and significant landmarks (notably the Copenhagen conference). They also question the present credibility of negotiations on climate. Then, they focus on Europe as a major actor of this history, recall the different steps by which Europe gained a peculiar leadership status (Europe as an actor of international negotiations, relationship between climate and European building, evolution of the European ambition). Thirdly, by drawing some lessons from the 2012 Rio Conference, they give an overview of deadlocks, blocks and opportunities on the way to resolve the problem, not only within the United Nations framework but also at different scales. They notably discuss the evolution towards a large energy transition, and the position of Europe in front of commitments with respect to climate

Building on success : Climate Change Action Fund 2001-2002 annual report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-05-01

The Climate Change Action Fund (CCAF) was established by the Canadian Government in 1998 with a budget of $150 million over 3 years to support early actions on climate change. The initiative was renewed in the 2000 federal budget with a further $150 million in funding. Thus far, funding has helped 32 research projects regarding communities, health, agriculture, forestry and water resources. The primary tool for implementing federal climate change policy has been the Technology Early Action Measures (TEAM) program. Other integrated components under the CCAF include the Foundation Building, Science Impacts and Adaption (SIA), and Public Education and Outreach (PEO). Broad options have been developed for a Domestic Emissions Trading system. The CCAF played a critical role in ensuring that Canada's policy position was heard in international negotiations on all subject matters, and was instrumental in bringing more developing countries to participate in the climate change initiative. Accomplishments thus far include climate system monitoring, improving climate models, and understanding the role that forests and agricultural lands play in the climate and carbon balance. The second phase of CCAF will focus on climate system processes, climate modelling and climate impact scenarios. 1 tab

NO global warming = YES nuclear energy. The International Nuclear Forum and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cornish, Emma

2000-01-01

The nuclear industry sits along side the renewable energy sector in its role as a non carbon emitting technology. But persuading international political leaders of this fact presents a challenge. Generating electricity from nuclear fuel avoids at least 2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide every year through its 16% share of world wide electricity generation. Nuclear energy is essential to minimising greenhouse gas emissions. This presentation highlights the main issues resulting from the climate change negotiations that are highly relevant to the industry; explains the activities of the International Nuclear Forum and our interaction with the delegates to the process; outlines future activities. The International Nuclear Forum (INF) was formed to provide a collective voice lobbying for nuclear at the climate change negotiations. It's internationally representative of the industry and comprises of: the Uranium Institute; the Nuclear Energy Institute; the Japan Atomic Industry Forum; the Canadian Nuclear Association; the European Nuclear Society, and Foratom. All are accredited non governmental observers to the negotiations of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

Serious Simulation Role-Playing Games for Transformative Climate Change Education: "World Climate" and "Future Climate"

Science.gov (United States)

Rooney-Varga, J. N.; Sterman, J.; Sawin, E.; Jones, A.; Merhi, H.; Hunt, C.

2012-12-01

Climate change, its mitigation, and adaption to its impacts are among the greatest challenges of our times. Despite the importance of societal decisions in determining climate change outcomes, flawed mental models about climate change remain widespread, are often deeply entrenched, and present significant barriers to understanding and decision-making around climate change. Here, we describe two simulation role-playing games that combine active, affective, and analytical learning to enable shifts of deeply held conceptions about climate change. The games, World Climate and Future Climate, use a state-of-the-art decision support simulation, C-ROADS (Climate Rapid Overview and Decision Support) to provide users with immediate feedback on the outcomes of their mitigation strategies at the national level, including global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and concentrations, mean temperature changes, sea level rise, and ocean acidification. C-ROADS outcomes are consistent with the atmosphere-ocean general circulation models (AOGCMS), such as those used by the IPCC, but runs in less than one second on ordinary laptops, providing immediate feedback to participants on the consequences of their proposed policies. Both World Climate and Future Climate role-playing games provide immersive, situated learning experiences that motivate active engagement with climate science and policy. In World Climate, participants play the role of United Nations climate treaty negotiators. Participant emissions reductions proposals are continually assessed through interactive exploration of the best available science through C-ROADS. Future Climate focuses on time delays in the climate and energy systems. Participants play the roles of three generations: today's policymakers, today's youth, and 'just born.' The game unfolds in three rounds 25 simulated years apart. In the first round, only today's policymakers make decisions; In the next round, the young become the policymakers and inherit the

The climate file

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-01-01

A series of interviews of a member of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) and of researchers gives an overview of scientific knowledge on climate, discusses what could be a good agreement at the Copenhagen conference, outlines what is at stake in these negotiations, and proposes an overview of the French policy for the struggle against climate change. An article comments the content of a report published by the CAS (Centre d'Analyse Strategique), and more particularly the position of Russia and of the OPEC before the Copenhagen negotiations. A last article comments the results of three opinion surveys made in France about climate change, its origins and solutions, and about the representation French people have of greenhouse effect

Climate diplomacy. The stakes of a climate international regime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maljean-Dubois, Sandrine; Wemaere, Matthieu

2010-01-01

Written in 2010, just after the Copenhagen summit, by a specialist of international law on environment and an environment scientist, this book explores the avenues of the climate diplomacy (from Kyoto to Copenhagen) to meet the challenges of global climatic change, explains the implications of present and future negotiations, and discusses the prospects for an environmental international governance as the Rio+20 summit is approaching. The titles of the four chapters of this book are: the climate international regime, a step by step construction; guidelines and implementation of the Kyoto protocol; Post-2012 negotiations; European Union's strategy and policy against climatic change (quotas, emission trading, etc.). As a conclusion, the authors ask the question about the evolution of the climate international approach, pointing the kickback encountered at Copenhagen: now, what will come after?

Climate change, global risks, challenges and decisions. Synthesis report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Richardson, K.; Steffen, W.; Schellnhuber, H.J.

2009-03-01

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting to be held in Copenhagen in December 2009 (the 15th Conference of the Parties, COP-15) will be a critical step in developing a global response to the threat of climate change caused by human activities. The primary scientific input to those negotiations is the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published in 2007. The IPCC report has already been instrumental in increasing both public and political awareness of the societal risks associated with unchecked emission of greenhouse gases. Since the production of the IPCC report, new knowledge has emerged that furthers understanding of the impacts of human influence on the climate and the response options and approaches that are available to tackle this complex issue. To bring this new knowledge together, the International Alliance of Research Universities organised an international scientific congress on climate change, Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges and Decisions, which was held in Copenhagen from 10-12 March 2009. Participants came from nearly 80 different countries and contributed with more than 1400 scientific presentations. Abstracts for all of the scientific presentations made can be found at www.iop.org/EJ/volume/1755-1315/6, and a transcript of the closing plenary session can be found at environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/opinion/39126. This synthesis report presents an up-to-date overview of a broad range of research relevant to climate change - including fundamental climate science, the impacts of a changing climate on society and environment, and the many tools and approaches available to deal effectively with the challenge of climate change. (LN)

Differentiation, international equity and efficiency in the fight against the global climatic change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blanchard, O.; Criqui, P.; Viguier, L.; Trommetter, M.

1998-05-01

The first difficulty to get over in the international negotiation on the climatic change, has been and still remain the distribution of the efforts and the research of the equity in the objective determination. This paper analyzes the possible consequences of the negotiable emission licenses in terms of efficiency and equity. The first part is a review of the different charts of the objectives differentiation discussed or proposed in the international negotiation process on the greenhouse effect. It aims to find a bond between the the charts and the equity. The second part deals with the programs cost and their relative efficiency, taking into account the marginal cost curves. (A.L.B.)

Negotiating action

Science.gov (United States)

2017-12-01

After years of working towards a climate accord, the Paris Agreement of 2015 marked the shift from negotiating to reach consensus on climate action to implementation of such action. The challenge now is to ensure transparency in the processes and identify the details of what is required.

Towards a Post-2012 Climate Change Regime. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blok, K.; Hoehne, N.; Torvanger, A.; Janzic, R.

2005-01-01

It is broadly recognised that the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the result of years of intensive international negotiations, is only the first step in combating human-induced climate change. Further action is necessary to reach the ultimate objective of the UNFCCC, i.e. 'stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system'. The key issue is how to share this action between all global regions and Parties to the UNFCCC. Annex I Parties have committed themselves to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the first commitment period 2008 to 2012 by around five per cent compared to 1990 levels. The Kyoto mechanisms, emissions trading, Joint Implementation and the Clean Development Mechanism, play a very important role. Currently, valuable experience is being gathered with the implementation of these mechanisms. Preparations for the second commitment period have begun, but there is much uncertainty as to how the process will unfold and what a final agreement could entail. This study is set-up as support material for the European Commission on Further Action in the UNFCCC Post-2012 process. Its objective is to: (1) analyze relevant country groupings and possibilities for future regimes; (2) collect and assess available approaches to future commitments; and (3) to come with concrete proposals for a future regime and the associated negotiation process

Potentials and limitations of epistemic communities. An analysis of the World Climate Council and the Framework Convention on Climate Change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Otto, Daniel

2015-01-01

In times of increasing global uncertainties, science takes a central position for policy decisions. According to Peter M. Haas, epistemic communities are able to influence the cooperative behavior of states through their consensual knowledge. This book critically examines this statement. As the case of the Framework Convention on Climate Change shows, the World Climate Council (IPCC) was not in a position to enforce its solution options in the intergovernmental negotiations, as these affected the individual convictions of the decision-makers. While Angela Merkel advocated an agreement, the US government under George W. Bush denied the existence of climate change. Decision-makers and their individual convictions must therefore have a greater significance in international politics. [de

Climatic changes: explicative guide of international agreements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-01-01

The following themes of the negotiation in the United Nations Convention framework, on the climatic changes and the kyoto protocol are taken into account: the observation, the information communication, the policies and the measures, the developing countries, the flexibility mechanisms, the soils utilizations and the regime evolution. For each theme the document recalls quickly how the theme is detailed in the Convention and in the Protocol, it presents then the decisions and the adopted rules and defines the agreements contain, in terms of challenges and implication in the protocol implementation. (A.L.B.)

Increasing Participation and Compliance in International Climate Change Agreements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barrett, S.; Stavins, R.

2002-11-01

Scientific and economic consensus increasingly points to the need for a credible and cost-effective approach to address the threat of global climate change, but the Kyoto Protocol to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change appears incapable of inducing significant participation and compliance. We assess the Protocol and thirteen alternative policy architectures that have been proposed, with particular attention to their respective abilities to induce participation and compliance. We find that those approaches that offer cost-effective mitigation are unlikely to induce significant participation and compliance, while those approaches that are likely to enjoy a reasonably high level of implementation by sovereign states are sorely lacking in terms of their anticipated cost effectiveness. The feasible set of policy architectures is thus limited to second-best alternatives. Much more attention needs to be given - both by scholarly research and by international negotiations - to aspects of future international climate agreements that will affect the degrees of participation and compliance that can reasonably be expected to be forthcoming

A country framework for analyzing climate change mitigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

King, K.

1995-01-01

Once the global community accepted the threat of global climate change as a serious one, many countries began to study its possible consequences and the scope for national action that could help mitigate it. Governments will find that national climate change studies are useful quite apart from helping them to fulfill commitments under the FCCC. All countries, developed and developing, will benefit from an understanding of the sacrifice they need to make for the greater benefit of climate change mitigation. This sacrifice - that is, the set of trade-offs or the 'added burden' - is what economists refer to as the 'incremental cost' of climate change mitigation actions. All countries will benefit from knowing what these costs are and from knowing how much their national action will matter. Using measures of cost and mitigation, they will be able to choose from among their alternative national actions those with the greatest effect and the lowest incremental cost. Eligible countries can also use these measures to negotiate the amount of financial assistance they need from the financial mechanism of the FCCC or other sources. A country framework for medium-term considerations will yield results useful for investment planning, policy choice, and financial reimbursement (where appropriate). This is the focus of the framework outlined in this paper. (EG) 15 refs

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting agricultural management for climate change in developing countries: providing the basis for action.

Science.gov (United States)

Ogle, Stephen M; Olander, Lydia; Wollenberg, Lini; Rosenstock, Todd; Tubiello, Francesco; Paustian, Keith; Buendia, Leandro; Nihart, Alison; Smith, Pete

2014-01-01

Agriculture in developing countries has attracted increasing attention in international negotiations within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change for both adaptation to climate change and greenhouse gas mitigation. However, there is limited understanding about potential complementarity between management practices that promote adaptation and mitigation, and limited basis to account for greenhouse gas emission reductions in this sector. The good news is that the global research community could provide the support needed to address these issues through further research linking adaptation and mitigation. In addition, a small shift in strategy by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and ongoing assistance from agricultural organizations could produce a framework to move the research and development from concept to reality. In turn, significant progress is possible in the near term providing the basis for UNFCCC negotiations to move beyond discussion to action for the agricultural sector in developing countries. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Venezuelan policies and responses on climate change and natural hazards

Science.gov (United States)

Caponi, Claudio; Rosales, Anibal

1992-06-01

Venezuela is an intertropical country which has the fortune not to suffer the severities of natural hazards which are usual in other countries of this region. It is a developing country, whose economy is heavily dependent on oil production and exports. Its greenhouse gas emissions are relatively low, but it is expected that the planned industrialization development will bring an associated increase in emissions. As a nation, Venezuela has a highly developed environmental consciousness. The Ministry of environment, the first in Latin America, was created in 1977, and has been the main contributor to the national policy of Disaster Prevention and Reduction. As in many developing countries actions and responses in this regard have been rather limited in scope, and even though legislation has been developed, many problems arise for its enforcement. Several local warning systems, civil defense procedures, and infrastructural protection measures are operational, however they have not been designed, revised, or planned taking into consideration the potential impacts of climate change. Presently Venezuela is an active participant state in the negotiation for a framework convention on climate change. That is a very difficult negotiation for our country. Here we have to conciliate enviromental principles with national economic interests. The elements of our position in this contex are presented in this statement.

Conflicting Perspectives in Trade and Environmental Negotiations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buchner, B.K.; Roson, R.

2002-09-01

International trade negotiations have recently tackled the issue of possible free trade restrictions, justified - among others - on the basis of environmental concerns. Also, some analyses of international environmental agreements (especially in the field of climate change) have highlighted the key role played by changes in the terms of trade in determining the cost of environmental policies. Yet, secondary effects of international trade remain disregarded in many environmental policies, whereas the introduction of environmental trade barriers has been resisted, arguing that this may hide a Trojan horse of a renewed protectionism. This paper reviews the debate on trade and the environment in the two fields of environmental and trade negotiations, highlighting the different and somewhat conflicting approach adopted in the two cases. A numerical general equilibrium model is used to illustrate how different 'perceptions' (translated in terms of alternative model closures) affect the use of instruments, the distributional impact of the various policies, and the strategic interplay between negotiators in international agreements

Conflicting Perspectives in Trade and Environmental Negotiations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buchner, B.K. [Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei FEEM, Milan (Italy); Roson, R. [Economics Department, Ca' Foscari University, Venice (Italy)

2002-09-01

International trade negotiations have recently tackled the issue of possible free trade restrictions, justified - among others - on the basis of environmental concerns. Also, some analyses of international environmental agreements (especially in the field of climate change) have highlighted the key role played by changes in the terms of trade in determining the cost of environmental policies. Yet, secondary effects of international trade remain disregarded in many environmental policies, whereas the introduction of environmental trade barriers has been resisted, arguing that this may hide a Trojan horse of a renewed protectionism. This paper reviews the debate on trade and the environment in the two fields of environmental and trade negotiations, highlighting the different and somewhat conflicting approach adopted in the two cases. A numerical general equilibrium model is used to illustrate how different 'perceptions' (translated in terms of alternative model closures) affect the use of instruments, the distributional impact of the various policies, and the strategic interplay between negotiators in international agreements.

The Key to Climate Cooperation

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2010-01-01

Climate change talks should be based on a dual-track negotiating mechanism Delegates from nearly 190 countries gathered in the Germancity of Bonn for a newround of UN climate change talks on May 31—the first round

Climate Change. India's Perceptions, Positions, Policies and Possibilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Parikh, J.K.; Parikh, K. [Indira Ghandi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai (India)

2002-06-01

In January 2001, the OECD held an expert seminar as part of a pilot project to investigate interactions between the long term agenda for climate change and sustainable development strategies. Experts from both OECD and developing countries attended. Participants identified issues and approaches, based on their regional perspectives, relevant to an evolving, equitable regime for addressing climate change, given various national circumstances, political interests, institutions and capacities to achieve sustainable development objectives. They stressed the importance of both climate mitigation and adaptation policy within a sustainable development framework. Discussions and presentations centred around two broad themes: Synergies and trade-offs between sustainable development objectives and long-term strategies to limit climate change; and How to build analytical and implementation capacity in developing countries to maximise synergies at local, regional and global levels of decision-making. To support seminar discussions, the OECD commissioned several papers (including this one) from non- OECD country experts; authors were asked to comment on key interactions between climate change and sustainable development from their own regional or national perspectives. This paper is being released as an informal working paper in the hope that it will continue to stimulate interest and discussions on these topics in other fora. The paper presents Indian perceptions on the problem of climate change and sustainable development; the kind of negotiating positions that follow from these perceptions; the policies India has undertaken so far and finally India's possibilities for action that can help contain the threat of climate change.

Forest and climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-01-01

After having recalled the challenges the French forest has to face, and a brief overview of the status of forests in the world, this report proposes an overview of actions which are implemented to strengthen the carbon sequestration role of forests, at the international level and in France. It discusses the distribution of carbon, the forest carbon stocks (in the world, Europe and France), the actions against climate change, the costs and financing of the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the forest sector. It comments the status of international negotiations and how forests are taken into account. It presents the French forest and wood sector (characteristics of the forest in metropolitan France and overseas, wood as material and as energy). It recalls the commitment of the Grenelle de l'Environnement, and indicates the current forest studies

BRICS COUNTRIES’ POLITICAL AND LEGAL PARTICIPATION IN THE GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE AGENDA

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gladun, Elena; Ahsan, Dewan

2016-01-01

in the sector, and the participation of their energy companies in each other’s domestic market. Assuming Russia will support the development and enhancement of renewable technologies in BRICS countries, it can take a leadership position in the group. Third, in the international process of tackling climate......-related issues BRICS should act as a bloc. Russia’s distancing itself from its partners is considered a deficiency in strengthening the BRICS countries’ role in global governance. BRICS are capable of serving as a vigorous platform in driving climate change negotiations leading to effective binding regulations...

Durban to Doha: Europe must confirm his return in the climate negotiations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Auverlot, Dominique; Barreau, Blandine

2012-09-01

International Conference on Climate Change Durban marked the return of European diplomacy, which, in Copenhagen, was kept out of the final discussions between the United States and China. In South Africa, at the insistence of Europe, representatives from China, India and the U.S. for the first time accepted the idea of 'a global agreement requiring the objectives of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases to developed countries as emerging countries. This success, however, can not forget the faults of negotiation: States' commitments are now insufficient to prevent an increase in global average temperature of more than 2 deg. C, the future agreement will be operational until 2020 at best, and the European Union (EU) is likely to be the only major emitter internationally to agree to participate in a second phase of the Kyoto Protocol. The Union must continue its diplomatic efforts. For them to be successful, it must first implement concretely the second phase of the Kyoto Protocol by establishing its own policy. The coming months, marked by the U.S. presidential elections and the change of presidency Chinese probably will not lead to the adoption of technical decisions in the conference in Qatar at the end of the year. They should still allow the actual implementation of the Cancun Agreement, signed in 2010. Furthermore, Europe must bring countries in favor of climate protection in 2015 to sign a global agreement with legal force at that time and enhance the objectives of reducing national emissions. In addition, a comprehensive dialogue with India would better understand how the country intends to participate in the international climate regime without compromising its economic and social development. In the short term, the preparation and the Doha summit would allow the EU to prepare for the future global agreement. European diplomacy could thus pursue three strategic directions

Cutting the 'Gordian knot' in climate change policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raymond, Leigh

2006-01-01

Ongoing conflict over the fair allocation of greenhouse gas emissions among nations is a significant impediment to progress in international climate change negotiations. This article considers the strengths and weaknesses of a crucial argument within the allocation debate asserting the atmospheric capacity to absorb greenhouse gases should be distributed on an equal per capita basis. While noting the argument's many appealing qualities, the paper argues that the per capita perspective also encompasses important practical and ethical limitations. Besides potentially encouraging population growth and discriminating against those with greater (but still legitimate) energy needs, early evidence suggests that the equal per capita idea may hinder progress in climate change talks by invoking a more absolutist and uncompromising rhetoric of rights. Alternative ideas of fairness, such as the distinction between subsistence and luxury emissions, or the Common Heritage of Mankind idea, offer a more flexible mix of egalitarian and other allocation principles that should be considered carefully, even by those sympathetic to the equal per capita perspective

Designing institutions for climate change: Why rational design involves technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Coninck, H. de [Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands, Petten (Netherlands)

2008-09-30

This paper aims to explore how to augment the institutional solutions offered by current political theory for addressing the unprecedented problem of climate change. Although steering directly at emission reductions in an international treaty has benefits in terms of cost-effectiveness, the paper arrives at the conclusion that considerations around technological development should be drawn into the treaty equation in order to generate sufficient reciprocity to have a politically feasible international regime. It then argues that the benefits of technology agreements for climate change mitigation may be larger than commonly assumed, as they - if properly designed - could lead to real emission reductions and provide more flexibility to reach agreement in post-2012 negotiations than proposals modelled exclusively on the Kyoto Protocol or other types of absolute emission targets. Based on rational design of international institutions for environmental governance, and attempting to take into account considerations of technological dynamics and the 'sociotechnical system', contours of a possible environmentally effective and politically feasible international climate change agreements are sketched.

Distributional aspects of emissions in climate change integrated assessment models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cantore, Nicola

2011-01-01

The recent failure of Copenhagen negotiations shows that concrete actions are needed to create the conditions for a consensus over global emission reduction policies. A wide coalition of countries in international climate change agreements could be facilitated by the perceived fairness of rich and poor countries of the abatement sharing at international level. In this paper I use two popular climate change integrated assessment models to investigate the path and decompose components and sources of future inequality in the emissions distribution. Results prove to be consistent with previous empirical studies and robust to model comparison and show that gaps in GDP across world regions will still play a crucial role in explaining different countries contributions to global warming. - Research highlights: → I implement a scenario analysis with two global climate change models. → I analyse inequality in the distribution of emissions. → I decompose emissions inequality components. → I find that GDP per capita is the main Kaya identity source of emissions inequality. → Current rich countries will mostly remain responsible for emissions inequality.

Global and Local Discourses on Climate Change: A Perspective from the Concept of Embeddedness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jailab Kumar Rai

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Climate change has been becoming a major order of business of all including researchers and academics. This is known that global, national and local organizations, institutions and even the individuals are partaking into the issues with their own perspectives and skills of negotiations. Despite the series of international efforts and attempts, there are also a series of national concerns, efforts and attempts in combating against the effects of global climate change. This paper is an attempt to draw on the overview of contexts and concerns of international communities for combating global climate change and its discursive influence in national policy discourses. Moreover, the paper attempts to assess the local socio-cultural discourses and dynamics of climate change in relation to global and national discourses. Finally the paper highlights on how global and local climate change knowledge networks and epistemic communities either from political processes or the socio-economic fabrics are interrelated and determinant to each other. Keywords: climate change; discourses; embeddeness; dynamics; global; local DOI: 10.3126/dsaj.v4i0.4518 Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology Vol.4 2010 pp.143-180

Possible elements of a 2015 legal agreement on climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haites, Erik; Yamin, Farhana; Hoehne, Niklas

2013-10-01

Countries have committed to negotiating a new legally binding agreement by 2015, applicable to all countries for the period after 2020. This commitment has given new impetus and direction to the UN climate talks. The talks certainly need to progress on individual elements in the run up to 2015. However, Copenhagen showed that unless there is clarity and convergence on the overall objectives of the negotiation (the meta-negotiation), the technical level negotiations will get stuck. This is why there is a need to step back and envisage all potential elements of a new climate agreement, and their interaction. This is the objective of this paper, which IDDRI invited from three renowned international experts. Governments have committed to limiting warming to 2 degrees C above pre-industrial levels. The recently released IPCC report shows that this essentially requires capping total cumulative emissions: in the future emissions will need to decline to close to zero. The paper proposes that governments commit to phasing down net anthropogenic GHG emissions to zero by 2050. This multilaterally negotiated objective would be complemented by nationally determined mitigation objectives, which would be subject to international ex ante review and ex post verification. The paper proposes a clear process for regularly updating and strengthening national commitments. The climate regime needs to move out of continuous negotiation and into a framework of continuous implementation. The paper proposes no explicit differentiation of countries. Rather countries would propose nationally determined commitments, guided by the multilaterally agreed phase out goal and the international review. This would maximize participation. The Agreement should also include provisions for recognizing the actions of parties unable to ratify and for deterring egregious cases of free-riding. (authors)

The Ad Hoc process to strengthen the framework convention on climate change

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ramakrishna, K.; Deutz, A.M.; Jacobsen, L.A. [eds.

1995-11-01

The Woods Hole Research Center convened an International Conference on The Ad Hoc Process to Strengthen the Framework Convention on Climate Change in Woods Hole, MA, on October 7-9, 1995. The conference was conducted to examine the prospects for successful adoption of a protocol to the Framework Convention on Climate Change by 1997. In preparation for the Second session of the Ad Hoc Group on the Berlin Mandate, several governmental and nongovernmental representatives met in Woods Hole to discuss the process and possible outcome of the Berlin Mandate negotiations for a protocol or other legal instrument to strengthen the Convention. The conference was by invitation and all participants attended in their personal capacities.

Assessment report on NRP sub-theme 'International instruments for climate change policy'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bruggink, J.J.C.; Van Beek, P.; Folmer, H.; Zhang, Z.X.; Blok, K.; Phylipsen, D.; Worrell, E.; Gupta, J.; Junne, G.; Van der Wurff, R.

1995-01-01

The projects implemented in the Dutch National Research Programme on Global Air Pollution and Climate Change are organised in several themes and sub-themes. Within the theme on Sustainable Solutions five projects are grouped under the heading International Instruments for Climate Change Policy. These five projects deal primarily with issues concerning the position of developing countries in the debate on limiting global CO2-emissions. They cover a broad spectrum of topics: international negotiation strategies, tropical deforestation, industrial energy conservation, national energy scenarios, emission guidelines. This contribution presents an overview of the objectives, methodologies and results of the projects and includes a critical evaluation of the potential relevance of the work for policy makers. 1 tab., 36 refs

European Union's French Presidency: priority to the fight against climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laurent, Eloi; Le Cacheux, Jacques

2008-06-01

Very much like the Lisbon Agenda, the European strategy against climate change suffers from a discrepancy between high ambitions and weak collective instruments. As France takes the EU Presidency in July 2008, one of its priorities is precisely to make some significant progress in reducing the gap between ends and means. With the negotiation on the reform of the EU budget, a perfect opportunity of furthering the cooperation between European member states presents itself. A reformed EU budget could in fact become the first step towards an integrated environmental and energetic European policy, by reorienting spending towards climate change mitigation policies, and creating new resources

40 CFR 35.938-5 - Negotiation of contract amendments (change orders).

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Negotiation of contract amendments (change orders). 35.938-5 Section 35.938-5 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY GRANTS AND OTHER FEDERAL ASSISTANCE STATE AND LOCAL ASSISTANCE Grants for Construction of Treatment Works-Clean Water Act § 35.938-5 Negotiation of...

Making the COP21 work. From international to national scope: the impact of climate negotiations on public action

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lefebvre, Coline; Delory, Linda; Guibert, Geraud

2015-12-01

How to appreciate, when the time comes, the results of the COP21? What are the elements that can make it truly useful? La Fabrique Ecologique and CliMates, on the basis of an exclusive and meticulous international survey underline them: the important part of an efficient climate action does not always rely on what we believe. The most influential aspect will be the commitment to future objectives and steps, strong principles of transparency and the extent of real domestic commitments for a new development strategy. A few weeks ahead of the COP21, what can we really expect? It is very likely that, as for the previous COPs, there will be an agreement, but we still need to see if it will be satisfactory. Facing the extent of the climate challenge and the complex negotiation, it remains urgent to have a clear and precise vision of what this international conference could bring. To measure it, La Fabrique Ecologique and CliMates have led an exclusive survey on the impact in recent years of the annual meetings of the COPs on climate policies of 16 States and 5 local authorities. This survey shows several paradoxes: the legally binding character proved to be not so binding after all; the sense of failure sometimes hid real successes; the negotiation itself having a strong impact on its results. It enables to identify the most important factors which have already led to action: the creation of shared knowledge and transparency standards, the obligation of setting an example for countries willing to be included in the negotiation, the search of economic and social co-benefits of climate action with a view to a new development strategy, the emergence of a global climate civil society. Far too often, the COP21 is presented as a deadline, a final date to solve the most complex and global challenge Man has ever faced: climate deregulation. Presented as the umpteenth 'last-ditch conference', the Paris negotiation might generate many 'climate resigned people

Environment and globalization: equity and precautionary principles in the climate negotiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-01-01

Interviews and articles are dealing with the relationship between international trade and environment (WTO and agreements on the environment), the equity dimension in the negotiations on climate, the relationship between greenhouse effect and nuclear (a balance of precautions), the place of sustainable development in international discussions (the role of authorities created by the Rio conference), the French plan against the greenhouse effect, the weakness of the French policy on greenhouse gases, the joint application, the African example, the place of forestry projects in Kyoto mechanisms, the evolution from the joint North-South application to the self-development mechanism

EU energy and climate change strategy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Graça Carvalho, Maria da

2012-01-01

This paper will summarise the European Strategy for Energy and Climate Change. In current international negotiations Europe has proposed a 20% reduction in GHG (greenhouse gases) in the developed countries by 2020 or 30% should there be an international agreement in the domain. However it is important to define measures to achieve the targets. One of the principal tools is to improve energy efficiency under the energy efficiency action plan, which will help to achieve a 20% energy saving by 2020. On the other hand, the amount of energy from renewable sources consumed in Europe will have to rise from its current level of 8.5%–20% by 2020. These are ambitious but achievable targets. Nonetheless, these can only be achieved through strong investment in areas of the knowledge triangle which strengthens research and innovation in the energy sector in Europe. The paper covers European Energy and Climate Change Policy, the European Strategic Energy Technology plan, the consequences of the Lisbon Treaty, European and national Road maps to a low carbon economy, the Energy Efficiency Plan for 2011 and finishes with a brief consideration of the EU’s energy infrastructure priorities. -- Highlights: ► This paper summarises the European Strategy for Energy and Climate Change. ► Reduction of GHG emissions by 30%-international agreement or −20% without agreement. ► Use of 20% of renewable energies by 2020. ► Increase of energy efficiency of 20% by 2020. ► Consolidating of the internal energy market.

The EU and Climate Change Policy: Law, Politics and Prominence at Different Levels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chad David Damro

2008-11-01

Full Text Available The European Union (EU is a prominent player in the politics of climate change, operating as an authoritative regional actor that influences policy-making at the national and international levels. The EU’s climate change policies are thus subjected to multiple pressures that arise from the domestic politics of its twenty-seven individual member states and the international politics of non-EU states with which it negotiates. Facing these multiple pressures, how and why could such a non-traditional actor develop into a prominent player at different levels of climate change policy-making? This article argues that the EU’s rise to prominence can be understood by tracking a number of historical-legal institutional developments at the domestic and international levels. The article also provides a preliminary investigation of the EU emissions trading scheme, a new institutional mechanism that illustrates the policy pressures arising from different levels.

Issues in International Climate Policy: Theory and Policy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ierland, van E.C.; Gupta, J.; Kok, M.T.J.

2003-01-01

Climate change is currently at the center of scientific and political debate, and the need for well-designed international climate policies is widely recognized. Despite this, the complexity of both the climate change problem and the international negotiation process has resulted in a large number

The politics of indigeneity: Indigenous strategies for inclusion in climate change negotiations

OpenAIRE

Doolittle Amity

2010-01-01

Indigenous environmental activists have clearly articulated their views on global climate change policy. The content of these views was explored during the 10-day 2008 World Conservation Congress (WCC) in Barcelona. Data were primarily collected through interviews and participant observation. In addition, policy statements and declarations made by indigenous environmental activists from 2000 to 2009 were analysed to place the perspectives of indigenous leaders and environmental activists in t...

CLIMOOR. Climate driven changes in the functioning of heath and moorland ecosystems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beier, C. [ed.; Tietema, A.; Riis Nielsen, T.; Emmett, B.; Estiarte, M.; Penuelas, J.; Llorens Guash, L.; Williams, D.; Gordon, C.; Pugh, B.; Roda, F.; Gundersen, P.; Gorissen, A.

2000-01-01

Emission of green house gases, partly generated from human activities, reduces the loss of heat from the earth thereby potentially causing climate change. This change in climate has been predicted to result in a 1-3 deg. C increase in temperature with more vigorous rainstorms and prolonged drought periods in the coming 100 years. The consequence of such climatic changes for the terrestrial ecosystems are largely unknown. In order to improve our understanding of the ecosystem response to climate change and thereby to improve the basis for the international negotiations and political decisions to avoid or minimise climate change and its effects, a European research project CLIMOOR has been initiated. The project is a cross European research project involving 6 research groups from Denmark, the Netherlands, UK and Spain and is funded by EU and the participating institutions. The project investigates the potential effects of warming and drought on heath and moorland ecosystems at four European sites. The ecosystems are manipulated at field scale by reducing the heat loss at night by IR-reflective curtains and by removing the precipitation during a 2 month period in the summer. The effects of these manipulations on the plants and the soil are studied. This report describes the technique used to apply the climate change at field scale and presents some preliminary results after the first growing season. EU and the participating institutions fund CLIMOOR. (au)

International negotiation methods on climatic risks, the limits of global incentives: Natural gas example

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hourcade, J.C.; Journe, V.

1992-01-01

The discussion on economic instruments for coordinating an international strategy for climatic risks prevention does not take sufficiently into account the importance of the relevant scientific controversies. These ones determine strongly the negotiation process for the settlement of such a system. We illustrate this point with the simple case of the natural gas whose superiority in terms of emission contents compared to the other fossil fuels, could be contested in case of too important CH 4 releases. We show that the negotiation process cannot come to a positive end if the incentive system relies only on the price signal. This process can converge only if one thinks about the combination of various tools, namely technological norms and ad hoc funds for the renewal of transmission and distribution networks combined with tax systems. 17 refs., 6 tabs

Norwegian development cooperation and climate change financing; Norsk utviklingssamarbeid og et klima i endring

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Inderberg, Haakon; Rottem, Svein Vigeland

2011-07-01

The report analyses challenges within development aid with the inclusion of climate financing in the Norwegian portfolio. The report starts by identifying central concepts and challenges that arise when funding of climate change projects are made part of a traditional development aid budget. Does the inclusion of climate considerations, mitigation and adaptation projects, within the Norwegian development aid budget alter the traditional development goals? Moreover, we ask to what degree the climate change funding can be regarded as 'new and additional', as committed in international climate negotiations. The analysis is based on interviews within the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Environment, and the Norwegian Agency for Development Aid, as well as analysis of the official Norwegian development budgets from 2010 and 2011. It concludes that while mitigation financing, in particular REDD(+) can be said to be largely additional to traditional aid goals, it is difficult to assess the additionally for adaptation funding due to a lack of transparency.(auth)

Climate change finance. If you can't measure it , you can't manage it

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Clapp, Christa S.

2012-07-01

Climate change finance is currently estimated at between approximately USD 70 and 120 billion per year. However, these estimates involve a fair amount of uncertainty. There is no agreed definition of what climate finance includes; moreover, for private sector flows, the range is estimated using mismatched data sources.The significant sums of financing committed in the international climate change negotiations (USD 100 billion per year by 2020) are expected to be earmarked according to the traditional template whereby developed countries provide financing to developing countries. Not only is this an outdated view of how private investment moves in today's global world, it also provides an impractical framework for keeping track of financial flows. Furthermore, the developed/developing country negotiating viewpoints are plagued by disagreement as to which public sector and private sector financial flows should count. Managing limited financial resources effectively requires grasping how financial flows contribute to results in climate mitigation and adaptation. As yet we have little understanding of the tangible results being achieved from these flows, and how public money and instruments drive private investments. Better understanding will require consistent information on a range of indicators of successful financial interventions, including leveraging ratios. We need to consider what financial kinds of information could serve both purposes: to measure progress towards the USD 100 billion commitment, and to measure how effective financial flows are in achieving results. We need a common definition of what types of flows are to be considered 'climate change finance'. Until such a definition has been agreed, governments and organizations must be more transparent as to what account as 'climate finance'. Governments should work with private investor groups and data providers to adapt existing information so as to provide a more comprehensive

Exploring the Multifaceted Topic of Climate Change in Our Changing Climate and Living With Our Changing Climate

Science.gov (United States)

Brey, J. A.; Kauffman, C.; Geer, I. W.; Mills, E. W.; Nugnes, K. A.; Stimach, A. E.

2015-12-01

As the effects of climate change become more profound, climate literacy becomes increasingly important. The American Meteorological Society (AMS) responds to this need through the publication of Our Changing Climate and Living With Our Changing Climate. Both publications incorporate the latest scientific understandings of Earth's climate system from reports such as IPCC AR5 and the USGCRP's Third National Climate Assessment. Topic In Depth sections appear throughout each chapter and lead to more extensive, multidisciplinary information related to various topics. Additionally, each chapter closes with a For Further Exploration essay, which addresses specific topics that complement a chapter concept. Web Resources, which encourage additional exploration of chapter content, and Scientific Literature, from which chapter content was derived can also be found at the conclusion of each chapter. Our Changing Climate covers a breadth of topics, including the scientific principles that govern Earth's climate system and basic statistics and geospatial tools used to investigate the system. Released in fall 2015, Living With Our Changing Climate takes a more narrow approach and investigates human and ecosystem vulnerabilities to climate change, the role of energy choices in affecting climate, actions humans can take through adaption, mitigation, and policy to lessen vulnerabilities, and psychological and financial reasons behind climate change denial. While Living With Our Changing Climate is intended for programs looking to add a climate element into their curriculum, Our Changing Climate is part of the AMS Climate Studies course. In a 2015 survey of California University of Pennsylvania undergraduate students using Our Changing Climate, 82% found it comfortable to read and utilized its interactive components and resources. Both ebooks illuminate the multidisciplinary aspect of climate change, providing the opportunity for a more sustainable future.

Legal questions about negotiating a new international climate agreement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maljean-Dubois, Sandrine; Wemaere, Matthieu

2015-01-01

Although the last IPCC report emphasized the need for urgent action, international cooperation on the climate has stalled. The second phase (2013-2020) of the Kyoto Protocol has been merely symbolic. The Cancun agreement, which made the Copenhagen one operational, laid the basis for a more flexible system for the period up to 2020. Negotiations on the period after 2020, which started in Durban in 2011, should end with a new agreement in Paris in late 2015. This future agreement should apply to all, as stipulated in the Durban Platform. However the increasing symmetry of obligations between North and South has been achieved by significantly lowering the goals set by each country with regard to its economic situation and national priorities. What kind of agreement will come out of Paris? What legal form will it take?

Impact of the formation of coalitions and fairly challenges on the international negotiations: an analysis of the economical and ethical fundaments. Final report january 2003

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salles, J.M.

2003-01-01

The project concerned two objectives: the analysis of the impact of the formation of coalitions on the possible equilibrium and the dynamic of the international negotiations in the framework of the climatic change; and the challenges bond to the fairly engagement decided by the countries during the negotiations in the framework of the Climate convention

Bali: an agreement in principle for post-Kyoto negotiations but no emissions reduction targets - Panorama 2008

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

Ten years have passed since December 1997, when the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was signed in Kyoto. It's been a decade of tough international negotiations, leading to the beginnings of an international CO 2 emissions trading market, whose future past 2012 remains uncertain. The December negotiations in Bali may not have produced a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, but they did get all parties to the Convention to sign an agreement in principle to post- Kyoto negotiations

Planning and costing agriculture's adaptation to climate change: Policy Perspectives

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Downing, Tom; Chambwera, Muyeye; Venton, Courtnay Cabot; Dyszynski, Jillian; Crawford, Victoria

2011-10-15

Agriculture has a crucial role to play in meeting development goals – from demand for food as populations grow and become wealthier to maintaining essential ecosystem services, diverse livelihoods, and economic development. Underinvestment over the past 20 years has resulted in a sector that is not adequately prepared for the challenges of climate change. Yet for most developing countries, agriculture has been one of the earliest sectors to be affected by climate change, with negative impacts already apparent and more serious consequences projected for the future. There is increasing recognition by both the climate change and agricultural development communities that agriculture needs to be part of a new global climate change deal. 'No agriculture, no deal' is a clear signal from concerned stakeholders that agriculture will be a key feature of climate change negotiations, both for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting vulnerable populations and economies. There has been a long history of assessments of the impact of climate change on agriculture, and recent international movements to press toward effective action are noteworthy. This Policy Perspectives paper summarises the results from a recent study led by the International Institute for Environment and Development, the Stockholm Environment Institute and the Global Climate Adaptation Partnership, with national teams in five developing countries. The principal conclusions inform policy and planning by addressing the following issues: 1. Framing and methodological development in the assessment of climate adaptation. 2. Assessment of current vulnerabilities, and potential future impacts and costs of adaptation. 3. Identification of strategies and measures considered priorities across regions and types of agriculture in 'pathways of adaptation'.

The Kyoto Protocol: one more stage in the climate change negotiations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maruri Londono, Enrique

1998-02-01

This article notices on the internal difficulties that will be generated around the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol in developed countries as United States, Canada and Japan, given the position of industries like the vehicles and the energetic, that try to dilate the commitments assumed in December of 1997. It is emphasized in the North American case, taking into account their contribution in the global greenhouse gases emissions and the importance of their participation in an international agreement on the topic of the climate change, assuming a critical position about the Senate's decision of conditioning the agreement's ratification to the assumption of commitments of developing countries

One Strategy for Reducing Uncertainty in Climate Change Communications

Science.gov (United States)

Romm, J.

2011-12-01

Future impacts of climate change are invariably presented with a very wide range of impacts reflecting two different sets of uncertainties. The first concerns our uncertainty about precisely how much greenhouse gas emissions humanity will emit into the atmosphere. The second concerns our uncertainty about precisely what impact those emissions will have on the climate. By failing to distinguish between these two types of uncertainties, climate scientists have not clearly explained to the public and policymakers what the scientific literature suggests is likely to happen if we don't substantially alter our current emissions path. Indeed, much of climate communications has been built around describing the range of impacts from emissions paths that are increasingly implausible given political and technological constraints, such as a stabilization at 450 or 550 parts per million atmospheric of carbon dioxide. For the past decade, human emissions of greenhouse gases have trended near the worst-case scenarios of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, emissions paths that reach 800 ppm or even 1000 ppm. The current policies of the two biggest emitters, the United States and China, coupled with the ongoing failure of international negotiations to come to an agreement on restricting emissions, suggests that recent trends will continue for the foreseeable future. This in turn suggests that greater clarity in climate change communications could be achieved by more clearly explaining to the public what the scientific literature suggests the range of impacts are for our current high emissions path. This also suggests that more focus should be given in the scientific literature to better constraining the range of impacts from the high emissions scenarios.

Climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1990-01-01

In this paper, the authors discuss in brief the magnitude and rate of past changes in climate and examine the various factors influencing climate in order to place the potential warming due to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in context. Feedback mechanisms that can amplify or lessen imposed climate changes are discussed next. The overall sensitivity of climate to changes in forcing is then considered, followed by a discussion of the time-dependent response of the Earth system. The focus is on global temperature as an indicator for the magnitude of climatic change

National stakeholder workshops on climate change - 2002 : summary report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-08-01

This summary report is based on 14 reports prepared following a series of 1 day climate change workshops held in 14 cities across Canada during the period of June 7 to 24, 2002. The input has been grouped into important themes that were highlighted during the workshops. The key messages focused on analysis and modelling, an overall approach to the Kyoto Protocol, targeted measures, domestic emissions trading, purchases of international emissions permits, preferred approach to the Kyoto Protocol, risks, and impacts and adaptations. The workshops were designed to provide participants with a better understanding of ways to respond to climate change and the Kyoto Protocol. They were also designed to obtain the views of the participants and options contained in the Federal Discussion Paper on Canada's Contribution to Addressing Climate Change, as well as the National Climate Change Process, and the national analysis conducted by the Analysis and Modelling Group (AMG). While many participants agreed that climate change is a real problem requiring attention, there were widely divergent views regarding the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. Industry participants suggested alternative approaches that include a longer time frame, less restrictive targets and greater harmonization with the United States approach. The Alberta Plan gained some interest because it contained some of these characteristics, however, some argued that the Alberta Action Plan must meet the Kyoto target. There was good support for Targeted Measures, a mix of support and some concerns for Domestic Emissions Trading (DET), and opposition to the international purchases under the Clean Development Mechanisms and Joint Implementation. There was little support for Canada's request for Clean Energy Export Credits. The western provinces and Quebec were in favour of negotiated covenants with a regulatory backstop as an alternative to DET. 1 tab

Climate change 101 : understanding and responding to global climate change

Science.gov (United States)

2009-01-01

To inform the climate change dialogue, the Pew Center on Global Climate Change and the Pew Center on the States have developed a series of brief reports entitled Climate Change 101: Understanding and Responding to Global Climate Change. These reports...

Climate Change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Torben Valdbjørn; Hansen, Ernst Jan de Place

2011-01-01

This paper presents the effects of climate change relevant for Denmark, including the change in mean year values as well as the extent of maximum and minimum extremes. Described by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the assumptions that the scenarios are based on were outlined...... and evaluated in a Danish context. The uncertainty of the scenarios leaves major challenges that, if not addressed and taken into account in building design, will grow far more serious as climate change progresses. Cases implemented in the Danish building stock illustrate adaptation to climate change...... and illustrate how building design can include mitigating measures to counteract climate change. Cases studied were individual buildings as well as the urban environment. Furthermore the paper describes some of the issues that must be addressed, as the building sector is investing in measures to adapt to climate...

Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Climate is the average weather in a place over a period of time. Climate change is major change in temperature, rainfall, snow, ... by natural factors or by human activities. Today climate changes are occurring at an increasingly rapid rate. ...

China’s Peaceful Development and Global Climate Change: A Legal Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qin Tianbao

2007-06-01

Full Text Available Since the adoption of the reform and opening-up policy, China has witnessed rapid socio-economic progress accompanied by serious environmental problems, such as climate change, which have had a major impact on the global environment and aroused international concern about China’s peaceful development. International law on climate change has taken shape with the core instruments of the 1992 Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. Under the current arrangement China is temporarily exempt from having to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs, although it will face strong pressure to commit to do so in the near future. In order to prepare for future challenges and to ensure peaceful development, it is proposed that China takes the initiative at the international level, participates in events and negotiations on implementation in respect of climate change, stresses the integration of state interests and the common interest of humankind, argues for the responsibility allocation principle of common but differentiated responsibilities of developed and developing countries, and undertakes international cooperation with regards to the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM. At the national level, it is advisable that China persists in and develops a legal system that favours recycling and improves policies and laws on energy and resources with a view to consolidate the construction of a conservation-minded society.

Climate change and nuclear power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schneider, M.

2000-04-01

The nuclear industry has increased its efforts to have nuclear power plants integrated into the post- Kyoto negotiating process of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) states: ''For many reasons, current and future nuclear energy projects are a superior method of generating emission credits that must be considered as the US expands the use of market- based mechanisms designed around emission credit creation and trading to achieve environmental goals ''. The NEI considers that nuclear energy should be allowed to enter all stages of the Kyoto ''flexibility Mechanisms'': emissions trading, joint implementation and the Clean Development Mechanism. The industry sees the operation of nuclear reactors as emission ''avoidance actions'' and believes that increasing the generation of nuclear power above the 1990 baseline year either through extension and renewal of operating licenses or new nuclear plant should be accepted under the flexibility mechanisms in the same way as wind, solar and hydro power. For the time being, there is no clear definition of the framework conditions for operating the flexibility mechanisms. However, eligible mechanisms must contribute to the ultimate objective of the Climate Convention of preventing ''dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system''. The information presented in the following sections of this report underlines that nuclear power is not a sustainable source of energy, for many reasons. In conclusion, an efficient greenhouse gas abatement strategy will be based on energy efficiency and not on the use of nuclear power. (author)

Panorama 2010: CO2 markets and the current status of international climate negotiations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alberola, E.

2010-01-01

The emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to the atmosphere is causing climatic disturbances of increasing severity, representing risks for the entire planet. Existing GHG emissions reduction policies mainly focus on setting up cap and trade systems (carbon markets) geared to achieving such reductions. The Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty established under the auspices of the United Nations, sets forth the guiding principles, objectives and legally binding targets imposed on the parties concerned until 2012. The purpose of the international negotiations underway is to set up a new regulatory framework for the post-2012 period. (author)

76 FR 2930 - Product Change-Parcel Select Negotiated Service Agreement

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-18

... POSTAL SERVICE Product Change--Parcel Select Negotiated Service Agreement AGENCY: Postal Service... INFORMATION: The United States Postal Service[reg] hereby gives notice that on December 23, 2010, it filed with the Postal Regulatory [[Page 2931

Climate change velocity underestimates climate change exposure in mountainous regions

Science.gov (United States)

Solomon Z. Dobrowski; Sean A. Parks

2016-01-01

Climate change velocity is a vector depiction of the rate of climate displacement used for assessing climate change impacts. Interpreting velocity requires an assumption that climate trajectory length is proportional to climate change exposure; longer paths suggest greater exposure. However, distance is an imperfect measure of exposure because it does not...

A Plan for improving the industrial constitution in Korea for the Convention on Climate Change - concentrated on manufacturing CO{sub 2} unit analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kang, Sang In; Kim, Tae Wan; Kim, Yong Kun; Sohn, Yang Hoon; Kim, Seung Woo [Korea Environment Institute, Seoul (Korea)

1998-12-01

Due to the implementation of the Convention on Climate Change in future, a policy plan to prepare for the Convention on Climate Change was promoted to improve constitution of domestic economy practically including foreign negotiation strategies, national energy policy and change in consumption pattern. Based on the CO{sub 2} unit analysis in manufacturing, this study proposed an improvement plan of industrial constitution in Korea to prepare for emission trading system. 31 refs., 30 figs., 68 tabs.

Understanding climatic change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fellous, J.L.; Gautier, C.; Andre, J.C.; Balstad, R.; Boucher, O.; Brasseur, G.; Chahine, M.T.; Chanin, M.L.; Ciais, P.; Corell, W.; Duplessy, J.C.; Hourcade, J.C.; Jouzel, J.; Kaufman, Y.J.; Laval, K.; Le Treut, H.; Minster, J.F.; Moore, B. III; Morel, P.; Rasool, S.I.; Remy, F.; Smith, R.C.; Somerville, R.C.J.; Wood, E.F.; Wood, H.; Wunsch, C.

2007-01-01

Climatic change is gaining ground and with no doubt is stimulated by human activities. It is therefore urgent to better understand its nature, importance and potential impacts. The chapters of this book have been written by US and French experts of the global warming question. After a description of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, GIEC in French) consensus, they present the past and present researches on each of the main component of the climate system, on the question of climatic change impacts and on the possible answers. The conclusion summarizes the results of each chapter. Content: presentation of the IPCC; greenhouse effect, radiation balance and clouds; atmospheric aerosols and climatic change; global water cycle and climate; influence of climatic change on the continental hydrologic cycle; ocean and climate; ice and climate; global carbon cycle; about some impacts of climatic change on Europe and the Atlantic Ocean; interaction between atmospheric chemistry and climate; climate and society, the human dimension. (J.S.)

The Republican Tragedy of the Commons: The Inefficiency of Democracy in the Light of Climate Change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivo Wallimann-Helmer

2013-04-01

Full Text Available This paper argues that an analysis of the dissatisfactory outcomes of international negotiations concerning climate change must take into account procedures of political decision‐making in democracies. Although the normative ideal of republican democracy has means of dealing with such dissatisfactory results, political processes in republican democracies take too much time and risk becoming stuck in tragic or dilemmatic decision structures when facing challenges such as climate change. Consequently, this paper discusses possibilities for redesigning republican democratic institutions to counter‐act these negative forces. However, all possibilities discussed either call into question the normative ideal of republican democracy itself or would take too much time to be realized.

BRICS COUNTRIES’ POLITICAL AND LEGAL PARTICIPATION IN THE GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE AGENDA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Gladun

2016-01-01

renewable technologies in BRICS countries, it can take a leadership position in the group. Third, in the international process of tackling climate-related issues BRICS should act as a bloc. Russia’s distancing itself from its partners is considered a deficiency in strengthening the BRICS countries’ role in global governance. BRICS are capable of serving as a vigorous platform in driving climate change negotiations leading to effective binding regulations in 2020–2030 and, provided that the countries cooperate successfully, BRICS will carry the combined weight of the entire group in the global arena.

Climate policy in Belgium and the Flemish District

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sereno, M.

2001-01-01

According to the agreement of the Environment Ministers' Council of the European Union Belgium will have to reduce its overall greenhouse gas emissions by 7,5 % during the first commitment period (2008-2012) in relation to the reference year 1990. International climate change policy is implemented by Belgian federal authorities responsible for fiscal, labelling and product policies and regional authorities (Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels) responsible for energy, environmental and agricultural policies. This article discusses the important issues raised by Belgian federal and Flemish regional climate change policy. It focuses onto the Belgian national climate change plan' and the Flemish Region's policies as laid down in its regional Environmental Policy Plan. The overall context of this article is given in by the international climate change negotiations in The Hague during the sixth Conference of the Parties in execution of the United Nation's Framework on Climate Change. In conclusion of this article a brief overview of the Belgian point of view on the failed negotiations in The Hague is given. 6 refs

Climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Cronin, Thomas M.

2016-01-01

Climate change (including climate variability) refers to regional or global changes in mean climate state or in patterns of climate variability over decades to millions of years often identified using statistical methods and sometimes referred to as changes in long-term weather conditions (IPCC, 2012). Climate is influenced by changes in continent-ocean configurations due to plate tectonic processes, variations in Earth’s orbit, axial tilt and precession, atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations, solar variability, volcanism, internal variability resulting from interactions between the atmosphere, oceans and ice (glaciers, small ice caps, ice sheets, and sea ice), and anthropogenic activities such as greenhouse gas emissions and land use and their effects on carbon cycling.

Climate variability and climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rind, D.

1990-01-01

Changes of variability with climate change are likely to have a substantial impact on vegetation and society, rivaling the importance of changes in the mean values themselves. A variety of paleoclimate and future climate simulations performed with the GISS global climate model is used to assess how the variabilities of temperature and precipitation are altered as climate warms or cools. In general, as climate warms, temperature variability decreases due to reductions in the latitudinal temperature gradient and precipitation variability increases together with the intensity of the hydrologic cycle. If future climate projections are accurate, the reduction in temperature variability will be minimized by the rapid change in mean temperatures, but the hydrologic variability will be amplified by increased evapotranspiration. Greater hydrologic variability would appear to pose a potentially severe problem for the next century

Build a Catastrophe: Using Digital World and Policy Models to Engage Political Science Students with Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Horodyskyj, L.; Lennon, T.; Mead, C.; Anbar, A. D.

2017-12-01

Climate change is a problem that involves science, economics, and politics. Particularly in the United States, political resistance to addressing climate change has been exacerbated by a concerted misinformation campaign against the basic science, a negative response to how the proposed solutions to climate change intersect with values. Scientists often propose more climate science education as a solution to the problem, but preliminary studies indicate that more science education does not necessarily reduce polarization on the topic (Kahan et al. 2012). Is there a way that we can better engage non-science students in topics related to climate change that improve their comprehension of the problem and its implications, overcoming polarization? In an existing political science course, "Do You Want to Build a Nation?", we are testing a new digital world-building model based on resource development and consequent environmental and societal impacts. Students spend half the class building their nations based on their assigned ideology (i.e., socialist, absolute monarchy, libertarian) and the second half of the class negotiating with other nations to resolve global issues while remaining true to their ideologies. The course instructor, co-author Lennon, and ASU's Center for Education Through eXploration have collaborated to design a digital world model based on resources linked to an adaptive decision-making environment that translates student policies into modifications to the digital world. The model tracks students' exploration and justification of their nation's policy choices. In the Fall 2017 offering of the course, we will investigate how this digital world model and scenarios built around it affect student learning outcomes. Specifically, we anticipate improved understanding of the policy trade-offs related to energy development, better understanding of the ways that different ideologies approach solutions to climate change, and that both will result in more

From vulnerability to the 'weak power'. The political and diplomatic action of Bangladesh in the struggle against climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baillat, Alice

2017-07-01

As Bangladesh has been awarded by the UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) for its leadership in the struggle against climate change, the author, while discussing the actions undertaken by this country, presents the concept of 'weak power' which is the ability of a weak actor to transform his vulnerability into a lever for public action, and into a comparative asset to influence the process and international negotiations. The author proposes an overview of the climate policy implemented since 2000 by Bangladesh, and of its commitments in international actions and bodies. She outlines how, as one of the main victims of climate change, Bangladesh appears as a moral leader on the international scene. She also described how this country has become a place of experimentation and of production of new 'Southern' knowledge, and is considered as a precursor in 'community-based adaptation'. This example shows that a mutualization of resources can make countries stronger, and that coalitions (notably between developing countries) can be very important in international negotiations. However, the author outlines that this 'weak power' is more or less efficient, depending on the context

Climate of Change -- Dangerous atmosphere: Canada's negotiating position threatens the climate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2000-11-01

The Kyoto Protocol negotiated in 1997 committed industrialized nations to cut greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 5.2 per cent from 1990 levels by 2012. Heading into the Sixth Conference of Parties (COP6) Summit at The Hague in November 2000, which aims to finalize the details of the issues left unresolved since Kyoto, an analysis of the position held by Canada and other members of the umbrella group (the United States, Japan, Norway, Australia, New Zealand and Russia among them) shows that instead of decreasing emissions by 5.2 per cent on the average as the Protocol requires, the Canadian position would in fact allow emissions to increase by Annex I countries by as much as 12 to 15 per cent. The Foundation claims that by insisting on the greatest degree of flexibility in compliance, by claiming emission reduction credits for exporting nuclear power plants, and by wanting to meet much of its reduction targets by using soils and forests as carbon sinks, Canada is in effect 'sabotaging' the Kyoto Protocol, not to mention risking exposing itself to significant international criticism. The Foundation recommends that for an effective Kyoto protocol, Canada must accept the fact that the effectiveness of carbon sinks is still open for debate; it must agree to restrictions on the overall use of the flexibility mechanisms to ensure that all industrialized nations will undertake substantial and actual domestic reductions in GHG; support the exclusion of nuclear power, large hydro-electric projects and carbon sinks from the Clean development Mechanisms; and support financial penalties and trade sanctions for non-compliance

How to use climate finance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jaeger, Mark D.; Michaelowa, Axel; Michaelowa, Katharina

A new grand deal on global climate change mitigation depends on the success of the USD 100bn Green Climate Fund (GCF). Partners at UN negotiations need to establish efficient spending procedures to provide the GCF legitimacy with donors and to obtain results. Research on energy poverty reduction ...

Predicting pan-tropical climate change induced forest stock gains and losses-implications for REDD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gumpenberger, Marlies; Vohland, Katrin; Heyder, Ursula; Poulter, Benjamin; Rammig, Anja; Popp, Alexander; Cramer, Wolfgang; Macey, Kirsten

2010-01-01

Deforestation is a major threat to tropical forests worldwide, contributing up to one-fifth of global carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Despite protection efforts, deforestation of tropical forests has continued in recent years. Providing incentives to reducing deforestation has been proposed in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Bali negotiations in 2007 to decelerate emissions from deforestation (REDD-reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation). A number of methodological issues such as ensuring permanence, establishing reference emissions levels that do not reward business-as-usual and having a measuring, reporting and verification system in place are essential elements in implementing successful REDD schemes. To assess the combined impacts of climate and land-use change on tropical forest carbon stocks in the 21st century, we use a dynamic global vegetation model (LPJ DGVM) driven by five different climate change projections under a given greenhouse gas emission scenario (SRES A2) and two contrasting land-use change scenarios. We find that even under a complete stop of deforestation after the period of the Kyoto Protocol (post-2012) some countries may continue to lose carbon stocks due to climate change. Especially at risk is tropical Latin America, although the presence and magnitude of the risk depends on the climate change scenario. By contrast, strong protection of forests could increase carbon uptake in many tropical countries, due to CO 2 fertilization effects, even under altered climate regimes.

Climate for Change?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wejs, Anja

Cities rather than national governments take the lead in acting on climate change. Several cities have voluntarily created climate change plans to prevent and prepare for the effects of climate change. In the literature climate change has been examined as a multilevel governance area taking place...... around international networks. Despite the many initiatives taken by cities, existing research shows that the implementation of climate change actions is lacking. The reasons for this scarcity in practice are limited to general explanations in the literature, and studies focused on explaining...... the constraints on climate change planning at the local level are absent. To understand these constraints, this PhD thesis investigates the institutional dynamics that influence the process of the integration of climate change into planning practices at the local level in Denmark. The examination of integration...

Climate variability and climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rind, D.

1991-01-01

Changes of variability with climate change are likely to have a substantial impact on vegetation and society, rivaling the importance of changes in the mean values themselves. A variety of paleoclimate and future climate simulations performed with the GISS global climate model is used to assess how the variabilities of temperature and precipitation are altered as climate warms or cools. In general, as climate warms, temperature variability decreases due to reductions in the latitudinal temperature gradient and precipitation variability increases together with the intensity of the hydrologic cycle. If future climate projections are accurate, the reduction in temperature variability will be minimized by the rapid change in mean temperatures, but the hydrologic variability will be amplified by increased evapotranspiration. Greater hydrologic variability would appear to pose a potentially severe problem for the next century. 19 refs.; 3 figs.; 2 tabs

Why should health be a central argument in climate negotiations? Can a MOOC help to bring the message across?

Science.gov (United States)

Sauerborn, Rainer

There are four key messages from health for climate negotiations. Two positive ones include (i) health as a motivator for action and policy and (ii) huge health co-benefits to be included in the cost-benefit trade-offs of climate negotiations. Two warning messages: (iii) there are health-based absolute limits of adaptations and (iv) hotter average temperatures will cut work productivity of farmers and other outdoor workers as well as workers in non-air conditioned factories in poor countries. This paper will examine how massive open online courses (MOOCs) have been used in the run-up to this COP to disseminate these four messages to the audience of high-level policy-makers. This required a departure from the classic MOOC format in several ways: duration, focus on decision-making rationale, policy-relevant messages presented in big brush, leaving "traceable accounts" to evidence in two layers of resources provided: essential and "deep dive".

Mock climate summit: teaching and assessing learning

Science.gov (United States)

Schweizer, D.; Gautier, C.; Bazerman, C.

2003-04-01

This paper will demonstrate the effectiveness of a Mock Climate Summit as a pedagogical approach for teaching the science and policy aspects of global climate change. The Mock Climate Summit is a student-centered course simulating the Conference of the Parties (COP) where international environmental protocols are negotiated. Compared to traditional lecture-based methods common in the geoscience classroom, the Mock Climate Summit uses negotiations and arguments to teach the interactions between these two “spheres” and demonstrate the depth and breadth of these interactions. Through a detailed assessment of students’ dialogue transcribed from video and audio tapes, we found that the nature of the student dialogue matures rapidly as they are given multiple opportunities to present, negotiate and argue a specific topic. Students’ dialogue progress from hypothetical (what-if) scenarios to action-oriented scenarios and implementation plans. The progression of the students’ dialogue shows increased comfort with the communities’ discourse as they take ownership of the point-of-view associated with their assumed roles.

RINGOs. Research and Independent Non-governmental Organisations to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-01-01

RINGOs are organizations engaged in independent research and analysis aimed at developing sound strategies to address both the causes and consequences of global climate change. They form a constituency in their own right to contribute to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in a parallel way to ENGOs (Environment), BINGOs (Business and Industry), LGMAs (Local governments and municipal authorities) and the IPOs (Indigenous peoples organizations). During the COP and SB meetings of the UNFCCC the RINGOs organize meetings to discuss the developments of the negotiations. RINGOs have also been represented at workshops organized by the UNFCCC Secretariat. RINGO activities are co-ordinated by a steering committee

VOICE OF THE STUDENTS: HOW CAN THE EU TAKE THE GLOBAL LEAD ON TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Costica MIHAI

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The EU has always been at the forefront of tackling environmental issues. This paper responds to the EU‟s „call for action‟ towards addressing the issue of climate change – a key priority for the European Commission in the 2030 policy perspective. The topic is addressed through a focus group that seeks to identify and disseminate possible approaches through which the EU can leverage its international „actorness‟ in negotiating a straightforward and binding global agreement for action in climate change mitigation. The focus group involves a sample of students, beneficiaries of an environmentally focused Jean Monnet teaching module (TAG-EU. The diverse academic background of the students (coming from social, natural and exact sciences provides a unique point of view in tackling this ardent issue and can bring valuable and interdisciplinary contributions to the discussion on climate change action.

Climate change and nuclear power

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schneider, M

2000-04-01

The nuclear industry has increased its efforts to have nuclear power plants integrated into the post- Kyoto negotiating process of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) states: ''For many reasons, current and future nuclear energy projects are a superior method of generating emission credits that must be considered as the US expands the use of market- based mechanisms designed around emission credit creation and trading to achieve environmental goals ''. The NEI considers that nuclear energy should be allowed to enter all stages of the Kyoto ''flexibility Mechanisms'': emissions trading, joint implementation and the Clean Development Mechanism. The industry sees the operation of nuclear reactors as emission ''avoidance actions'' and believes that increasing the generation of nuclear power above the 1990 baseline year either through extension and renewal of operating licenses or new nuclear plant should be accepted under the flexibility mechanisms in the same way as wind, solar and hydro power. For the time being, there is no clear definition of the framework conditions for operating the flexibility mechanisms. However, eligible mechanisms must contribute to the ultimate objective of the Climate Convention of preventing ''dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system''. The information presented in the following sections of this report underlines that nuclear power is not a sustainable source of energy, for many reasons. In conclusion, an efficient greenhouse gas abatement strategy will be based on energy efficiency and not on the use of nuclear power. (author)

77 FR 28410 - Product Change-Parcel Select Negotiated Service Agreement

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2012-05-14

... filed with the Postal Regulatory Commission a Request of the United States Postal Service to Add Parcel... POSTAL SERVICE Product Change--Parcel Select Negotiated Service Agreement AGENCY: Postal Service\\TM\\. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Postal Service gives notice of filing a request with the Postal...

Modeling and assessing international climate financing

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Jing; Tang, Lichun; Mohamed, Rayman; Zhu, Qianting; Wang, Zheng

2016-06-01

Climate financing is a key issue in current negotiations on climate protection. This study establishes a climate financing model based on a mechanism in which donor countries set up funds for climate financing and recipient countries use the funds exclusively for carbon emission reduction. The burden-sharing principles are based on GDP, historical emissions, and consumptionbased emissions. Using this model, we develop and analyze a series of scenario simulations, including a financing program negotiated at the Cancun Climate Change Conference (2010) and several subsequent programs. Results show that sustained climate financing can help to combat global climate change. However, the Cancun Agreements are projected to result in a reduction of only 0.01°C in global warming by 2100 compared to the scenario without climate financing. Longer-term climate financing programs should be established to achieve more significant benefits. Our model and simulations also show that climate financing has economic benefits for developing countries. Developed countries will suffer a slight GDP loss in the early stages of climate financing, but the longterm economic growth and the eventual benefits of climate mitigation will compensate for this slight loss. Different burden-sharing principles have very similar effects on global temperature change and economic growth of recipient countries, but they do result in differences in GDP changes for Japan and the FSU. The GDP-based principle results in a larger share of financial burden for Japan, while the historical emissions-based principle results in a larger share of financial burden for the FSU. A larger burden share leads to a greater GDP loss.

Climate Change Mitigation A Balanced Approach to Climate Change

CERN Document Server

2012-01-01

This book provides a fresh and innovative perspective on climate change policy. By emphasizing the multiple facets of climate policy, from mitigation to adaptation, from technological innovation and diffusion to governance issues, it contains a comprehensive overview of the economic and policy dimensions of the climate problem. The keyword of the book is balance. The book clarifies that climate change cannot be controlled by sacrificing economic growth and many other urgent global issues. At the same time, action to control climate change cannot be delayed, even though gradually implemented. Therefore, on the one hand climate policy becomes pervasive and affects all dimensions of international policy. On the other hand, climate policy cannot be too ambitious: a balanced approach between mitigation and adaptation, between economic growth and resource management, between short term development efforts and long term innovation investments, should be adopted. I recommend its reading. Carlo Carraro, President, Ca�...

Cinematic climate change, a promising perspective on climate change communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Sakellari, Maria

2015-10-01

Previous research findings display that after having seen popular climate change films, people became more concerned, more motivated and more aware of climate change, but changes in behaviors were short-term. This article performs a meta-analysis of three popular climate change films, The Day after Tomorrow (2005), An Inconvenient Truth (2006), and The Age of Stupid (2009), drawing on research in social psychology, human agency, and media effect theory in order to formulate a rationale about how mass media communication shapes our everyday life experience. This article highlights the factors with which science blends in the reception of the three climate change films and expands the range of options considered in order to encourage people to engage in climate change mitigation actions. © The Author(s) 2014.

Raising the profile of Gender and Generation: The role of Climate Change Media Partnership

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Herzhoff, Natalie; Shanahan, Mike

2010-07-01

The paper details the initiatives taken by the Climate Change Media Partnership to strengthen journalists' understanding of the importance of gender and generation when reporting on climate change. Journalists from the world's wealthiest countries were well represented at the December 2007 UN Framework Convention on Climate change in Bali. In contrast only 9 percent of the journalists at the conference were from non-industrialised countries and there was zero media representation for nearly the entire UN list of 50 Least Developed Countries. To address this gap IIED Panos and Internews formed the Climate Change Media Partnership (CCMP). This initiative brought 37 journalists from developing countries to Bali and provided them with a 10 day programme of support. Since 2007, the CCMP has run three programmes each supporting nearly 40 journalists from developing nations to attend the UN climate change negotiations in Bali, Poznan and Copenhagen. Among the many refinements that the CCMP team has made to its programme over the years, is a greater focus on gender and generation. CCMP research has shown that although most male and female CCMP fellows were likely to acknowledge a need to include women's views in their reports, they lacked the resources, tools and knowledge to do so. In addition there is a disparate level of awareness amongst the CCMP journalists about how men and women of all ages are affected by climate change in different ways and about the need to report these differences. Through its work the CCMP identified several key areas that can improve the way that climate change, gender and generation are covered by the media.

Raising the profile of Gender and Generation: The role of Climate Change Media Partnership

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Herzhoff, Natalie; Shanahan, Mike

2010-07-01

The paper details the initiatives taken by the Climate Change Media Partnership to strengthen journalists' understanding of the importance of gender and generation when reporting on climate change. Journalists from the world's wealthiest countries were well represented at the December 2007 UN Framework Convention on Climate change in Bali. In contrast only 9 percent of the journalists at the conference were from non-industrialised countries and there was zero media representation for nearly the entire UN list of 50 Least Developed Countries. To address this gap IIED Panos and Internews formed the Climate Change Media Partnership (CCMP). This initiative brought 37 journalists from developing countries to Bali and provided them with a 10 day programme of support. Since 2007, the CCMP has run three programmes each supporting nearly 40 journalists from developing nations to attend the UN climate change negotiations in Bali, Poznan and Copenhagen. Among the many refinements that the CCMP team has made to its programme over the years, is a greater focus on gender and generation. CCMP research has shown that although most male and female CCMP fellows were likely to acknowledge a need to include women's views in their reports, they lacked the resources, tools and knowledge to do so. In addition there is a disparate level of awareness amongst the CCMP journalists about how men and women of all ages are affected by climate change in different ways and about the need to report these differences. Through its work the CCMP identified several key areas that can improve the way that climate change, gender and generation are covered by the media.

Managing Climate Change Refugia for Climate Adaptation

Science.gov (United States)

Daly, Christopher; Dobrowski, Solomon Z.; Dulen, Deanna M.; Ebersole, Joseph L.; Jackson, Stephen T.; Lundquist, Jessica D.; Millar, Constance I.; Maher, Sean P.; Monahan, William B.; Nydick, Koren R.; Redmond, Kelly T.; Sawyer, Sarah C.; Stock, Sarah; Beissinger, Steven R.

2016-01-01

Refugia have long been studied from paleontological and biogeographical perspectives to understand how populations persisted during past periods of unfavorable climate. Recently, researchers have applied the idea to contemporary landscapes to identify climate change refugia, here defined as areas relatively buffered from contemporary climate change over time that enable persistence of valued physical, ecological, and socio-cultural resources. We differentiate historical and contemporary views, and characterize physical and ecological processes that create and maintain climate change refugia. We then delineate how refugia can fit into existing decision support frameworks for climate adaptation and describe seven steps for managing them. Finally, we identify challenges and opportunities for operationalizing the concept of climate change refugia. Managing climate change refugia can be an important option for conservation in the face of ongoing climate change. PMID:27509088

Managing climate change refugia for climate adaptation

Science.gov (United States)

Morelli, Toni L.; Jackson, Stephen T.

2016-01-01

Refugia have long been studied from paleontological and biogeographical perspectives to understand how populations persisted during past periods of unfavorable climate. Recently, researchers have applied the idea to contemporary landscapes to identify climate change refugia, here defined as areas relatively buffered from contemporary climate change over time that enable persistence of valued physical, ecological, and socio-cultural resources. We differentiate historical and contemporary views, and characterize physical and ecological processes that create and maintain climate change refugia. We then delineate how refugia can fit into existing decision support frameworks for climate adaptation and describe seven steps for managing them. Finally, we identify challenges and opportunities for operationalizing the concept of climate change refugia. Managing climate change refugia can be an important option for conservation in the face of ongoing climate change.

78 FR 56248 - Product Change-Parcel Select Negotiated Service Agreement

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2013-09-12

... POSTAL SERVICE Product Change--Parcel Select Negotiated Service Agreement AGENCY: Postal Service...: The United States Postal Service[supreg] hereby gives notice that, pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 3642 and 3632... States Postal Service to Add Parcel Select Contract 7 to Competitive Product List. Documents are...

Viewpoint On the Climate Change Effects of High Oil Prices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vielle, M.; Viguier, L.

2005-11-01

Some commentators claim that the oil market has achieved within a few months what international bureaucrats have struggled to obtain in a decade of international climate negotiations. The fallacy of the oil price argument is that substitutions and income effects that would result from higher oil prices are not considered. Using a computable general equilibrium model, we show that high oil prices cannot serve as substitutes for effective climate policies.

The mitigation framework in the 2015 climate change agreement: from targets to pathways

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spencer, Thomas; Colombier, Michel; Ribera, Teresa; Sha, Fu; Ji, Zou

2014-01-01

This paper is an effort between researchers from different countries and with different backgrounds to achieve an agreed text on an important issue in the climate negotiations through a thought experiment of 'think tank level negotiation'. It is a significant achievement for two groups of authors from China and Europe to have come this far. Countries have agreed to negotiate a new climate agreement by 2015. One of the key elements of this negotiation process will be a new mitigation framework and new emissions targets for all. How should the information that Parties put forward be structured, in order to promote participation, equity, transparency and ambition? The new agreement needs to find a way to allow the continuous strengthening of the action of sovereign states, to reflect the 2 deg. C objective. It will also need to provide a flexible and equitable framework for mitigation targets, to reflect both different levels of uncertainty and the large spectrum of countries and gaps in the development of different country groups. There is a need to shift out of the 'target mentality' and towards an understanding of climate change as the challenge of shifting long-term social, technological, investment and infra-structural pathways, as well as behaviours. Uncertainties in such structural processes may be particularly high in developing or emerging countries still undergoing industrialization, demographic shift, and urbanization. Mastering them requires long-term policy horizons, cooperation, technology innovation and policy learning, focusing on the drivers of emissions reductions. The Warsaw decision stated in 2013 that mitigation targets would be nationally-determined. In this context, the discussion around a global goal should no longer be seen as a basis for top-down allocation, but rather as a directional reference against which global progress must be assessed to identify the gap to be filled to foster enhanced action. It is essential to

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2012-07-20

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Changing heathlands in a changing climate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ransijn, Johannes

Atmospheric CO2 concentrations and temperatures are rising and precipitation regimes are changing at global scale. How ecosystem will be affected by global climatic change is dependent on the responses of plants and plant communities. This thesis focuses on how climate change affects heathland...... plant communities. Many heathlands have shifted from dwarf shrub dominance to grass dominance and climatic change might affect the competitive balance between dwarf shrubs and grasses. We looked at heathland vegetation dynamics and heathland plant responses to climatic change at different spatial...... between C. vulgaris and D. flexuosa in the same climate change experiment and 5) a study where we compared the responses of shrubland plant communities to experimental warming and recurrent experimental droughts in seven climate change experiments across Europe. Heathland vegetation dynamics are slow...

EUROPEAN UNION IN GLOBAL CLIMATE GOVERNANCE: TO PARIS AND BEYOND

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. V. Savorskaya

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Since the 1990s, the European Union is aspiring global leadership in the area of climate change, which is refl ected in its active participation in the negotiations on the international climate change regime. However, those ambitions have not always turned out to be appropriate or justifi ed. Despite the fact that the European Union was able to achieve certain results during the Kyoto Protocol negotiations and even more signifi cant results in the process of its ratifi cation, for the most part EU negotiation strategy based on normative considerations, had not been successful, it was especially evident during the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. Partly the disappointing results of EU performance during the Copenhagen negotiations are to be blamed on some of the key features of EU functioning logic, for example, the overall tendency to rely on scientifi c evidence in policy-making, which did not allow the EU to assess other parties’ interests adequately. As the results of the negotiations of parties to the UNFCCC in December 2015 in Paris have shown, the European Union did manage to work out its previous mistakes and build a broad informal international coalition. Contrary to the pessimistic expectations, the agreement was adopted and it took into account quite a few of the EU proposals. However, the Paris Treaty has a number of fl aws and inaccuracies, so the ability to eliminate them in a timely manner by the international community and the EU in particular, will determine the future of the new international climate change regime.

Climate change and climate policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alfsen, Knut H.; Kolshus, Hans H.; Torvanger, Asbjoern

2000-08-01

The climate issue is a great political and scientific challenge for several reasons: (1) There are many uncertain aspects of the climate problem, such as future emission of climate gases, the response of the climate system upon these gases, and the effects of climate changes. (2) It is probable, however, that anthropogenic emission of climate gases, deforestation etc. will cause noticeable climate changes in the future. This might be observed as increased frequency of extreme weather situations. This appears to be a greater threat than a gradual increase of temperature and precipitation. (3) Since the climate system is large and react only relatively slowly on changes in for instance the emission of climate gases, the climate problem can only be solved by means of long-term measures. (4) The climate changes may be irreversible. A rational short-term strategy is to ensure maximum flexibility, which can be done by ''slowing down'' (curtailing emissions) and by avoiding irreversible actions as much as possible. The long-term challenge is to develop an economically responsible alternative to the present fossil-based energy system that permits carbon-efficient technologies to compete on price with coal and unconventional oil and gas. Norway is in a special position by being a large exporter of fossil fuel and at the same time wanting to appear responsible in environmental matters. This combination may incur considerable expenses upon Norway and it is therefore important that environmental commitments like the Kyoto agreement can be honoured to the lowest possible cost. The costs can be minimized by: (1) minimizing the measure costs in Norway, (2) working to make the international quota price as low as possible, and (3) reducing the loss of petroleum income as much as possible. This report describes the earth's climate history, the forces behind climatic changes and what the prospects for the future look like. It also reviews what is being done to curtail the emission of

Modelling Interactions between Land Use, Climate, and Hydrology along with Stakeholders’ Negotiation for Water Resources Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Babak Farjad

2017-11-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the main functionalities of an integrated framework to model the interactions between land use, climate, and hydrology along with stakeholders’ negotiation. Its novelty lies in the combination of individual-based and spatially distributed models within the Socio-Hydrology paradigm to capture the complexity and uncertainty inherent to these systems. It encompasses a land-use/land-cover cellular automata model, an agent-based model used for automated stakeholders’ negotiation, and the hydrological MIKE SHE/MIKE 11 model, which are linked and can be accessed through a web-based interface. It enables users to run simulations to explore a wide range of scenarios related to land development and water resource management while considering the reciprocal influence of human and natural systems. This framework was developed with the involvement of key stakeholders from the initial design stage to the final demonstration and validation.

Making sense of climate change risks and responses at the community level: A cultural-political lens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ainka A. Granderson

2014-01-01

Full Text Available How to better assess, communicate and respond to risks from climate change at the community level have emerged as key questions within climate risk management. Recent research to address these questions centres largely on psychological factors, exploring how cognition and emotion lead to biases in risk assessment. Yet, making sense of climate change and its responses at the community level demands attention to the cultural and political processes that shape how risk is conceived, prioritized and managed. I review the emergent literature on risk perceptions and responses to climate change using a cultural-political lens. This lens highlights how knowledge, meaning and power are produced and negotiated across multiple stakeholders at the community level. It draws attention to the different ways of constructing climate change risks and suggests an array of responses at the community level. It further illustrates how different constructions of risk intersect with agency and power to shape the capacity for response and collective action. What matters are whose constructions of risk, and whose responses, count in decision-making. I argue for greater engagement with the interpretive social sciences in research, practice and policy. The interpretive social sciences offer theories and tools for capturing and problematising the ways of knowing, sense-making and mobilising around risks from climate change. I also highlight the importance of participatory approaches in incorporating the multiplicity of interests at the community level into climate risk management in fair, transparent and culturally appropriate ways.

Climate change and energy: The implications for the Spanish case; Cambio Climatico y Energia: Impliacaciones reciprocas en el caso Espanol

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Perez Arriaga, J. I.

2007-07-01

This paper examines the mutual implications between the climate change problem and the actual energy-at-a-crossroads situation of the unsustainable world energy model. The implications for the Spanish case are studied as a case example. The paper provides a brief review of the scientific evidence on climate change, analyzes the causes of the present energy dilemma and characterizes the problem to be addressed. The principal challenge for the future climate regime is to identify the nature and level of commitment that will provide sufficient incentives for all countries, with such a diversity of interests. The paper also exposes the most plausible framework for the future climate regime, the basic components of such a regime, the role to be played by the major stake holders and some guidelines for future negotiations. (Author)

Climatic change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perthuis, Ch. de; Delbosc, A.

2009-01-01

Received ideas about climatic change are a mixture of right and wrong information. The authors use these ideas as starting points to shade light on what we really know and what we believe to know. The book is divided in three main chapters: should we act in front of climatic change? How can we efficiently act? How can we equitably act? For each chapter a series of received ideas is analyzed in order to find those which can usefully contribute to mitigate the environmental, economical and social impacts of climatic change. (J.S.)

Climate change governance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Knieling, Joerg [HafenCity Univ. Hamburg (Germany). Urban Planning and Regional Development; Leal Filho, Walter (eds.) [HAW Hamburg (Germany). Research and Transfer Centre Applications of Life Science

2013-07-01

Climate change is a cause for concern both globally and locally. In order for it to be tackled holistically, its governance is an important topic needing scientific and practical consideration. Climate change governance is an emerging area, and one which is closely related to state and public administrative systems and the behaviour of private actors, including the business sector, as well as the civil society and non-governmental organisations. Questions of climate change governance deal both with mitigation and adaptation whilst at the same time trying to devise effective ways of managing the consequences of these measures across the different sectors. Many books have been produced on general matters related to climate change, such as climate modelling, temperature variations, sea level rise, but, to date, very few publications have addressed the political, economic and social elements of climate change and their links with governance. This book will address this gap. Furthermore, a particular feature of this book is that it not only presents different perspectives on climate change governance, but it also introduces theoretical approaches and brings these together with practical examples which show how main principles may be implemented in practice.

Development of Taiwanese government’s climate policy after the Kyoto protocol: Applying policy network theory as an analytical framework

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shyu, Chian-Woei

2014-01-01

Given its limited involvement in and recognition by international organizations, Taiwan is not presently a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) or the Kyoto Protocol. The objective of this study is to analyze how and the extent to which changes in an exogenous factor, namely the Kyoto Protocol and Post-Kyoto climate negotiations, affect and ultimately lead to the formulation of and changes in the Taiwanese government's climate policy. This study applies policy network theory to examine the development of and changes in the Taiwanese government's climate policy. The results demonstrate that international climate agreements and negotiations play a key role in the development of, changes to, and transformation of Taiwan's climate policy. Scarce evidence was found in this study to demonstrate that domestic or internal factors affect climate change policy. Despite its lack of participation in the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol, Taiwan has adopted national climate change strategies, action plans, and programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, these climate policies and measures are fairly passive and aim to only conform to the minimal requirements for developing countries under international climate agreements and negotiations. This process results in inconsistent and variable climate policies, targets, and regulations. - Highlights: • Taiwan is not a signatory to the UNFCCC or its Kyoto Protocol. • International climate agreements strongly affected Taiwan's climate policy. • Little evidence was found that domestic factors affect Taiwan's climate policy. • New climate policies, regulations, and laws are formulated and implemented. • Climate policies, targets, and regulations change frequently and are inconsistent

International aspects of climate change: The intergovernmental panel on climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brydges, T.; Fenech, A.

1990-01-01

The impact of various international conferences concerning global climate change on international opinions and attitudes is discussed. A number of conferences over the past two decades have drawn attention to the large socio-economic consequences of climate change. There has been increasing attention given to the likely affect of anthropogenically derived greenhouse gases on the global climate. Some early uncertainty over the likely long term changes in global temperature have been replaced by a scientific consensus that global temperatures are increasing and will continue to do so into the next century. Public awareness of the possibility of climate change and severe socio-economic consequences has been increasing and was given a major impetus by the Toronto Conference on the Changing Atmosphere. An estimate of the possible time to solution of the climate change issue is given as 1988-2005, a span of 17 years. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has focused work into three working groups examining science, impacts and response strategies. 28 refs., 3 figs., 6 tabs

Changing climate, changing frames

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vink, Martinus J.; Boezeman, Daan; Dewulf, Art; Termeer, Catrien J.A.M.

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► We show development of flood policy frames in context of climate change attention. ► Rising attention on climate change influences traditional flood policy framing. ► The new framing employs global-scale scientific climate change knowledge. ► With declining attention, framing disregards climate change, using local knowledge. ► We conclude that frames function as sensemaking devices selectively using knowledge. -- Abstract: Water management and particularly flood defence have a long history of collective action in low-lying countries like the Netherlands. The uncertain but potentially severe impacts of the recent climate change issue (e.g. sea level rise, extreme river discharges, salinisation) amplify the wicked and controversial character of flood safety policy issues. Policy proposals in this area generally involve drastic infrastructural works and long-term investments. They face the difficult challenge of framing problems and solutions in a publicly acceptable manner in ever changing circumstances. In this paper, we analyse and compare (1) how three key policy proposals publicly frame the flood safety issue, (2) the knowledge referred to in the framing and (3) how these frames are rhetorically connected or disconnected as statements in a long-term conversation. We find that (1) framings of policy proposals differ in the way they depict the importance of climate change, the relevant timeframe and the appropriate governance mode; (2) knowledge is selectively mobilised to underpin the different frames and (3) the frames about these proposals position themselves against the background of the previous proposals through rhetorical connections and disconnections. Finally, we discuss how this analysis hints at the importance of processes of powering and puzzling that lead to particular framings towards the public at different historical junctures

Albertans and climate change : taking action

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-10-01

This paper establishes a final framework to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the province of Alberta. It is based on the draft plan released in May 2002 which presents actions to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50 per cent below 1990 levels (a 60 million tonne reduction) by the year 2020. The plan also includes an interim reduction of 22 per cent (20 million tonnes) below a business-as-usual scenario, by 2010. The plan will be achieved through agreements negotiated with key industry sectors and will backed by regulations. The plan focuses on energy efficiency, and supports development of new technology to control industrial emissions and promotes increased use of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and hydro power. The Alberta government will develop a definition for eligible greenhouse gas offsets, establish a registry for greenhouse gas offsets, and participate in initiatives to buy real emission reductions. The provincial government will also cut greenhouse gas emissions from its own operations by more than 20 per cent compared to 1990 levels. Royalty credits will be created for demonstration projects using carbon dioxide for enhanced oil recovery. This report presents the goals and timelines for each action that addresses climate change. It offers an alternative to the Kyoto Protocol and is focused on a technologically driven solution, instead of a politically driven one. Energy conservation and efficiency is a major part of the climate change response. In addition, the actions developed will be compatible with the United States in order to maintain competitiveness. 1 tab

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Using a social justice and health framework to assess European climate change adaptation strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Boeckmann, Melanie; Zeeb, Hajo

2014-11-28

Climate change puts pressure on existing health vulnerabilities through higher frequency of extreme weather events, changes in disease vector distribution or exacerbated air pollution. Climate change adaptation policies may hold potential to reduce societal inequities. We assessed the role of public health and social justice in European climate change adaptation using a three-fold approach: a document analysis, a critical discourse analysis of a subgroup of strategies, and a ranking of strategies against our social justice framework. The ranking approach favored planning that includes various adaptation types, social issues and infrastructure changes. Themes on values identified in the five subgroup documents showed that risks are perceived as contradictory, technology is viewed as savior, responsibilities need to be negotiated, and social justice is advocated by only a few countries. Of 21 strategy documents assessed overall, those from Austria, England and Sweden received the highest scores in the ranking. Our qualitative assessment showed that in European adaptation planning, progress could still be made through community involvement into adaptation decisions, consistent consideration of social and demographic determinants, and a stronger link between infrastructural adaptation and the health sector. Overall, a social justice framework can serve as an evaluation guideline for adaptation policy documents.

Global vs climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watson, H.L.; Bach, M.C.; Goklany, I.M.

1991-01-01

The various agents of global change that will affect the state of natural resources 50-100 years from now are discussed. These include economic and population growth, technological progress, and climatic change. The importance of climatic change lies in its effects on natural resources and on human activities that depend on those resources. Other factors affecting those resources include the demand on those resources from an increasing population and from a growing economy, and a more efficient use of those resources that comes from technological changes and from the consequences of economic growth itself. It is shown that there is a considerable ability to adapt to climatic change, since humans already have an intrinsic ability to adapt to the wide variations in climates that already exist and since technological developments can make it easier to cope with climatic variability. It appears that agents other than climatic change are more significant to the future state of natural resources than climatic change. Criteria for selecting options for addressing climatic change are outlined. Technological change and economic growth are seen to be key response options, since the vulnerability to climatic change depends on economic resources and technological progress. Specific options to stimulate sustainable economic growth and technological progress are listed. 16 refs., 1 fig., 2 tabs

Climate for change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Newell, P.

2000-01-01

Climate for Change: Non-State Actors and the Global Politics of the Greenhouse provides a challenging explanation of the forces that have shaped the international global warming debate. Unlike existing books on the politics of climate change, this book concentrates on how non-stage actors, such as scientific, environmental and industry groups, as opposed to governmental organisations, affect political outcomes in global fora on climate change. It also provides insights in to the role of the media in influencing the agenda. The book draws on a range of analytical approaches to assess and explain the influence of these non-governmental organisations in the course of global climate change politics. The book will be of interest to all researchers and policy-makers associated with climate change, and will be used on university courses in international relations, politics and environmental studies. (Author)

Energy and Global Climate Change: The Road from Paris to Denver

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Logan, Jeffrey

2016-10-27

This presentation provides an overview of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory; a snapshot of U.S. power sector transformation; a brief history of climate negotiations; an overview of the Paris Agreement; and what the Paris Agreement means for Colorado and beyond.

Climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-01-01

This paper presented indicators of climate change for British Columbia (BC) with an emphasis on the coastal region. An overview of global effects of climate change was presented, as well as details of BC's current climate change action plan. Indicators examined in the paper for the BC coastal region included long-term trends in air temperature; long-term trends in precipitation; coastal ocean temperatures; sea levels on the BC coast; and the sensitivity of the BC coast to sea level rise and erosion. Data suggested that average air temperatures have become higher in many areas, and that Springtime temperatures have become warmer over the whole province. Winters have become drier in many areas of the province. Sea surface temperature has risen over the entire coast, with the North Coast and central Strait of Georgia showing the largest increases. Deep-water temperatures have also increased in 5 inlets on the South Coast. Results suggested that the direction and spatial pattern of the climate changes reported for British Columbia are consistent with broader trends in North America and the type of changes predicted by climate models for the region. Climate change will likely result in reduced snow-pack in southern BC. An earlier spring freshet on many snow-dominated river systems is anticipated as well as glacial retreat and disappearance. Warmer temperatures in some lakes and rivers are expected, as well as the increased frequency and severity of natural disturbances such as the pine mountain beetle. Large-scale shifts in ecosystems and the loss of certain ecosystems may also occur. BC's current climate plan includes cost effective actions that address GHG emissions and support efficient infrastructure and opportunities for innovation. Management programs for forest and agricultural lands have been initiated, as well as programs to reduce emissions from government operations. Research is also being conducted to understand the impacts of climate change on water

Climate challenge 2012: growth and climate change - Socio-economical impacts of climate change. Conference proceedings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Orange-Louboutin, Mylene; Robinet, Olivier; Delalande, Daniel; Reysset, Bertrand; De Perthuis, Christian; Le Treut, Herve; Cottenceau, Jean-Baptiste; Ayong, Alain; Daubaire, Aurelien; Gaudin, Thomas

2012-01-01

The contributions of this conference session proposed comments and discussion on the relationship between climate change and 'green' growth, on the status of scientific knowledge on climate change (from global to local), on the way to perform carbon print assessment and to decide which actions to implement, on the costs and opportunity of impacts of climate change, on the economy of adaptation, on the benefits and costs of the adaptation policy, and on impacts of climate change on employment in quantitative terms and in terms of profession types

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Developing a made-in-Canada climate change option

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lakeman, B.

2002-01-01

A federal paper on Kyoto options served as a basis for this presentation. The author outlines the Alberta perspective on the federal options paper: (1) Alberta is impacted inequitably under all scenarios, (2) incomplete analysis, (3) export of Canadian capital, (4) open-ended liability, and (5) options need to reflect principles developed by Premiers and conveyed to Prime Minister in February. The principles for climate change action are: shared understanding of range of real costs, informed consultation, avoid competitive disadvantage, collaboration at all levels of government, no unreasonable share of the burden, encourage the use of new technology, Canadians need to be part of climate change solution, and focus on energy conservation and efficiency. The Alberta plan of action calls for a longer time frame and consultation with Albertans. With the topic of greenhouse gases (GHG), government leadership is required in the following areas: mandatory GHG reporting program, facilitate and negotiate agreements with key sectors, develop approach to emissions trading, and continue to pursue reductions in government operations. Some of the key initiatives include technology and innovation through the Alberta Energy Research Institute (AERI), build critical mass through partnerships, focus on clean hydrocarbon development and the transition to the hydrogen economy, carbon dioxide capture and storage, aggressive energy conservation, agricultural and forestry sinks, and adaptation. The consultation strategy is described. figs

Impact of environmental pollution and climate change on forest ecosystems: the activity of the IUFRO Research Group 7.01

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paoletti E

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Impact of environmental pollution and climate change on forest ecosystems: the activity of the IUFRO Research Group 7.01. The IUFRO RG 7.01 deals with "Impacts of Air Pollution and Climate Change on Forest Ecosystems". Climate change and air pollution are closely linked, although in applied scientific research and even more in political negotiations they have been largely separated. Many of the traditional air pollutants and greenhouse gases have not only common sources, but may also interact physically and chemically in the atmosphere causing a variety of environmental impacts on the local, regional and global scales. The impacts on forest ecosystems have been traditionally treated separately for air pollution and climate change. However, the combined effects of numerous climate change and air pollution factors may significantly differ from a sum of separate effects due to an array of various synergistic or antagonistic interactions. The net effect varies for different ecosystem types and geographic regions, and depends on magnitude of climate or air pollution drivers, and types of interactions between them. This paper reviews the links between air pollution and climate change and their interactive effects on forests. A simultaneous addressing of the air pollution and climate change effects on forests is an opportunity for capturing synergies and avoiding overlaps between two lines of traditional research. This could result in more effective research, monitoring and management as well as better integration of environmental policies.

Negotiating power: agenda ordering and the willingness to negotiate in asymmetric intergroup conflicts.

Science.gov (United States)

Kteily, Nour; Saguy, Tamar; Sidanius, James; Taylor, Donald M

2013-12-01

In this research, we investigated how group power influences the way members of groups in asymmetrical conflict approach intergroup negotiations. Drawing on theories of negotiations and of intergroup power, we predicted that group power would interact with features of the proposed negotiating agenda to influence willingness to come to the table. Based on the negotiation literature, we focused on 2 types of sequential negotiation agendas: 1 beginning with the discussion of consequential issues before less consequential issues (consequential first) and 1 leaving the discussion of consequential issues until after less consequential issues are discussed (consequential later). Because they are motivated to advance changes to their disadvantaged status quo, we expected low-power group members to favor consequential first over consequential later invitations to negotiate. High-power group members, motivated to protect their advantage, were expected to show the reverse preference. Converging evidence from 5 experiments involving real-world and experimental groups supported these predictions. Across studies, participants received an invitation to negotiate from the other group involving either a consequential first or consequential later agenda. Low-power group members preferred consequential first invitations because these implied less stalling of change to the status quo, and high-power group members preferred consequential later invitations because these invitations seemed to pose less threat to their position. Theoretical and practical implications for negotiations research and conflict resolution are discussed. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Socio-economic aspects of the greenhouse effect. Climate fund

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tol, R.S.J.; Van der burg, T.; Jansen, H.M.A.; Verbruggen, H.

1995-01-01

The title project studies the impact of international capital transfers on the efficiency and efficacy of greenhouse gas emission reduction. The absolute costs of emission abatement is substantially lower in less developed countries. The associated reduction of the damage due to conventional air pollution is higher in the richer countries in both absolute and relative terms. The costs of climatic change are relatively higher (but absolute lower) in the developing countries. Prime impacts are on agriculture (in the developing world) and human health (highly valued in the developed world). Costs of emission reduction and climatic change are joined in a nine region, quasi-Ramsey, integrated climate-economy model, called FUND (Climate Framework for Uncertainty, Negotiation and Distribution). The first calculations with this model show that the (hardly known) dynamics of climate change and the great uncertainties play a critical role, that free riding behaviour need not be as prominent a problem as is generally believed, and that international capital transfers do not seem to substantially influence the optimal emission control, as the regions most interested in climate change do not have much capital to transfer. Negotiated emission caps are likely to alter this conclusion. 3 figs., 1 tab., 16 refs

Climate change and precipitation: Detecting changes Climate change and precipitation: Detecting changes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Boxel, John H

2001-01-01

Precipitation is one of the most, if not the most important climate parameter In most studies on climate change the emphasis is on temperature and sea level rise. Often too little attention is given to precipitation. For a large part this is due to the large spatial en temporal variability of precipitation, which makes the detection of changes difficult. This paper describes methods to detect changes in precipitation. In order to arrive at statistically significant changes one must use long time series and spatial averages containing the information from several stations. In the Netherlands the average yearly precipitation increased by 11% during the 20th century .In the temperate latitudes on the Northern Hemisphere (40-60QN) the average increase was about 7% over the 20th century and the globally averaged precipitation increased by about 3%. During the 20th century 38% of the land surface of the earth became wetter, 42% experienced little change (less than 5% change) and 20% became dryer. More important than the average precipitation is the occurrence of extremes. In the Netherlands there is a tendency to more extreme precipitations, whereas the occurrence of relatively dry months has not changed. Also in many other countries increases in heavy precipitation events are observed. All climate models predict a further increase of mean global precipitation if the carbon dioxide concentration doubles. Nevertheless some areas get dryer, others have little change and consequently there are also areas where the increase is much more than the global average. On a regional scale however there are large differences between the models. Climate models do not yet provide adequate information on changes in extreme precipitations

The diversity of gendered adaptation strategies to climate change of Indian farmers: A feminist intersectional approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Ravera, Federica; Martín-López, Berta; Pascual, Unai; Drucker, Adam

2016-12-01

This paper examines climate change adaptation and gender issues through an application of a feminist intersectional approach. This approach permits the identification of diverse adaptation responses arising from the existence of multiple and fragmented dimensions of identity (including gender) that intersect with power relations to shape situation-specific interactions between farmers and ecosystems. Based on results from contrasting research cases in Bihar and Uttarakhand, India, this paper demonstrates, inter alia, that there are geographically determined gendered preferences and adoption strategies regarding adaptation options and that these are influenced by the socio-ecological context and institutional dynamics. Intersecting identities, such as caste, wealth, age and gender, influence decisions and reveal power dynamics and negotiation within the household and the community, as well as barriers to adaptation among groups. Overall, the findings suggest that a feminist intersectional approach does appear to be useful and worth further exploration in the context of climate change adaptation. In particular, future research could benefit from more emphasis on a nuanced analysis of the intra-gender differences that shape adaptive capacity to climate change.

Climate Change, Politics and Religion: Australian Churchgoers’ Beliefs about Climate Change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miriam Pepper

2016-05-01

Full Text Available A growing literature has sought to understand the relationships between religion, politics and views about climate change and climate change policy in the United States. However, little comparative research has been conducted in other countries. This study draws on data from the 2011 Australian National Church Life Survey to examine the beliefs of Australian churchgoers from some 20 denominations about climate change—whether or not it is real and whether it is caused by humans—and political factors that explain variation in these beliefs. Pentecostals, Baptist and Churches of Christ churchgoers, and people from the smallest Protestant denominations were less likely than other churchgoers to believe in anthropogenic climate change, and voting and hierarchical and individualistic views about society predicted beliefs. There was some evidence that these views function differently in relation to climate change beliefs depending on churchgoers’ degree of opposition to gay rights. These findings are of interest not only for the sake of international comparisons, but also in a context where Australia plays a role in international climate change politics that is disproportionate to its small population.

Climate changes your business

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

Businesses face much bigger climate change costs than they realise. That is the conclusion of Climate Changes Your Business. The climate change risks that companies should be paying more attention to are physical risks, regulatory risks as well as risk to reputation and the emerging risk of litigation, says the report. It argues that the risks associated with climate change tend to be underestimated

Construction of climate change scenarios from transient climate change experiments for the IPCC impacts assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Viner, D.; Hulme, M.; Raper, S.C.B.; Jones, P.D.

1994-01-01

This paper outlines the different methods which may be used for the construction of regional climate change scenarios. The main focus of the paper is the construction of global climate change scenarios from climate change experiments carried out using General Circulation Models (GCMS) An introduction to some GCM climate change experiments highlights the difference between model types and experiments (e.g., equilibrium or transient). The latest generation of climate change experiments has been performed using fully coupled ocean-atmosphere GCMS. These allow transient simulations of climate change to be performed with respect to a given greenhouse gas forcing scenario. There are, however, a number of problems with these simulations which pose difficulties for the construction of climate change scenarios for use in climate change impacts assessment. The characteristics of the transient climate change experiments which pose difficulties for the construction of climate change scenarios are discussed. Three examples of these problems are: different climate change experiments use different greenhouse gas concentration scenarios; the 'cold-start' problem makes it difficult to link future projections of climate change to a given calendar year; a drift of the climate is noticeable in the control simulations. In order to construct climate change scenarios for impacts assessment a method has therefore to be employed which addresses these problems. At present the climate modeling and climate change impacts communities are somewhat polarized in their approach to spatial scales. Current GCMs model the climate at resolutions larger than 2.5 x 3.75 degree, while the majority of impacts assessment studies are undertaken at scales below 50km (or 0.5 degree). This paper concludes by addressing the problems in bringing together these two different modeling perspectives by presenting a number of regional climate change scenarios. 35 refs., 8 figs., 2 tabs

Climatic changes: explicative guide of international agreements; Changements climatiques: guide explicatif des accords internationaux

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2005-07-01

The following themes of the negotiation in the United Nations Convention framework, on the climatic changes and the kyoto protocol are taken into account: the observation, the information communication, the policies and the measures, the developing countries, the flexibility mechanisms, the soils utilizations and the regime evolution. For each theme the document recalls quickly how the theme is detailed in the Convention and in the Protocol, it presents then the decisions and the adopted rules and defines the agreements contain, in terms of challenges and implication in the protocol implementation. (A.L.B.)

Climate Policy Post-2012. A Roadmap. The Global Governance of Climate Change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ott, H.E.

2007-08-01

An open conversation begun in 1981, the Taellberg Forum addressed the challenge of the great transition, by searching for solutions to the dilemma of increasing welfare without destroying the natural systems that support us. The theme for 2007 was 'How on earth can we live together? Learn to live to learn'. This paper was contributed to the Forum and will proceed along the following lines: Chapter 2 will explore the background of the problem, starting with the scientific findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its recently published fourth report. It will furthermore highlight the analysis done by Sir Nicholas Stern in his report on the economic implications of acting now or paying later. Finally, the background chapter will document the diplomatic efforts to tackle climate change in the context of the United Nations and other arenas. Chapter 3 will present three narrative scenarios of possible developments in the years to come. The first and the third scenario are depicting two extremes, namely a dark vision of business-as-usual and the light vision of an eco-fair development. The second scenario portrays a development that makes an attempt to solve the problem, but does not dare to change the basic structures and thus is bound to fail. The challenge for humanity will be to steer as much as possible towards the third scenario - and there is a good chance to do so in the next years. Chapter 4 embarks on an overview of proposals for a climate regime after 2012 and attempts to shed some light on the multitude of issues that have to be dealt with. Chapter 5, finally, proposes some building blocks for a successful negotiation strategy. It is based on the recognition that traditional industrialised countries have the responsibility to make constructive proposals for the emerging economies and other developing countries. It is guided by the conviction that the North cannot expect more rational, ethical and forward-looking behaviour from the Southern

Carbon dioxide emissions and climate change: policy implications for the cement industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rehan, R.; Nehdi, M.

2005-01-01

There is growing awareness that the cement industry is a significant contributor to global carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions. It is expected that this industry will come under increasing regulatory pressures to reduce its emissions and contribute more aggressively to mitigating global warming. It is important that the industry's stakeholders become more familiar with greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and associated global warming issues, along with emerging policies that may affect the future of the industry. This paper discusses climate change, the current and proposed actions for mitigating its effects, and the implications of such actions for the cement industry. International negotiations on climate change are summarized and mechanisms available under the Kyoto Protocol for reducing greenhouse gas emissions are explained. The paper examines some of the traditional and emerging policy instruments for greenhouse gas emissions and analyses their merits and drawbacks. The applicability, effectiveness and potential impact of these policy instruments for the global cement industry in general and the Canadian cement industry in particular are discussed with recommendations for possible courses of action

Negotiating with payers.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaufman, Joel M

2010-05-01

Negotiating with payers for better reimbursement, contract language, support for practice enhancement, or changes in policies and procedures is a critical function that may greatly enhance a practice's success over time. This article discusses keys to successful negotiating and several specific areas beyond reimbursement that deserve the reader's attention. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Use of the RAINS model in acid rain negotiations in Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hordijk, L.

1991-01-01

The use of models in international negotiations on environmental problems for which no compulsory action can be imposed is a recent trend. In the past, international agreements have been reached without any model being used. For example, the first step in reducing acid rain in Europe and North America was made in 1985 without using an integrated model. Neither was a model used to establish the Vienna Convention on Protection of the Ozone Layer (1986). Analyzing the reasons for using mathematical models in environmental negotiations is not the subject of this paper. Suffice it to say there are several recent examples of models being used in preparing international policy actions, for instance the Law of the Sea and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The acceptance of models as tools in negotiations depends on many factors. The differences in the attitudes toward use of models in the case of assessment of acid rain in Europe and North America have been analyzed. In this paper, the author reviews the current use of the RAINS model and points out some lessons for the development of models that could be used in international environmental negotiations

Our changing climate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kandel, R.

1990-01-01

The author presents an overview of the changing climate. Attention is focused on the following: meteorology; weather; climate anomalies; changes in atmospheric composition and global warming; ozone; mathematical models; and climate and politics. In its conclusion, it asks researchers to stay out of a game in which, ultimately, neither science nor politics stands to gain anything

Climate change and skin disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Lundgren, Ashley D

2018-04-01

Despite commanding essentially universal scientific consensus, climate change remains a divisive and poorly understood topic in the United States. Familiarity with this subject is not just for climate scientists. The impact of climate change on human morbidity and mortality may be considerable; thus, physicians also should be knowledgeable in this realm. Climate change science can seem opaque and inferential, creating fertile ground for political polemics and undoubtedly contributing to confusion among the general public. This puts physicians in a pivotal position to facilitate a practical understanding of climate change in the public sphere by discussing changes in disease patterns and their possible relationship to a changing climate. This article provides a background on climate change for dermatologists and highlights how climate change may impact the management of skin disease across the United States.

Quality Climate Change Professional Development Translates into Quality Climate Change Education (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Holzer, M. A.

2013-12-01

Perhaps one of the reasons we have so many climate change deniers in the United States is that to them climate change is not occurring. This is a valid claim about climate change deniers considering that the effects of climate change in the mid-latitudes are quite subtle as compared to those found in low-latitude and high-latitude regions. A mid-latitude classroom teacher is saddled with the challenge of enlightening students about our changing climate and empowering students to assist in making necessary lifestyle changes, all the while the students don't understand the urgency in doing so. Quality climate change data and resources from the Polar Regions and low latitudes, as well as connections to researchers from these regions help to bridge the understanding of our changing climate from the extreme latitudes to the mid-latitudes. Connecting science teachers with data, resources, and researchers is one way of ensuring our mid-latitude students understand the urgency in taking appropriate actions to adapt, mitigate, and show resilience. This presentation will highlight a few of the many impacts of an authentic research experience for teachers that not only provides teachers with data, resources, and researchers, but changes the way a science teacher teaches where the methods they use mirror the methods used by scientists. National projects like PolarTREC connect educators with the science of climate change as well as the reality of impacts of climate change. For example, research expeditions in the Arctic and in Antarctica connect teachers with the content and practices of climate change science preparing them to replicate their experiences with their students. A PolarTREC experience does not end with the close of the expedition. Teachers continue their connections with the program through their educator network, the integration of PolarTREC resources into their curriculums, and communications with their principal investigators either virtually or with school

The climate is changing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alfsen, Knut H.

2001-01-01

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has finalized its Third Assessment Report. Among its conclusions is that we must expect continued changes in our climate, despite our efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Planning for and adapting to climate change are therefore necessary. As a starting point, CICERO has written this short note on expected impacts in Norway. The main conclusions are that (1) Adaptation to climate change is necessary (2) Substantial impacts are expected for several important sectors in Norway (3) The local and central authorities should now consider and start planning for adaptation measures. (4) There is still a need for more knowledge about potential impacts of climate change in Norway. (author)

Turning negotiation into a corporate capability.

Science.gov (United States)

Ertel, D

1999-01-01

Every company today exists in a complex web of relationships formed, one at a time, through negotiation. Purchasing and outsourcing contracts are negotiated with vendors. Marketing arrangements are negotiated with distributors. Product development agreements are negotiated with joint-venture partners. Taken together, the thousands of negotiations a typical company engages in have an enormous effect on both its strategy and its bottom line. But few companies think systematically about their negotiating activities as a whole. Instead they take a situational view, perceiving each negotiation to be a separate event with its own goals, tactics, and measures of success. Coordinating them all seems an overwhelming and impracticable job. In reality, the author argues, it is neither. A number of companies are successfully building coordinated negotiation capabilities by applying four broad changes in practice and perspective. First, they've established a company-wide negotiation infrastructure to apply the knowledge gained from forging past agreements to improve future ones. Second, they've broadened the measures they use to evaluate negotiators' performance beyond matters of cost and price. Third, they draw a clear distinction between the elements of an individual deal and the nature of the ongoing relationship between the parties. Fourth, they make their negotiators feel comfortable walking away from a deal when it's not in the company's best interests. These changes aren't radical steps. But taken together, they will let companies establish closer, more creative relationships with suppliers, customers, and other partners.

Climate Change Portal - Home Page

Science.gov (United States)

Science Partnerships Contact Us Take Action Climate change is already having significant and widespread of climate change. Business Businesses throughout California are taking action to address climate climate change impacts and informing policies to reduce greenhouse gases, adapt to changing environments

Climate change and forest diseases

Science.gov (United States)

R.N. Sturrock; Susan Frankel; A. V. Brown; Paul Hennon; J. T. Kliejunas; K. J. Lewis; J. J. Worrall; A. J. Woods

2011-01-01

As climate changes, the effects of forest diseases on forest ecosystems will change. We review knowledge of relationships between climate variables and several forest diseases, as well as current evidence of how climate, host and pathogen interactions are responding or might respond to climate change. Many forests can be managed to both adapt to climate change and...

Climatic change

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1977-02-15

In spite of man's remarkable advances in technology, ultimately he is still dependent on the Earth's climatic system for food and fresh water. The recent occurrences in certain regions of the world of climatic extremes such as excessive rain or droughts and unseasonably high or low temperatures have led to speculation that a major climatic change is occurring on a global scale. Some point to the recent drop in temperatures in the northern hemisphere as an indication that the Earth is entering a new ice age. Others see a global warming trend that may be due to a build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. An authoritative report on the subject has been prepared by a World Meteorological Organization Panel of Experts on Climatic Change. Excerpts from the report are given. (author)

Climatic change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1977-01-01

In spite of man's remarkable advances in technology, ultimately he is still dependent on the Earth's climatic system for food and fresh water. The recent occurrences in certain regions of the world of climatic extremes such as excessive rain or droughts and unseasonably high or low temperatures have led to speculation that a major climatic change is occurring on a global scale. Some point to the recent drop in temperatures in the northern hemisphere as an indication that the Earth is entering a new ice age. Others see a global warming trend that may be due to a build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. An authoritative report on the subject has been prepared by a World Meteorological Organization Panel of Experts on Climatic Change. Excerpts from the report are given. (author)

Managing climate change refugia for climate adaptation

Science.gov (United States)

Toni Lyn Morelli; Christopher Daly; Solomon Z. Dobrowski; Deanna M. Dulen; Joseph L. Ebersole; Stephen T. Jackson; Jessica D. Lundquist; Connie Millar; Sean P. Maher; William B. Monahan; Koren R. Nydick; Kelly T. Redmond; Sarah C. Sawyer; Sarah Stock; Steven R. Beissinger

2016-01-01

Refugia have long been studied from paleontological and biogeographical perspectives to understand how populations persisted during past periods of unfavorable climate. Recently, researchers have applied the idea to contemporary landscapes to identify climate change refugia, here defined as areas relatively buffered from contemporary climate change over time that...

Forestal measures against climate change. Review and status after the Fourth Conference of the Parties of the Climate Convention; Skogtiltak mot klimaendringer. Oversikt og status etter fjerde partskonferanse til Klimakonvensjonen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Naess, Lars Otto

1999-08-01

The Kyoto Protocol of December 1997 opens up the possibility that forestal measures can be used to meet parts of the commitments of the industrialized countries to achieve a net reduction of emission of climate gases. The present report summarizes the issues involved in forestal measures that will mitigate global climate changes. The emphasis is on forestal measures in the climate negotiations and technical carbon binding potential. There is also a brief review of economic, environmental and social aspects. The next decades will be crucial to the many of the world`s forests. The forests contain a large part of the biological diversity. Above all this is true of tropical forests. But untouched areas in tempered and boreal areas are also experiencing various types of threats, including the effects of a possible global heating. It is a main conclusion that, in spite of many complex challenges, climate measures in the forests may play a constructive role both in counteracting global climate changes and in improving the management of the world`s forest resources. 89 refs., 3 figs., 7 tabs.

Climate variability and vulnerability to climate change: a review

Science.gov (United States)

Thornton, Philip K; Ericksen, Polly J; Herrero, Mario; Challinor, Andrew J

2014-01-01

The focus of the great majority of climate change impact studies is on changes in mean climate. In terms of climate model output, these changes are more robust than changes in climate variability. By concentrating on changes in climate means, the full impacts of climate change on biological and human systems are probably being seriously underestimated. Here, we briefly review the possible impacts of changes in climate variability and the frequency of extreme events on biological and food systems, with a focus on the developing world. We present new analysis that tentatively links increases in climate variability with increasing food insecurity in the future. We consider the ways in which people deal with climate variability and extremes and how they may adapt in the future. Key knowledge and data gaps are highlighted. These include the timing and interactions of different climatic stresses on plant growth and development, particularly at higher temperatures, and the impacts on crops, livestock and farming systems of changes in climate variability and extreme events on pest-weed-disease complexes. We highlight the need to reframe research questions in such a way that they can provide decision makers throughout the food system with actionable answers, and the need for investment in climate and environmental monitoring. Improved understanding of the full range of impacts of climate change on biological and food systems is a critical step in being able to address effectively the effects of climate variability and extreme events on human vulnerability and food security, particularly in agriculturally based developing countries facing the challenge of having to feed rapidly growing populations in the coming decades. PMID:24668802

Climate Summit in Copenhagen

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Delman, Jørgen

  Together with the United States, China has moved to centre stage in the running up to the Climate Summit in Copenhagen 7-18 December 2009. To make the Summit a success, the two countries have started signalling positive commitment to formulation of quantitative targets and engage constructively...... in elaborating a reasonably ambitious, yet realistic framework for the implementation of a new global post-Kyoto regime that will have to take effect from 2012. China's leadership has already acknowledged that climate change may exacerbate an exceedingly unsustainable development path over the next decades...... if action is not taken to change its course dramatically. The challenges are formidable, yet the window of opportunity to take action is quite narrow. For these reasons and due to international pressure, China's position on climate change has been made gradually clearer as the climate negotiations have...

Climate Change and Malaria

OpenAIRE

Goklany;, I. M.

2004-01-01

Sir David A. King's claim that "Climate change is the most severe problem that we are facing today—more serious even than the threat of terrorism" "Climate change is the most severe problem that we are facing today—more serious even than the threat of terrorism" ("Climate change

Climate change and Finland. Summary of the Finnish research programme on climate change (SILMU)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-12-31

Anthropogenic impacts on the Earth`s atmosphere are expected to cause significant global climate changes during the next few decades. These changes will have many consequences both in nature and on human activities. In order to investigate the implications of such changes in Finland, a six-year multidisciplinary national research programme on climate and global change, the Finnish Research Programme on Climate Change (SILMU), was initiated in 1990. The key research areas were: (1) quantification of the greenhouse effect and the magnitude of anticipated climate changes, (2) assessment of the effects of changing climate on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and (3) development of mitigation and adaptation strategies

Climate change and Finland. Summary of the Finnish research programme on climate change (SILMU)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-01-01

Anthropogenic impacts on the Earth's atmosphere are expected to cause significant global climate changes during the next few decades. These changes will have many consequences both in nature and on human activities. In order to investigate the implications of such changes in Finland, a six-year multidisciplinary national research programme on climate and global change, the Finnish Research Programme on Climate Change (SILMU), was initiated in 1990. The key research areas were: (1) quantification of the greenhouse effect and the magnitude of anticipated climate changes, (2) assessment of the effects of changing climate on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and (3) development of mitigation and adaptation strategies

Chatham Islands Climate Change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mullan, B.; Salinger, J.; Thompson, C.; Ramsay, D.; Wild, M.

2005-06-01

This brief report provides guidance on climate change specific to the Chatham Islands, to complement the information recently produced for local government by the Ministry for the Environment in 'Climate Change Effects and Impacts Assessment: A guidance manual for Local Government in New Zealand' and 'Coastal Hazards and Climate Change: A guidance manual for Local Government in New Zealand'. These previous reports contain a lot of generic information on climate change, and how to assess associated risks, that is relevant to the Chatham Islands Council.

Negotiation: A Tool for Change [and] Principles of Whistleblowing.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Steven; And Others

These two brief papers provide guidelines for consumers, parents, and advocates in the techniques of negotiation and whistleblowing ("speaking out against illegal, immoral, and otherwise wrong practices in human services, government, and other organizational settings"). Steps for preparing to negotiate with opposing groups involve proper…

Scaling Climate Change Communication for Behavior Change

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez, V. C.; Lappé, M.; Flora, J. A.; Ardoin, N. M.; Robinson, T. N.

2014-12-01

Ultimately, effective climate change communication results in a change in behavior, whether the change is individual, household or collective actions within communities. We describe two efforts to promote climate-friendly behavior via climate communication and behavior change theory. Importantly these efforts are designed to scale climate communication principles focused on behavior change rather than soley emphasizing climate knowledge or attitudes. Both cases are embedded in rigorous evaluations (randomized controlled trial and quasi-experimental) of primary and secondary outcomes as well as supplementary analyses that have implications for program refinement and program scaling. In the first case, the Girl Scouts "Girls Learning Environment and Energy" (GLEE) trial is scaling the program via a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for Troop Leaders to teach the effective home electricity and food and transportation energy reduction programs. The second case, the Alliance for Climate Education (ACE) Assembly Program, is advancing the already-scaled assembly program by using communication principles to further engage youth and their families and communities (school and local communities) in individual and collective actions. Scaling of each program uses online learning platforms, social media and "behavior practice" videos, mastery practice exercises, virtual feedback and virtual social engagement to advance climate-friendly behavior change. All of these communication practices aim to simulate and advance in-person train-the-trainers technologies.As part of this presentation we outline scaling principles derived from these two climate change communication and behavior change programs.

Engaging informal audiences in learning about and responding to climate change through a portfolio of innovative approaches

Science.gov (United States)

Pfirman, S. L.; Brunacini, J.; Orlove, B. S.; Bachrach, E.; Hamilton, L.

2017-12-01

Informal learners have many different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. How can informal educators effectively reach such diverse audiences, meeting people where they are with regard to climate change? The Polar Learning and Responding: PoLAR Climate Change Education Partnership, supported by NSF, employs surveys, resource development, and research to develop innovative, evidence-based approaches that engage lifelong learners. General-public surveys on climate change yield insights on the knowledge and perceptions that informal learners bring to the table. That helps guide the creation of new tools for effective communication. For example, many people are unsure what causes sea level to rise. The Polar Explorer: Sea Level app uses a data and question-based approach guiding people through interactive maps to learn about melting land ice. In addition, people also tend to believe that climate impacts will happen in the future. Polar Voices podcasts feature Arctic Indigenous communities sharing first-hand experiences with climate change. Prior knowledge can be harnessed to enhance learning. Arctic SMARTIC engages people in role-playing negotiations with others to create a marine management plan. Climate game jams provide collaborative, creative spaces where participants learn as they interact with others. In each case participants, with all their knowledge and experience, are brought into group problem-solving. Understanding whom people trust for climate-change information offers insights that help them become climate communicators. Even those who are concerned about climate often do not discuss it with family and friends (Maibach et al. 2016), yet our research shows that family and friends are second only to scientists as trusted sources of climate information (Hamilton 2016). Fun and novel educational tools such as the EcoChains card game and the EcoKoin social networking app serve as conversation starters.

Asking about climate change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jonas Østergaard; D'haen, Sarah Ann Lise

2014-01-01

and the number and types of interviews conducted are, for example, not always clear. Information on crucial aspects of qualitative research like researcher positionality, social positions of key informants, the use of field assistants, language issues and post-fieldwork treatment of data is also lacking in many...... with climate change? On the basis of a literature review of all articles published in Global Environmental Change between 2000 and 2012 that deal with human dimensions of climate change using qualitative methods this paper provides some answers but also raises some concerns. The period and length of fieldwork......There is increasing evidence that climate change will strongly affect people across the globe. Likely impacts of and adaptations to climate change are drawing the attention of researchers from many disciplines. In adaptation research focus is often on perceptions of climate change...

Climate engineering and the risk of rapid climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ross, Andrew; Damon Matthews, H

2009-01-01

Recent research has highlighted risks associated with the use of climate engineering as a method of stabilizing global temperatures, including the possibility of rapid climate warming in the case of abrupt removal of engineered radiative forcing. In this study, we have used a simple climate model to estimate the likely range of temperature changes associated with implementation and removal of climate engineering. In the absence of climate engineering, maximum annual rates of warming ranged from 0.015 to 0.07 deg. C/year, depending on the model's climate sensitivity. Climate engineering resulted in much higher rates of warming, with the temperature change in the year following the removal of climate engineering ranging from 0.13 to 0.76 deg. C. High rates of temperature change were sustained for two decades following the removal of climate engineering; rates of change of 0.5 (0.3,0.1) deg. C/decade were exceeded over a 20 year period with 15% (75%, 100%) likelihood. Many ecosystems could be negatively affected by these rates of temperature change; our results suggest that climate engineering in the absence of deep emissions cuts could arguably constitute increased risk of dangerous anthropogenic interference in the climate system under the criteria laid out in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Theological and ethical dimensions of addressing climate change : reflections from the World Council of Churches (WCC)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hallman, D.G. [World Council of Churches, Toronto, ON (Canada)

2000-06-01

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has supported regional workshops around the world which focus on examining climate change issues from a theological and ethical perspective. The human responsibility is one dimension of the ethics of climate change and is supplemented by the fact that the problem is caused largely by rich industrialized countries, the consequences of which will be suffered in most part by the poor and politically weak developing nations and by future generations. When the WCC delivered a statement at the Kyoto Climate Conference in December 1997, they integrated these two ethical dimensions and spoke of climate change as an issue of justice. Their point of view was that as individuals and as societies, particularly in the over-developed parts of the world, we must be held responsible for the destructive impact of our actions which are leading to climate change and threatening vulnerable human communities, other species and broader ecosystems. Justice implies that we must be accountable for promises that we make to limit the emissions of greenhouse gases. The WCC has been actively involved in the climate change issue since 1988 through the education of its member churches around the world and through monitoring the inter-governmental negotiations through the UN, as well as through advocacy at national levels. In May 2000, the WCC held an international consultation to examine the issue of emissions trading from a perspective of equity. This paper included 2 appendices: Appendix A entitled Statement by the World Council of Churches to the high level segment of the third session of the Conference of the Parties (COP3) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and Appendix B entitled The atmosphere as a global commons : responsible caring and equitable sharing.

Uncertainty and Climate Change

OpenAIRE

Berliner, L. Mark

2003-01-01

Anthropogenic, or human-induced, climate change is a critical issue in science and in the affairs of humankind. Though the target of substantial research, the conclusions of climate change studies remain subject to numerous uncertainties. This article presents a very brief review of the basic arguments regarding anthropogenic climate change with particular emphasis on uncertainty.

Climate@Home: Crowdsourcing Climate Change Research

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, C.; Yang, C.; Li, J.; Sun, M.; Bambacus, M.

2011-12-01

Climate change deeply impacts human wellbeing. Significant amounts of resources have been invested in building super-computers that are capable of running advanced climate models, which help scientists understand climate change mechanisms, and predict its trend. Although climate change influences all human beings, the general public is largely excluded from the research. On the other hand, scientists are eagerly seeking communication mediums for effectively enlightening the public on climate change and its consequences. The Climate@Home project is devoted to connect the two ends with an innovative solution: crowdsourcing climate computing to the general public by harvesting volunteered computing resources from the participants. A distributed web-based computing platform will be built to support climate computing, and the general public can 'plug-in' their personal computers to participate in the research. People contribute the spare computing power of their computers to run a computer model, which is used by scientists to predict climate change. Traditionally, only super-computers could handle such a large computing processing load. By orchestrating massive amounts of personal computers to perform atomized data processing tasks, investments on new super-computers, energy consumed by super-computers, and carbon release from super-computers are reduced. Meanwhile, the platform forms a social network of climate researchers and the general public, which may be leveraged to raise climate awareness among the participants. A portal is to be built as the gateway to the climate@home project. Three types of roles and the corresponding functionalities are designed and supported. The end users include the citizen participants, climate scientists, and project managers. Citizen participants connect their computing resources to the platform by downloading and installing a computing engine on their personal computers. Computer climate models are defined at the server side. Climate

Forks in the Road. Alternative Routes for International Climate Policies and their Implications for the Netherlands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Slingerland, S.; Meyer, L.; Van Vuuren, D.; Den Elzen, M.

2011-11-01

Several scenarios are possible for future international climate policies, each with a different role in the climate negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). These scenarios assume policies that are comparable to the current policies, as well as more fragmented and more integrated international climate policies. The various alternative routes have been assessed with respect to their potential consequences. These assessments showed that none of the proposed routes could fully replace the current negotiation process under the UNFCCC, but rather that they could contribute to generating societal support for future climate policies. In addition, the report presents an analysis of how the Netherlands could use this development of alternative routes for international climate policy. Possible responses by the Netherlands to each of these scenarios would depend on the degree to which climate change as a policy topic is considered a priority in the Netherlands.

Carbon stock corridors to mitigate climate change and promote biodiversity in the tropics

Science.gov (United States)

Jantz, Patrick; Goetz, Scott; Laporte, Nadine

2014-02-01

A key issue in global conservation is how biodiversity co-benefits can be incorporated into land use and climate change mitigation activities, particularly those being negotiated under the United Nations to reduce emissions from tropical deforestation and forest degradation. Protected areas have been the dominant strategy for tropical forest conservation and they have increased substantially in recent decades. Avoiding deforestation by preserving carbon stored in vegetation between protected areas provides an opportunity to mitigate the effects of land use and climate change on biodiversity by maintaining habitat connectivity across landscapes. Here we use a high-resolution data set of vegetation carbon stock to map corridors traversing areas of highest biomass between protected areas in the tropics. The derived corridors contain 15% of the total unprotected aboveground carbon in the tropical region. A large number of corridors have carbon densities that approach or exceed those of the protected areas they connect, suggesting these are suitable areas for achieving both habitat connectivity and climate change mitigation benefits. To further illustrate how economic and biological information can be used for corridor prioritization on a regional scale, we conducted a multicriteria analysis of corridors in the Legal Amazon, identifying corridors with high carbon, high species richness and endemism, and low economic opportunity costs. We also assessed the vulnerability of corridors to future deforestation threat.

China's response to climate change issues after Paris Climate Change Conference

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yun Gao

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The Paris Climate Change Conference was successfully concluded with the Paris Agreement, which is a milestone for the world in collectively combating climate change. By participating in IPCC assessments and conducting national climate change assessments, China has been increasing its understanding of the issue. For the first time, China's top leader attended the Conference of the Parties, which indicates the acknowledgement of the rationality and necessity of climate change response by China at different levels. Moreover, this participation reflects China's commitment to including climate change in its ecology improvement program and pursuing a low-carbon society and economy. In order to ensure the success of the Paris Conference, China has contributed significantly. China's constructive participation in global governance shows that China is a responsible power. These principles such as the creation of a future of win–win cooperation with each country contributing to the best of its ability; a future of the rule of law, fairness, and justice; and a future of inclusiveness, mutual learning, and common development will serve as China's guidelines in its efforts to facilitate the implementation of the Paris Agreement and participate in the design of international systems.

China's response to climate change issues after Paris Climate Change Conference

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

GAO Yun

2016-01-01

The Paris Climate Change Conference was successfully concluded with the Paris Agreement, which is a milestone for the world in collectively combating climate change. By participating in IPCC assessments and conducting national climate change assessments, China has been increasing its understanding of the issue. For the first time, China's top leader attended the Conference of the Parties, which indicates the acknowledgement of the rationality and necessity of climate change response by China at different levels. Moreover, this participation reflects China's commitment to including climate change in its ecology improvement program and pursuing a low-carbon society and economy. In order to ensure the success of the Paris Conference, China has contributed significantly. China's constructive participation in global governance shows that China is a responsible power. These principles such as the creation of a future of winewin cooperation with each country contributing to the best of its ability;a future of the rule of law, fairness, and justice;and a future of inclusiveness, mutual learning, and common development will serve as China's guidelines in its efforts to facilitate the implementation of the Paris Agreement and participate in the design of international systems.

Fighting Windmills: The Coalition of Industrialists and Environmentalists in the Climate Change Issue

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brandt, Urs Steiner; Svendsen, Gert Tinggaard

2004-01-01

environmental quality. We focus on the case of international climate negotiations and the promotion of wind-based energy. Along the lines of the Ackerman and Hassler approach, we suggest that one reason for EU eagerness to push forward ambitious reduction target levels (and thereby promote new green industries......) could be a similar coalition between industrialists and environmentalists. Such a strategy can be seen in the context of the Bootleggers and Baptist theory developed by Yandle [‘Bootleggers and Baptists: the Education of a Regulatory Economist,’ Regulation, 7, 12–16], where the Baptists (in our case...... for the coalition of industrialists and environmentalists offering both market protection and improved environmental quality. Solving the current deadlock in international climate negotiations may well imply fighting the strong coalition of industrialists and environmentalists. Such a political battle may turn out...

Climate: Policy, Modeling, and Federal Priorities (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Koonin, S.; Department Of Energy Office Of The Under SecretaryScience

2010-12-01

The Administration has set ambitious national goals to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The US and other countries involved in the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change continue to work toward a goal of establishing a viable treaty that would encompass limits on emissions and codify actions that nations would take to reduce emissions. These negotiations are informed by the science of climate change and by our understanding of how changes in technology and the economy might affect the overall climate in the future. I will describe the present efforts within the U.S. Department of Energy, and the federal government more generally, to address issues related to climate change. These include state-of-the-art climate modeling and uncertainty assessment, economic and climate scenario planning based on best estimates of different technology trajectories, adaption strategies for climate change, and monitoring and reporting for treaty verification.

Deliberating Climate Change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agger, Annika; Jelsøe, Erling; Jæger, Birgit

considerations regarding how the process was designed in order to be legitimate as a voice for citizens, how different types of knowledge and expert identities were created and negotiated in the event, and how the framing influenced the outcome. The specific conditions of the event, i.e. the relation to a high......The global event World Wide Views on Global Warming (WWV), initiated by the Danish Board of Technology (DBT), took place on September 26, 2009, and was an innovative attempt to gather a united citizen voice on a global scale. As such the WWV is one of the most recent experiments with new ways...... to include the voice of the citizens into complex scientific and technological issues. The purpose of WWV was to pass on the opinions of ordinary citizens to political decision-makers at The United Nations Climate Summit, COP15, in Copenhagen in December 2009. The authors made a study of the Danish WWV event...

Climate of Tajikistan in connection with global climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khakimov, F.Kh.; Mirzokhonova, S.O.; Mirzokhonava, N.A.

2006-01-01

The analysis of global climate change for different periods and its consequences on regional climate is given. The chronology of climate change in Tajikistan in various regions and the reasons leading or resulted to these changes are changes are shown as well

Communities under climate change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nogues, David Bravo; Rahbek, Carsten

2011-01-01

The distribution of species on Earth and the interactions among them are tightly linked to historical and contemporary climate, so that global climate change will transform the world in which we live. Biological models can now credibly link recent decadal trends in field data to climate change......, but predicting future impacts on biological communities is a major challenge. Attempts to move beyond general macroecological predictions of climate change impact on one hand, and observations from specific, local-scale cases, small-scale experiments, or studies of a few species on the other, raise a plethora...... of unanswered questions. On page 1124 of this issue, Harley (1) reports results that cast new light on how biodiversity, across different trophic levels, responds to climate change....

Climate change research in Canada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dawson, K.

1994-01-01

The current consensus on climatic change in Canada is briefly summarized, noting the results of modelling of the effects of a doubling of atmospheric CO 2 , the nonuniformity of climate change across the country, the uncertainties in local responses to change, and the general agreement that 2-4 degrees of warming will occur for each doubling of CO 2 . Canadian government response includes programs aimed at reducing the uncertainties in the scientific understanding of climate change and in the socio-economic response to such change. Canadian climate change programs include participation in large-scale experiments on such topics as heat transport in the ocean, and sources and sinks of greenhouse gases; development of next-generation climate models; studying the social and economic effects of climate change in the Great Lakes Basin and Mackenzie River Basin; investigation of paleoclimates; and analysis of climate data for long-term trends

Strategy for Climate Change Adaptation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Torben Valdbjørn

2013-01-01

. This absence of an agreement calls for adaptation to climate change. Emphasis should be put on buildings, as they play a vital economic and social role in society and are vulnerable to climate change. Therefore, the building stock deserves its own policy and implementation plans as well as tools that enable...... adequate and cost-efficient adaptation to climate change. This paper explains the need for climate change adaptation of the building stock and suggests a pattern for a strategic approach to how to reach the climate change adaptation needed. The suggested and presented need of a strategic approach is based...... on three main initiatives consisting of the need to examine the potential impacts of climate change on the building stock, the need to assess and develop a roadmap of current and future adaptation measures that can withstand the effects of climate change, and the need to engage relevant stakeholders...

Strategy for Climate Change Adaptation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Torben Valdbjørn

2014-01-01

. This absence of an agreement calls for adaptation to climate change. Emphasis should be put on buildings, as they play a vital economic and social role in society and are vulnerable to climate change. Therefore, the building stock deserves its own policy and implementation plans as well as tools that enable...... adequate and cost-efficient adaptation to climate change. This paper explains the need for climate change adaptation of the building stock and suggests a pattern for a strategic approach to how to reach the climate change adaptation needed. The suggested and presented need of a strategic approach is based...... on three main initiatives consisting of the need to examine the potential impacts of climate change on the building stock, the need to assess and develop a roadmap of current and future adaptation measures that can withstand the effects of climate change, and the need to engage relevant stakeholders...

Climate Change in China : Exploring Informants' Perceptions of Climate Change through a Qualitative Approach

OpenAIRE

Lipin, Tan

2016-01-01

Climate change is not only a natural phenomenon, but also a global social issue. Many studies try to explore the mechanisms behind climate change and the consequences of climate change, and provide information for developing the measures to mitigate or adapt to it. For example, the IPCC reviews and assesses climate-change-related scientific information produced worldwide, thus aiming to support decision-making from a scientific perspective. However, though various international and regional c...

The social construct of climate and climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stehr, N.

1994-01-01

Different time scales of climate change and their differential perception in society are discussed. A historical examination of natural climate changes during the past millennium suggests that short-term changes, especially crucial changes, trigger a significant response in and by society. Short-term changes correspond to the 'time horizon of everyday life', that is, to a time scale from days and weeks to a few years. The anticipated anthropogenic climate changes, however, are expected to occur on a longer time scale. They require a response by society not on the basis of primary experience but on the basis of scientifically constructed scenarios and ways in which such information is represented in the modern media for example. Socio-economic impact research relies on concepts that are based on the premise of perfectly informed actors for the development of optimal adaptation strategies. In contrast to such a conception, we develop the concept of a 'social construct of climate' as decisive for the public perception of scientific knowledge about climate and for public policy on climate change. The concept is illustrated using a number of examples. (orig.)

The neurobiology of climate change.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Donnell, Sean

2018-01-06

Directional climate change (global warming) is causing rapid alterations in animals' environments. Because the nervous system is at the forefront of animals' interactions with the environment, the neurobiological implications of climate change are central to understanding how individuals, and ultimately populations, will respond to global warming. Evidence is accumulating for individual level, mechanistic effects of climate change on nervous system development and performance. Climate change can also alter sensory stimuli, changing the effectiveness of sensory and cognitive systems for achieving biological fitness. At the population level, natural selection forces stemming from directional climate change may drive rapid evolutionary change in nervous system structure and function.

The neurobiology of climate change

Science.gov (United States)

O'Donnell, Sean

2018-02-01

Directional climate change (global warming) is causing rapid alterations in animals' environments. Because the nervous system is at the forefront of animals' interactions with the environment, the neurobiological implications of climate change are central to understanding how individuals, and ultimately populations, will respond to global warming. Evidence is accumulating for individual level, mechanistic effects of climate change on nervous system development and performance. Climate change can also alter sensory stimuli, changing the effectiveness of sensory and cognitive systems for achieving biological fitness. At the population level, natural selection forces stemming from directional climate change may drive rapid evolutionary change in nervous system structure and function.

Trees and Climate Change

OpenAIRE

Dettenmaier, Megan; Kuhns, Michael; Unger, Bethany; McAvoy, Darren

2017-01-01

This fact sheet describes the complex relationship between forests and climate change based on current research. It explains ways that trees can mitigate some of the risks associated with climate change. It details the impacts that forests are having on the changing climate and discuss specific ways that trees can be used to reduce or counter carbon emissions directly and indirectly.

Expertise and politics crisis: lessons learned from fifteen years of negotiations on climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hourcade, J.Ch.

2003-01-01

The author proposes some analyses and comments about the relationships between experts who have been involved in various conferences and meetings (from Rio de Janeiro in 1992 to Marrakech in 2002) on climate change. He presents the different groups of experts and comments the issues which have been a matter of debate between them for the past fifteen years. For each of these issues, he gives an overview of the expertise status, highlights consensus as well as dissensus. He compares this expertise with the content of political discourses, and then shows which mechanisms led to The Hague failure and to the incomplete Marrakech's compromise

Analysis of the economic impact of different Chinese climate policy options based on a CGE model incorporating endogenous technological change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Ke; Wang Can; Chen Jining

2009-01-01

Abatement cost is the main concern for climate change mitigation and the key factor for mitigation cost is technological change. This study established an integrated economic, energy, environmental, dynamic, computable general equilibrium (CGE) model representing endogenous technological change for China's climate change policy analysis. This study analyzed and compared the economic impact of different approaches to mitigation commitments as well as the potential role of technological change in the formulation of mitigation targets and commitments, taking into account China's climate policy-making needs based on the current international climate negotiation process. The results show that, absolute emission limits similar to the Kyoto Protocol will seriously impede the future economic development of China, while the impact of an 80% reduction in carbon intensity, forecast for 2050 based on the 2005 level, is relatively small. Technological change can promote economic growth, improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon intensity per unit of output through the substitution of production factors. Consequently it can reduce marginal abatement cost and related GDP loss by mitigation. At the same time it can increase mitigation potentials and extend the emission reduction amount, showing that consideration of the impact of technological change when deciding the emission reduction targets is necessary.

Climate Change Action Fund: public education and outreach. Change: think climate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-05-01

This illustrated booklet provides a glimpse of the many creative approaches being adopted by educators, community groups, industry associations and governments at all levels to inform Canadians about the causes and effects of climate change. It also provides suggestions about how each individual person can contribute to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through residential energy efficiency, by participating in ride-share programs, by planting trees and a myriad of other community action projects and public awareness campaigns. The booklet describes educational resources and training available to teachers, science presentations, climate change workshops, public awareness initiatives, community action on climate change, and sector-specific actions underway in the field of transportation and in improving energy efficiency in residential and large buildings. Descriptive summaries of the activities of organizations involved in climate change advocacy and promotion, and a list of contacts for individual projects also form part of the volume

Climate change

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Marchal, V.; Dellink, R.; Vuuren, D.P. van; Clapp, C.; Chateau, J.; Magné, B.; Lanzi, E.; Vliet, J. van

2012-01-01

This chapter analyses the policy implications of the climate change challenge. Are current emission reduction pledges made in Copenhagen/Cancun enough to stabilise the climate and limit global average temperature increase to 2 oC? If not, what will the consequences be? What alternative growth

78 FR 57571 - Negotiated Rulemaking Committee, Negotiator Nominations and Schedule of Committee Meetings-Title...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-19

... and security reporting requirements in the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and... negotiators who represent key stakeholder constituencies for the issues to be negotiated to serve on the... conversion, gainful employment, changes to the campus safety and security reporting requirements in the Clery...

Changes in the Perceived Risk of Climate Change: Evidence from Sudden Climatic Events

Science.gov (United States)

Anttila-Hughes, J. K.

2009-12-01

In the course of the past two decades the threat of anthropogenic climate change has moved from a scientific concern of relative obscurity to become one of the largest environmental and public goods problems in history. During this period public understanding of the risk of climate change has shifted from negligible to quite large. In this paper I propose a means of quantifying this change by examining how sudden events supporting the theory of anthropogenic climate change have affected carbon intensive companies' stock prices. Using CAPM event study methodology for companies in several carbon-intensive industries, I find strong evidence that markets have been reacting to changes in the scientific evidence for climate change for some time. Specifically, the change in magnitude of response over time seems to indicate that investors believed climate change was a potentially serious risk to corporate profits as early as the mid 1990s. Moreover, market reaction dependence on event type indicates that investors are differentiating between different advances in the scientific knowledge. Announcements by NASA GISS that the previous year was a “record hot year” for the globe are associated with negative excess returns, while news of ice shelf collapses are associated with strong positive excess returns. These results imply that investors are aware of how different aspects of climate change will affect carbon intensive companies, specifically in terms of the link between warming in general and polar ice cover. This implies that policy choices based on observable public opinion have lagged actual private concern over climate change's potential threat.

Chemistry and climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernier, Jean-Claude; Brasseur, Guy; Brechet, Yves; Candel, Sebastien; Cazenave, Anny; Courtillot, Vincent; Fontecave, Marc; Garnier, Emmanuel; Goebel, Philippe; Legrand, Jack; Legrand, Michel; Le Treut, Herve; Mauberger, Pascal; Dinh-Audouin, Minh-Thu; Olivier, Daniele; Rigny, Paul; Bigot, Bernard

2016-01-01

In its first part, this collective publication addresses the decennial and centuries-old variations of climate: perspectives and implications of climate change for the 21. century, questions remaining about the understanding of climate change from its sources to its modelling, extreme climate variations and societies during the last millennium. The contributions of the second part outline how chemistry is a tool to study climate change: ice chemistry as an archive of our past environment, observations and predictions on sea level rise, relationship between atmosphere chemistry and climate. The third set of contributions discusses the transformation of the energy system for a cleaner atmosphere and the management of the climate risk: the chemical processing of CO_2, actions of chemical companies to support the struggle against climate change, relationship between barrel price and renewable energies, relationship between grid complexity and green energy. The last part outlines the role chemistry can have to be able to do without fossil fuels: chemistry in front of challenges of transformation of the energy system, the use of micro-algae, the use of hydrogen as a vector of energy transition

Climate change refugia as a tool for climate adaptation

Science.gov (United States)

Climate change refugia, areas relatively buffered from contemporary climate change so as to increase persistence of valued physical, ecological, and cultural resources, are considered as potential adaptation options in the face of anthropogenic climate change. In a collaboration ...

Climate change. Climate in Medieval time.

Science.gov (United States)

Bradley, Raymond S; Hughes, Malcolm K; Diaz, Henry F

2003-10-17

Many papers have referred to a "Medieval Warm Period." But how well defined is climate in this period, and was it as warm as or warmer than it is today? In their Perspective, Bradley et al. review the evidence and conclude that although the High Medieval (1100 to 1200 A.D.) was warmer than subsequent centuries, it was not warmer than the late 20th century. Moreover, the warmest Medieval temperatures were not synchronous around the globe. Large changes in precipitation patterns are a particular characteristic of "High Medieval" time. The underlying mechanisms for such changes must be elucidated further to inform the ongoing debate on natural climate variability and anthropogenic climate change.

Papers of the CWRA climate change symposium : understanding climate change impacts on Manitoba's water resources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-01-01

This symposium provided an opportunity for discussions on climate change issues with particular reference to the impacts on Manitoba's water resources. The presentations addressed issues of importance to governments, scientists, academics, managers, consultants and the general public. Topics of discussion ranged from climate change impacts on water quality, wetlands, hydropower, fisheries and drought, to adaptation to climate change. Recent advances in global and regional climate modelling were highlighted along with paleo-environmental indicators of climate change. The objective was to provide a better understanding of the science of climate change. The conference featured 16 presentations of which 1 was indexed separately for inclusion in this database. refs., tabs., figs

Does Negotiation Training Improve Negotiators' Performance?

Science.gov (United States)

ElShenawy, Eman

2010-01-01

Purpose: This paper's objective is to test the main effect of negotiation training-level on acquiring negotiation skills. Training level refers to the time a trainee spends in a negotiation training course receiving the standard style and methods of training. Negotiation skills are manifested through trainees' performance after receiving training.…

Climate change and human health

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Warren, John A; Berner, James E; Curtis, Tine

2005-01-01

In northern regions, climate change can include changes in precipitation magnitude and frequency, reductions in sea ice extent and thickness, and climate warming and cooling. These changes can increase the frequency and severity of storms, flooding, or erosion; other changes may include drought...... or degradation of permafrost. Climate change can result in damage to sanitation infrastructure resulting in the spread of disease or threatening a community's ability to maintain its economy, geographic location and cultural tradition, leading to mental stress. Through monitoring of some basic indicators...... communities can begin to develop a response to climate change. With this information, planners, engineers, health care professionals and governments can begin to develop approaches to address the challenges related to climate change....

Understanding emotional transitions: the interpersonal consequences of changing emotions in negotiations.

Science.gov (United States)

Filipowicz, Allan; Barsade, Sigal; Melwani, Shimul

2011-09-01

Research on the interpersonal functions of emotions has focused primarily on steady-state emotion rather than on emotional transitions, the movement between emotion states. The authors examined the influence of emotional transitions on social interactions and found that emotional transitions led to consistently different outcomes than their corresponding steady-state emotions. Across 2 computer-mediated negotiations and a face-to-face negotiation, participants negotiating with partners who displayed a "becoming angry" (happy to angry) emotional transition accepted worse negotiation outcomes yet formed better relational impressions of their partners than participants negotiating with partners who displayed steady-state anger. This relationship was mediated through 2 mechanisms: attributional and emotional contagion processes. The "becoming happy" (angry to happy) emotional transition as compared with steady-state happiness was not significantly related to differences in negotiation outcomes but was significantly related to differences in relational impressions, where perceivers of the "becoming happy" emotional transition gave their partners lower relational impression ratings than perceivers of steady-state happiness. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved.

Climate Change Adaptation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hudecz, Adriána

The European Union ROADEX Project 1998 – 2012 was a trans-national roads co-operation aimed at developing ways for interactive and innovative management of low traffic volume roads throughout the cold climate regions of the Northern Periphery Area of Europe. Its goals were to facilitate co......-operation and research into the common problems of the Northern Periphery. This report is an output of the ROADEX “Implementing Accessibility” project (2009-2012). It gives a summary of the results of research into adaptation measures to combat climate change effects on low volume roads in the Northern Periphery...... causes changes in other climatic variables such as rainfall, humidity and wind speed that impact on the functioning of infrastructure such road networks. This paper discusses the climate changes predicted by the world’s meteorological organisations and considers how these may impact on the public...

Analysis and detection of climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thejll, P.; Stendel, M.

2001-01-01

The authors first discuss the concepts 'climate' and 'climate change detection', outlining the difficulties of the latter in terms of the properties of the former. In more detail they then discuss the analysis and detection, carried out at the Danish Climate Centre, of anthropogenic climate change and the nonanthropogenic changes regarding anthropogenic climate change the emphasis is on the improvement of global and regional climate models, and the reconstruction of past climates regarding non-anthropogenic changes the authors describe two case studies of potential solar influence on climate. (LN)

Yukon Government climate change action plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-02-01

This Climate Change Action Plan described the measures that are being taken by the Yukon Government to adapt to, understand, and reduce contributions to climate change. The action plan is the result of input received from more than 100 individuals and organizations and provides clear direction for a strategy that will minimize the negative impacts of climate change and provide economic, social and other environmental benefits through climate change mitigation. The Yukon government has already taken many actions that respond to climate change, such as: developing the Yukon Cold Climate Innovation Centre; supporting the Northern Climate Exchange for public education and outreach; funding community recycling depots and other groups that reduce waste generation, promote public awareness and divert solid waste; and working with provincial and territorial counterparts to enhance national building standards. The main objectives of the climate change actions are to enhance knowledge and understanding of climate change; adapt to climate change; reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and lead Yukon action in response to climate change. tabs., figs.

Partial costs of global climate change adaptation for the supply of raw industrial and municipal water: a methodology and application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ward, Philip J; Pauw, W Pieter; Brander, Luke M; Aerts, Jeroen C J H; Strzepek, Kenneth M; Hughes, Gordon A

2010-01-01

Despite growing recognition of the importance of climate change adaptation, few global estimates of the costs involved are available for the water supply sector. We present a methodology for estimating partial global and regional adaptation costs for raw industrial and domestic water supply, for a limited number of adaptation strategies, and apply the method using results of two climate models. In this paper, adaptation costs are defined as those for providing enough raw water to meet future industrial and municipal water demand, based on country-level demand projections to 2050. We first estimate costs for a baseline scenario excluding climate change, and then additional climate change adaptation costs. Increased demand is assumed to be met through a combination of increased reservoir yield and alternative backstop measures. Under such controversial measures, we project global adaptation costs of $12 bn p.a., with 83-90% in developing countries; the highest costs are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Globally, adaptation costs are low compared to baseline costs ($73 bn p.a.), which supports the notion of mainstreaming climate change adaptation into broader policy aims. The method provides a tool for estimating broad costs at the global and regional scale; such information is of key importance in international negotiations.

Partial costs of global climate change adaptation for the supply of raw industrial and municipal water: a methodology and application

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ward, Philip J; Pauw, W Pieter; Brander, Luke M; Aerts, Jeroen C J H [Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), VU University Amsterdam (Netherlands); Strzepek, Kenneth M [Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA (United States); Hughes, Gordon A, E-mail: philip.ward@ivm.vu.nl [School of Economics, University of Edinburgh (United Kingdom)

2010-10-15

Despite growing recognition of the importance of climate change adaptation, few global estimates of the costs involved are available for the water supply sector. We present a methodology for estimating partial global and regional adaptation costs for raw industrial and domestic water supply, for a limited number of adaptation strategies, and apply the method using results of two climate models. In this paper, adaptation costs are defined as those for providing enough raw water to meet future industrial and municipal water demand, based on country-level demand projections to 2050. We first estimate costs for a baseline scenario excluding climate change, and then additional climate change adaptation costs. Increased demand is assumed to be met through a combination of increased reservoir yield and alternative backstop measures. Under such controversial measures, we project global adaptation costs of $12 bn p.a., with 83-90% in developing countries; the highest costs are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Globally, adaptation costs are low compared to baseline costs ($73 bn p.a.), which supports the notion of mainstreaming climate change adaptation into broader policy aims. The method provides a tool for estimating broad costs at the global and regional scale; such information is of key importance in international negotiations.

Climate change and nutrition: creating a climate for nutrition security.

Science.gov (United States)

Tirado, M C; Crahay, P; Mahy, L; Zanev, C; Neira, M; Msangi, S; Brown, R; Scaramella, C; Costa Coitinho, D; Müller, A

2013-12-01

Climate change further exacerbates the enormous existing burden of undernutrition. It affects food and nutrition security and undermines current efforts to reduce hunger and promote nutrition. Undernutrition in turn undermines climate resilience and the coping strategies of vulnerable populations. The objectives of this paper are to identify and undertake a cross-sectoral analysis of the impacts of climate change on nutrition security and the existing mechanisms, strategies, and policies to address them. A cross-sectoral analysis of the impacts of climate change on nutrition security and the mechanisms and policies to address them was guided by an analytical framework focused on the three 'underlying causes' of undernutrition: 1) household food access, 2) maternal and child care and feeding practices, 3) environmental health and health access. The analytical framework includes the interactions of the three underlying causes of undernutrition with climate change,vulnerability, adaptation and mitigation. Within broad efforts on climate change mitigation and adaptation and climate-resilient development, a combination of nutrition-sensitive adaptation and mitigation measures, climate-resilient and nutrition-sensitive agricultural development, social protection, improved maternal and child care and health, nutrition-sensitive risk reduction and management, community development measures, nutrition-smart investments, increased policy coherence, and institutional and cross-sectoral collaboration are proposed as a means to address the impacts of climate change to food and nutrition security. This paper proposes policy directions to address nutrition in the climate change agenda and recommendations for consideration by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Nutrition and health stakeholders need to be engaged in key climate change adaptation and mitigation initiatives, including science-based assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC

Man and the climate; L'homme et le climat (1)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dron, D.; Hirschhorn, C.

2002-07-01

The aim of this report is explain and balance the real dangers associated with the climate changes that may result from human activities, those which lack some scientific background, and the precaution and prudence needs which are claimed by human beings and society. The main parts of the report are: the scientific aspects of climate changes (inventory of present knowledge, assessment of uncertainties; what are greenhouse effect, which sectors of human activities are emitting greenhouse gases, what are the threats for our planet); the international negotiations on climate (their stakes and problematic since the start of the 90's, is a world consensus possible?); the room for maneuver on economical, social and technological levels in order to decrease the greenhouse gas emissions and allocate the application of solutions between States, enterprises and citizens

An overview of climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Masson-Delmotte, V.; Paillard, D.

2004-01-01

We describe briefly here the main mechanisms and time scales involved in natural and anthropogenic climate variability, based on quantitative paleo-climatic reconstructions from natural archives and climate model simulations: the large glacial-interglacial cycles of the last million years (the Quaternary), lasting typically a hundred thousand years, triggered by changes in the solar radiation received by the Earth due to its position around the Sun; the century-long climatic changes occurring during last glacial period and triggered by recurrent iceberg discharges of the large northern hemisphere ice caps, massive freshwater flux to the north Atlantic, and changes in the ocean heat transport. We show the strong coupling between past climatic changes and global biogeochemical cycles, namely here atmospheric greenhouse gases. We also discuss the decadal climatic fluctuations during the last thousand years, showing an unprecedented warming attributed to the anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. We show the range of atmospheric greenhouse concentrations forecasted for the end of the 21. century and the climate model predictions for global temperature changes during the 21. century. We also discuss the possible climatic changes at longer time scales involving the possibility of north Atlantic heat transport collapse (possibility of abrupt climate change), and the duration of the current interglacial period. (author)

The coalition of industrialists and environmentalists in the climate change issue

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brandt, U.S.; Tinggaard Svendsen, G.

2003-07-01

The political economy idea developed by Ackerman and Hassler (1981) is the starting point of this paper. It suggested that a coalition of environmentalists and industrialists successfully lobbied the US Congress. More strict technology-based standards for new sources than existing sources was the resulting policy outcome serving the common interest of the coalition because it both offered a barrier to entry for new firms and improved environmental quality. Wc focus both on cases from air and water pollution in the US confirming which seem to confirm this suggestion and the case of international climate negotiations and the promotion of wind-based energy. In the line of the Ackerman and Hassler approach wc suggest that the reason for EU eagerness to push forward ambitious reduction target levels (and thereby promote new green industries) is a similar coalition between industrialists and environmentalists. Such a strategy can be seen in the context of the Bootleggers and Baptist theory developed by Yandle (1983), where the Baptists (in our case the environmentalists) demand changes in behaviour on moral reasons. In contrast, the Bootleggers (the producers of renewable energy), who profit from the very regulation, keep a low profile. The actual heavy subsidisation of renewable energy sources, such as wind energy, can be viewed as a successful policy outcome for the coalition of industrialists and environmentalists offering both market protection and improved environmental quality. Solving the current dead-lock in international climate negotiations across the Atlantic may well imply fighting the strong coalition of industrialists and environmentalists. Such a political battle may turn out to be just as tough as fighting windmills if not clearly investigated in future research. (au)

The coalition of industrialists and environmentalists in the climate change issue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brandt, U.S.; Tinggaard Svendsen, G.

2003-01-01

The political economy idea developed by Ackerman and Hassler (1981) is the starting point of this paper. It suggested that a coalition of environmentalists and industrialists successfully lobbied the US Congress. More strict technology-based standards for new sources than existing sources was the resulting policy outcome serving the common interest of the coalition because it both offered a barrier to entry for new firms and improved environmental quality. Wc focus both on cases from air and water pollution in the US confirming which seem to confirm this suggestion and the case of international climate negotiations and the promotion of wind-based energy. In the line of the Ackerman and Hassler approach wc suggest that the reason for EU eagerness to push forward ambitious reduction target levels (and thereby promote new green industries) is a similar coalition between industrialists and environmentalists. Such a strategy can be seen in the context of the Bootleggers and Baptist theory developed by Yandle (1983), where the Baptists (in our case the environmentalists) demand changes in behaviour on moral reasons. In contrast, the Bootleggers (the producers of renewable energy), who profit from the very regulation, keep a low profile. The actual heavy subsidisation of renewable energy sources, such as wind energy, can be viewed as a successful policy outcome for the coalition of industrialists and environmentalists offering both market protection and improved environmental quality. Solving the current dead-lock in international climate negotiations across the Atlantic may well imply fighting the strong coalition of industrialists and environmentalists. Such a political battle may turn out to be just as tough as fighting windmills if not clearly investigated in future research. (au)

Using Web GIS "Climate" for Adaptation to Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Gordova, Yulia; Martynova, Yulia; Shulgina, Tamara

2015-04-01

A work is devoted to the application of an information-computational Web GIS "Climate" developed by joint team of the Institute of Monitoring of Climatic and Ecological Systems SB RAS and Tomsk State University to raise awareness about current and future climate change as a basis for further adaptation. Web-GIS "Climate» (http://climate.scert.ru/) based on modern concepts of Web 2.0 provides opportunities to study regional climate change and its consequences by providing access to climate and weather models, a large set of geophysical data and means of processing and visualization. Also, the system is used for the joint development of software applications by distributed research teams, research based on these applications and undergraduate and graduate students training. In addition, the system capabilities allow creating information resources to raise public awareness about climate change, its causes and consequences, which is a necessary step for the subsequent adaptation to these changes. Basic information course on climate change is placed in the public domain and is aimed at local population. Basic concepts and problems of modern climate change and its possible consequences are set out and illustrated in accessible language. Particular attention is paid to regional climate changes. In addition to the information part, the course also includes a selection of links to popular science network resources on current issues in Earth Sciences and a number of practical tasks to consolidate the material. These tasks are performed for a particular territory. Within the tasks users need to analyze the prepared within the "Climate" map layers and answer questions of direct interest to the public: "How did the minimum value of winter temperatures change in your area?", "What are the dynamics of maximum summer temperatures?", etc. Carrying out the analysis of the dynamics of climate change contributes to a better understanding of climate processes and further adaptation

Climates Past, Present, and Yet-to-Come Shape Climate Change Vulnerabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Nadeau, Christopher P; Urban, Mark C; Bridle, Jon R

2017-10-01

Climate change is altering life at multiple scales, from genes to ecosystems. Predicting the vulnerability of populations to climate change is crucial to mitigate negative impacts. We suggest that regional patterns of spatial and temporal climatic variation scaled to the traits of an organism can predict where and why populations are most vulnerable to climate change. Specifically, historical climatic variation affects the sensitivity and response capacity of populations to climate change by shaping traits and the genetic variation in those traits. Present and future climatic variation can affect both climate change exposure and population responses. We provide seven predictions for how climatic variation might affect the vulnerability of populations to climate change and suggest key directions for future research. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Adapting to climate change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arndt, Channing; Strzepek, Kenneth; Tarp, Finn

2011-01-01

Mozambique, like many African countries, is already highly susceptible to climate variability and extreme weather events. Climate change threatens to heighten this vulnerability. In order to evaluate potential impacts and adaptation options for Mozambique, we develop an integrated modeling...... framework that translates atmospheric changes from general circulation model projections into biophysical outcomes via detailed hydrologic, crop, hydropower and infrastructure models. These sector models simulate a historical baseline and four extreme climate change scenarios. Sector results are then passed...... down to a dynamic computable general equilibrium model, which is used to estimate economy-wide impacts on national welfare, as well as the total cost of damages caused by climate change. Potential damages without changes in policy are significant; our discounted estimates range from US2.3 to US2.3toUS7...

Climate change research - Danish contributions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joergensen, A.M.K.; Fenger, J.; Halsnaes, K.

2001-01-01

The book describes a series of Danish scientific and technical studies. They broadly reflect the fields and disciplines embraced by assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), but with an emphasis on natural sciences (i.e. climate investigations and impact studies). After the general introduction, that presents the issue and gives a summary of the content of the book, the chapters are organised in four parts: 1. The Climate System and Climate Variations. 2. Climate Change Scenarios. 3. Impacts of Climate Change. 4. Policy Aspects. Each chapter is indexed separately. (LN)

Climate engineering research : A precautionary response to climate change?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reynolds, J.L.; Fleurke, F.M.

2013-01-01

In the face of dire forecasts for anthropogenic climate change, climate engineering is increasingly discussed as a possible additional set of responses to reduce climate change’s threat. These proposals have been controversial, in part because they – like climate change itself – pose uncertain risks

Climate change, conflict and health.

Science.gov (United States)

Bowles, Devin C; Butler, Colin D; Morisetti, Neil

2015-10-01

Future climate change is predicted to diminish essential natural resource availability in many regions and perhaps globally. The resulting scarcity of water, food and livelihoods could lead to increasingly desperate populations that challenge governments, enhancing the risk of intra- and interstate conflict. Defence establishments and some political scientists view climate change as a potential threat to peace. While the medical literature increasingly recognises climate change as a fundamental health risk, the dimension of climate change-associated conflict has so far received little attention, despite its profound health implications. Many analysts link climate change with a heightened risk of conflict via causal pathways which involve diminishing or changing resource availability. Plausible consequences include: increased frequency of civil conflict in developing countries; terrorism, asymmetric warfare, state failure; and major regional conflicts. The medical understanding of these threats is inadequate, given the scale of health implications. The medical and public health communities have often been reluctant to interpret conflict as a health issue. However, at times, medical workers have proven powerful and effective peace advocates, most notably with regard to nuclear disarmament. The public is more motivated to mitigate climate change when it is framed as a health issue. Improved medical understanding of the association between climate change and conflict could strengthen mitigation efforts and increase cooperation to cope with the climate change that is now inevitable. © The Royal Society of Medicine.

The role of technological availability for the distributive impacts of climate change mitigation policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lueken, Michael; Edenhofer, Ottmar; Knopf, Brigitte; Leimbach, Marian; Luderer, Gunnar; Bauer, Nico

2011-01-01

The impacts of the availability of low-carbon technologies on the regional distribution of mitigation costs are analyzed in a global multi-regional integrated assessment model. Three effects on regional consumption losses are distinguished: domestic measures, trade of fossil energy carriers and trade of emission permits. Key results are: (i) GDP losses and a redirection of investments in the energy system towards capital-intensive technologies are major contributions to regional consumption losses. (ii) A devaluation of tradable fossil energy endowments contributes largely to the mitigation costs of fossil fuel exporters. (iii) In case of reduced availability of low-carbon technologies, the permit market volume and associated monetary redistributions increase. The results suggest that the availability of a broad portfolio of low-carbon technologies could facilitate negotiations on the permit allocation scheme in a global cap-and-trade system. - Highlights: → We analyze the distribution of climate change mitigation costs among world regions. → We quantify contributions from various effects on regional costs. → The interference of world trade and low-carbon technologies is essential. → A broad portfolio of technologies helps international negotiations.

78 FR 63521 - Product Change-Parcel Select & Parcel Return Service Negotiated Service Agreement

Science.gov (United States)

2013-10-24

... Request of the United States Postal Service to Add Parcel Select & Parcel Return Service Contract 5 to... POSTAL SERVICE Product Change--Parcel Select & Parcel Return Service Negotiated Service Agreement.... SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The United States Postal Service[supreg] hereby gives notice that, pursuant to 39 U.S...

Forestry Canada's perspectives on climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, J.P.; Carlson, L.W.

1990-01-01

The impacts of climatic change on Canada's forestry sector are discussed, in the context of major research priorities relating to forecasting climate, forecasting forest responses, monitoring changes, mitigating effects, and understanding the forest carbon balance. There are five major concerns that affect policy decisions: effects of climatic change on forests; adaptation to climate change; impacts of changing crops on forestry; changing forestry values in changing sociological settings; and international implications of the changing climate. A scientific program to respond to climate change issues is required, and should include the following concentrations of research effort. Planning requires projections of likely future climates, and efforts should concern relations between pre-historic climates and forest ecosystems and integrating data into predictive models. Forecasting of response of forests should include tree physiology, factors controlling reforestation, variations in forest trees, effects of pollutants, damage to forests, and forest decline

Climate Change Indicators

Science.gov (United States)

Presents information, charts and graphs showing measured climate changes across 40 indicators related to greenhouse gases, weather and climate, oceans, snow and ice, heath and society, and ecosystems.

The Bali action plan: a first step towards a global agreement on climate?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wemaere, M.; Tubiana, L.

2007-01-01

The authors present and discuss the main conclusions and advances of the Bali Conference on climate change (1-15 December 2007). This conference adopted a text, an action plan, which does not mention any precise objective in terms of emission reductions, but organizes the negotiation around four 'building blocks'. The authors present and comment these four blocks: the climate change mitigation, the adaptation, the technological cooperation for the mitigation of climate change and for the adaptation to this change, and the financing of adaptation and mitigation actions

When climate science became climate politics: British media representations of climate change in 1988.

Science.gov (United States)

Jaspal, Rusi; Nerlich, Brigitte

2014-02-01

Climate change has become a pressing environmental concern for scientists, social commentators and politicians. Previous social science research has explored media representations of climate change in various temporal and geographical contexts. Through the lens of Social Representations Theory, this article provides a detailed qualitative thematic analysis of media representations of climate change in the 1988 British broadsheet press, given that this year constitutes an important juncture in this transition of climate change from the domain of science to that of the socio-political sphere. The following themes are outlined: (i) "Climate change: a multi-faceted threat"; (ii) "Collectivisation of threat"; (iii) "Climate change and the attribution of blame"; and (iv) "Speculative solutions to a complex socio-environmental problem." The article provides detailed empirical insights into the "starting-point" for present-day disputes concerning climate change and lays the theoretical foundations for tracking the continuities and discontinuities characterising social representations of climate change in the future.

China's climate change positions: at a turning point?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tangen, K.; Heggelund, G.; Buen, J.

2001-03-01

The purpose of this article is to discuss major concerns and perceptions underlying Chinese positions in the international climate negotiations. China has asserted that concrete action on the part of developed countries is a precondition for any developing country action. It has been sceptical of the Kyoto Mechanisms and has consistently refused to discuss quantified emission limits for developing countries. China's position regarding the Clean Development Mechanism has, however, developed from scepticism towards a more pragmatic focus on maximising benefits. The dynamics of China's positioning can partly be explained by perceptions of costs, but also 'high politics', and tactical considerations. However, in light of the external and internal forces for change, it is worth asking how long it will be in China's interest to stick to its present position. (author)

Our knowledge on climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turkenburg, W.C.; Van Wijk, A.J.M.

1991-01-01

A workshop was organised to evaluate and discuss the report 'Scientific Assessment of Climate Change (1990)' of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Thirty prominent Dutch experts in the field attended the workshop. The introductions and discussions held on our knowledge of climatic change as a result of the growth of the greenhouse effect caused by the emission of greenhouse gases from human actions are presented. It is concluded that the IPCC-report shows in a clear and balanced way the certainties and uncertainties in our knowledge of climate change. There is a large chance that the earth's climate will change considerably, if the policy remains unamended. 15 figs., 2 apps

Collaborative Projects Weaving Indigenous and Western Science, Knowledge and Perspectives in Climate Change Education

Science.gov (United States)

Sparrow, E. B.; Chase, M.; Brunacini, J.; Spellman, K.

2017-12-01

The "Reaching Arctic Communities Facing Climate Change" and "Feedbacks and Impacts of A Warming Arctic: Engaging Learners in STEM Using GLOBE and NASA Assets" projects are examples of Indigenous and western science communities' collaborative efforts in braiding multiple perspectives and methods in climate change education. Lessons being learned and applied in these projects include the need to invite and engage members of the indigenous and scientific communities in the beginning as a project is being proposed or formulated; the need for negotiated space in the project and activities where opportunity to present and access both knowledge systems is equitable, recognizes and validates each knowledge and method, and considers the use of pedagogical practices including pace/rhythm and instructional approach most suitable to the target audience. For example with Indigenous audiences/participants, it is important to follow local Indigenous protocol to start an event and/or use a resource that highlights the current experience or voices of Indigenous people with climate change. For mixed audience groups, it is critical to have personal introductions at the beginning of an event so that each participant is given an opportunity and encouraged to voice their ideas and opinions starting with how they want to introduce themselves and thus begin to establish a welcoming and collegial atmosphere for dialog. It is also important to communicate climate science in humanistic terms, that people and communities are affected not just the environment or economies. These collaborative partnerships produce mutual benefits including increased awareness and understanding of personal connections to climate change impacts; opportunities for cultural enrichment; opportunities for accessing elder knowledge which is highly valued as well as science, education and communication tools that are needed in working together in addressing issues and making communities resilient and adaptive.

Climate change: costs of impacts and lines of adaptation. Report to the Prime Minister and Parliament

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-01-01

Since its creation in 2001, ONERC has been an essential tool for bringing public authorities and elected officials the necessary bases for strategic choices and for steering political decisions. After having suggested a national strategy for adaptation to climate change for France, ONERC, together with the Ministry for Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and the Sea, responsible for Green Technologies and climate Negotiations, steered an inter-ministerial working group on the impacts of climate change, adaptation and associated costs. Climate change is today a reality, and its consequences will have a significant medium-term impact on our environment and our ways of life. The Grenelle Environment Forum recommended anticipating these as of now, in order to minimise the resulting socio-economic impacts and reduce the vulnerability of the players concerned. Defining and evaluating the impacts of climate change that players will have to confront allows the most suitable adaptation measures to be planned. In March 2007, the Ministry for Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and the Sea (MEEDDM) formed an inter-ministerial group under the name 'Impacts of climate change, adaptation and associated costs in France', thus undertaking a project to evaluate the damage and the measures that will allow the cost of impacts to be limited. One of the characteristics of this task resides in the fact that it is, for the most part, carried out by the services concerned, with research organisation and private player collaboration. It must be considered as a stage in an ambitious public action gauging process: it leads to temporary results that remain open to discussion, for development in later stages. The decision has produced sectoral evaluations at Horizons 2030, 2050 and 2100, without wanting to aggregate the results. At this stage, the thematic works have not been designed to be exhaustive: only certain impacts have been assessed in a quantitative fashion. The group chose

Climate change: biological and human aspects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jonathan Cowie

2007-07-15

The textbook provides a broad review of past, present and likely future climate change from the viewpoints of biology, ecology and human ecology. Contents are: 1. An introduction to climate change; 2. Principal indicators of past climates; 3. Past climate change; 4. The Oligocene to the Quaternary: climate and biology; 5. Present climate and biological change; 6. Current warming and likely future impacts; 7. Human ecology of climate change; 8. Sustainability and policy; Appendix 1. Glossary and acronyms; Appendix 2. Bio-geological timescale; Appendix 3. Calculations of energy demand/supply, and orders of magnitude; Index. 69 figs.

Our Changing Climate: A Brand New Way to Study Climate Science

Science.gov (United States)

Brey, J. A.; Kauffman, C.; Geer, I.; Nugnes, K. A.; Mills, E. W.

2014-12-01

Earth's climate is inherently variable, but is currently changing at rates unprecedented in recent Earth history. Human activity plays a major role in this change and is projected to do so well into the future. This is the stance taken in Our Changing Climate, the brand new climate science ebook from the American Meteorological Society (AMS). Our Changing Climate investigates Earth's climate system, explores humans' impact on it, and identifies actions needed in response to climate change. Released in August 2014, Our Changing Climate is the result of a year's worth of intensive research and writing, incorporating the latest scientific understandings of Earth's climate system from reports such as IPCC AR5 and the Third National Climate Assessment. To encourage additional exploration of climate science information, scientific literature, from which chapter content was derived, is cited at the conclusion of each chapter. In addition, Topic In Depth sections appear throughout each chapter and lead to more extensive information related to various topics. For example, a Topic In Depth in Chapter 11 describes the effect of climate extremes on ranching enterprises in Nebraska. Climate science is multi-disciplinary and therefore Our Changing Climate covers a breadth of topics. From understanding basic statistics and geospatial tools used to investigate Earth's climate system to examining the psychological and financial reasons behind climate change denial, the AMS believes that a multi-disciplinary approach is the most effective way to increase climate literacy. Our Changing Climate is part of the AMS Climate Studies course which is intended for undergraduate-level students. Other course materials include an eInvestigations Manual and access to the RealTime Climate Portal, both of which provide weekly activities corresponding to that week's chapter content. The RealTime Climate Portal also has links to climate data as well as societal interactions and climate policy

Kyoto Protocol: Debate on environment and development in the discussions on Climate Change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodriguez S, Liliana

2007-01-01

The climatic behavior of the planet and its consequences has favored debates about the models of development of the countries responsible for the accelerated deterioration of the atmosphere and of the natural phenomena by these recurrent days. Nevertheless, countries as United States, after signing commitments as the Convention on Climatic Change, refuse to acquire the obligations of the Kyoto Protocol, from fear of undergoing deterioration in their economies. In this setting, where the nation responsible for the emission of approximately 36% of the turned out effect greenhouse gases result of the human action in the planet does not commit itself to adopt restrictive policies to make its models of production but friendly with the nature although these measures begin to be imposed to other nations as determining factors in the international commercial negotiations, seems to be that the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol for developing countries as Colombia is not absolutely beneficial

The greenhouse effect economy: a review of international commitments for the struggle against climate change; L'economie de l'effet de serre: point sur les engagements internationaux de lutte contre le changement climatique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vieillefosse, A

2008-07-01

After a description of climate change as a physical phenomenon, a review of assessments of costs associated to climate change and to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and a discussion about the decision in a context of uncertainty, the author discusses political challenges, stressing the need for an international coordination, discussing the issue of property rights, the need to build a mutually beneficial agreement between states, and reviewing the different positions and beliefs in various countries. Then, she describes the system implemented by the Kyoto protocol, proposes an assessment of this protocol at the present time, highlights the qualities of this protocol, proposes pathways to improve it, and attempts to draw some perspectives. In a last part, she examines and comments the U.S. posture, questioning the high level of EU's ambitions in front of a lack of action of the United States, questioning also the negotiation framework, the place given to developing countries in this negotiation, and the possibility of taking up transatlantic negotiations again.

Climate change and One Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Zinsstag, Jakob; Crump, Lisa; Schelling, Esther; Hattendorf, Jan; Maidane, Yahya Osman; Ali, Kadra Osman; Muhummed, Abdifatah; Umer, Abdurezak Adem; Aliyi, Ferzua; Nooh, Faisal; Abdikadir, Mohammed Ibrahim; Ali, Seid Mohammed; Hartinger, Stella; Mäusezahl, Daniel; de White, Monica Berger Gonzalez; Cordon-Rosales, Celia; Castillo, Danilo Alvarez; McCracken, John; Abakar, Fayiz; Cercamondi, Colin; Emmenegger, Sandro; Maier, Edith; Karanja, Simon; Bolon, Isabelle; de Castañeda, Rafael Ruiz; Bonfoh, Bassirou; Tschopp, Rea; Probst-Hensch, Nicole; Cissé, Guéladio

2018-06-01

The journal The Lancet recently published a countdown on health and climate change. Attention was focused solely on humans. However, animals, including wildlife, livestock and pets, may also be impacted by climate change. Complementary to the high relevance of awareness rising for protecting humans against climate change, here we present a One Health approach, which aims at the simultaneous protection of humans, animals and the environment from climate change impacts (climate change adaptation). We postulate that integrated approaches save human and animal lives and reduce costs when compared to public and animal health sectors working separately. A One Health approach to climate change adaptation may significantly contribute to food security with emphasis on animal source foods, extensive livestock systems, particularly ruminant livestock, environmental sanitation, and steps towards regional and global integrated syndromic surveillance and response systems. The cost of outbreaks of emerging vector-borne zoonotic pathogens may be much lower if they are detected early in the vector or in livestock rather than later in humans. Therefore, integrated community-based surveillance of zoonoses is a promising avenue to reduce health effects of climate change.

STRATEGIES FOR SMALL ENTERPRISES NEGOTIATING WITH LARGE FIRMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefania Anca Stan

2013-12-01

Full Text Available All around the world business is changing. All traditional business practices have been called into question as markets, customers competitors, problems and solutions have changed. As a result, business practices we once took for granted, like traditional negotiating approaches are falling by the wayside in favor of more collaborative, equally beneficial, win-win strategies. A new negotiation paradigm away from negotiating a deal and toward negotiating a relationship is needed for the twenty first century. Business can no longer stay on top by negotiating short term victories. The key to winning unbeatable, long term results is to negotiate solid, long term relationship. Smart business owners are trying to find ways to leverage their assets, and one important way is to negotiate for long - term relationships. Traditional knowledge and skills remain important. Yet global managers can better respond to global demands by learning continuously managing diversity, and developing a global mindset.

Deducing Climatic Elasticity to Assess Projected Climate Change Impacts on Streamflow Change across China

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jianyu; Zhang, Qiang; Zhang, Yongqiang; Chen, Xi; Li, Jianfeng; Aryal, Santosh K.

2017-10-01

Climatic elasticity has been widely applied to assess streamflow responses to climate changes. To fully assess impacts of climate under global warming on streamflow and reduce the error and uncertainty from various control variables, we develop a four-parameter (precipitation, catchment characteristics n, and maximum and minimum temperatures) climatic elasticity method named PnT, based on the widely used Budyko framework and simplified Makkink equation. We use this method to carry out the first comprehensive evaluation of the streamflow response to potential climate change for 372 widely spread catchments in China. The PnT climatic elasticity was first evaluated for a period 1980-2000, and then used to evaluate streamflow change response to climate change based on 12 global climate models under Representative Concentration Pathway 2.6 (RCP2.6) and RCP 8.5 emission scenarios. The results show that (1) the PnT climatic elasticity method is reliable; (2) projected increasing streamflow takes place in more than 60% of the selected catchments, with mean increments of 9% and 15.4% under RCP2.6 and RCP8.5 respectively; and (3) uncertainties in the projected streamflow are considerable in several regions, such as the Pearl River and Yellow River, with more than 40% of the selected catchments showing inconsistent change directions. Our results can help Chinese policy makers to manage and plan water resources more effectively, and the PnT climatic elasticity should be applied to other parts of the world.

Europeans' attitudes towards climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-07-01

This report presents the results of a survey on Europeans' attitudes towards climate change which was carried out in January and February 2009. The survey focuses on: Citizens' perceptions of climate change in relation to other world problems; Citizens' perceptions of the seriousness of climate change; The extent to which citizens feel informed about climate change - its causes, consequences and ways of fighting it; Citizens' attitudes towards alternative fuels and CO2 emissions; Whether citizens feel that climate change is stoppable or has been exaggerated, and what impact it has on the European economy; Whether citizens have taken personal action to fight climate change. This Eurobarometer survey was carried out by TNS Opinion and Social network between 16 January and 22 February 2009. The interviews were conducted among 26,718 citizens in the 27 Member States of the European Union, the three candidate countries for accession to the European Union (Croatia, Turkey and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) and in the Turkish Cypriot Community.

Climate change and climate policy; Klimaendringer og klimapolitikk

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alfsen, Knut H.; Kolshus, Hans H.; Torvanger, Asbjoern

2000-08-01

The climate issue is a great political and scientific challenge for several reasons: (1) There are many uncertain aspects of the climate problem, such as future emission of climate gases, the response of the climate system upon these gases, and the effects of climate changes. (2) It is probable, however, that anthropogenic emission of climate gases, deforestation etc. will cause noticeable climate changes in the future. This might be observed as increased frequency of extreme weather situations. This appears to be a greater threat than a gradual increase of temperature and precipitation. (3) Since the climate system is large and react only relatively slowly on changes in for instance the emission of climate gases, the climate problem can only be solved by means of long-term measures. (4) The climate changes may be irreversible. A rational short-term strategy is to ensure maximum flexibility, which can be done by ''slowing down'' (curtailing emissions) and by avoiding irreversible actions as much as possible. The long-term challenge is to develop an economically responsible alternative to the present fossil-based energy system that permits carbon-efficient technologies to compete on price with coal and unconventional oil and gas. Norway is in a special position by being a large exporter of fossil fuel and at the same time wanting to appear responsible in environmental matters. This combination may incur considerable expenses upon Norway and it is therefore important that environmental commitments like the Kyoto agreement can be honoured to the lowest possible cost. The costs can be minimized by: (1) minimizing the measure costs in Norway, (2) working to make the international quota price as low as possible, and (3) reducing the loss of petroleum income as much as possible. This report describes the earth's climate history, the forces behind climatic changes and what the prospects for the future look like. It also reviews what is being done

Climate change: against despair

OpenAIRE

McKinnon, Catriona

2014-01-01

In the face of accelerating climate change and the parlous state of its politics, despair is tempting. This paper analyses two manifestations of despair about climate change related to (1) the inefficacy of personal emissions reductions, and (2) the inability to make a difference to climate change through personal emissions reductions. On the back of an analysis of despair as a loss of hope, the paper argues that the judgements grounding each form of despair are unsound. The paper concludes w...

Climate change in China and China’s policies and actions for addressing climate change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luo Y.

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Since the first assessment report (FAR of Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC in 1990, the international scientific community has made substantial progresses in climate change sciences. Changes in components of climate system, including the atmosphere, oceans and cryosphere, indicate that global warming is unequivocal. Instrumental records demonstrate that the global mean temperature has a significant increasing trend during the 20th century and in the latest 50 years the warming become faster. In the meantime, the global sea level has a strong increasing trend, as well as the snow coverage of Northern Hemisphere showed an obvious downward trend. Moreover, the global warming plays a key role in significantly affecting the climate system and social-economy on both global and regional scales, such as sea level rise, melting of mountain glaciers and ice sheets, desertification, deforestation, increase of weather extremes (typhoon, hurricane and rainstorm and so on. The state of the art understanding of IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4 was most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in the concentrations of anthropogenic greenhouse gases. Climate change issues, as a grave challenge to the sustainable development of the human society, have received ever greater attention from the international community. Deeply cognizant of the complexity and extensive influence of these issues and fully aware of the arduousness and urgency of the task of addressing climate change, the Chinese government is determined to address climate change in the process of pursuing sustainable development. The facts of climate change in China and its impacts, and China’s policies and actions for addressing climate change are introduced in this paper.

Climate change matters.

Science.gov (United States)

Macpherson, Cheryl Cox

2014-04-01

One manifestation of climate change is the increasingly severe extreme weather that causes injury, illness and death through heat stress, air pollution, infectious disease and other means. Leading health organisations around the world are responding to the related water and food shortages and volatility of energy and agriculture prices that threaten health and health economics. Environmental and climate ethics highlight the associated challenges to human rights and distributive justice but rarely address health or encompass bioethical methods or analyses. Public health ethics and its broader umbrella, bioethics, remain relatively silent on climate change. Meanwhile global population growth creates more people who aspire to Western lifestyles and unrestrained socioeconomic growth. Fulfilling these aspirations generates more emissions; worsens climate change; and undermines virtues and values that engender appreciation of, and protections for, natural resources. Greater understanding of how virtues and values are evolving in different contexts, and the associated consequences, might nudge the individual and collective priorities that inform public policy toward embracing stewardship and responsibility for environmental resources necessary to health. Instead of neglecting climate change and related policy, public health ethics and bioethics should explore these issues; bring transparency to the tradeoffs that permit emissions to continue at current rates; and offer deeper understanding about what is at stake and what it means to live a good life in today's world.

Climate Change and Natural Disasters

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Merkouris, Panos; Negri, Stefania; Maljean-Dubois, Sandrine

2014-01-01

Only 21 years ago, in 1992, the first ever convention on climate change, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was signed. The science behind studying climate change and its effects on the environment is not only mind-boggling but still in its infancy. It should come

The World Climate Exercise: Is (Simulated) Experience Our Best Teacher?

Science.gov (United States)

Rath, K.; Rooney-varga, J. N.; Jones, A.; Johnston, E.; Sterman, J.

2015-12-01

Meeting the challenge of climate change will clearly require 'deep learning' - learning that motivates a search for underlying meaning, a willingness to exert the sustained effort needed to understand complex problems, and innovative problem-solving. This type of learning is dependent on the level of the learner's engagement with the material, their intrinsic motivation to learn, intention to understand, and relevance of the material to the learner. Here, we present evidence for deep learning about climate change through a simulation-based role-playing exercise, World Climate. The exercise puts participants into the roles of delegates to the United Nations climate negotiations and asks them to create an international climate deal. They find out the implications of their decisions, according to the best available science, through the same decision-support computer simulation used to provide feedback for the real-world negotiations, C-ROADS. World Climate provides an opportunity for participants have an immersive, social experience in which they learn first-hand about both the social dynamics of climate change decision-making, through role-play, and the dynamics of the climate system, through an interactive computer simulation. Evaluation results so far have shown that the exercise is highly engaging and memorable and that it motivates large majorities of participants (>70%) to take action on climate change. In addition, we have found that it leads to substantial gains in understanding key systems thinking concepts (e.g., the stock-flow behavior of atmospheric CO2), as well as improvements in understanding of climate change causes and impacts. While research is still needed to better understand the impacts of simulation-based role-playing exercises like World Climate on behavior change, long-term understanding, transfer of systems thinking skills across topics, and the importance of social learning during the exercise, our results to date indicate that it is a

Climate change, climatic variation and extreme biological responses.

Science.gov (United States)

Palmer, Georgina; Platts, Philip J; Brereton, Tom; Chapman, Jason W; Dytham, Calvin; Fox, Richard; Pearce-Higgins, James W; Roy, David B; Hill, Jane K; Thomas, Chris D

2017-06-19

Extreme climatic events could be major drivers of biodiversity change, but it is unclear whether extreme biological changes are (i) individualistic (species- or group-specific), (ii) commonly associated with unusual climatic events and/or (iii) important determinants of long-term population trends. Using population time series for 238 widespread species (207 Lepidoptera and 31 birds) in England since 1968, we found that population 'crashes' (outliers in terms of species' year-to-year population changes) were 46% more frequent than population 'explosions'. (i) Every year, at least three species experienced extreme changes in population size, and in 41 of the 44 years considered, some species experienced population crashes while others simultaneously experienced population explosions. This suggests that, even within the same broad taxonomic groups, species are exhibiting individualistic dynamics, most probably driven by their responses to different, short-term events associated with climatic variability. (ii) Six out of 44 years showed a significant excess of species experiencing extreme population changes (5 years for Lepidoptera, 1 for birds). These 'consensus years' were associated with climatically extreme years, consistent with a link between extreme population responses and climatic variability, although not all climatically extreme years generated excess numbers of extreme population responses. (iii) Links between extreme population changes and long-term population trends were absent in Lepidoptera and modest (but significant) in birds. We conclude that extreme biological responses are individualistic, in the sense that the extreme population changes of most species are taking place in different years, and that long-term trends of widespread species have not, to date, been dominated by these extreme changes.This article is part of the themed issue 'Behavioural, ecological and evolutionary responses to extreme climatic events'. © 2017 The Authors.

Accounting for multiple climate components when estimating climate change exposure and velocity

Science.gov (United States)

Nadeau, Christopher P.; Fuller, Angela K.

2015-01-01

The effect of anthropogenic climate change on organisms will likely be related to climate change exposure and velocity at local and regional scales. However, common methods to estimate climate change exposure and velocity ignore important components of climate that are known to affect the ecology and evolution of organisms.We develop a novel index of climate change (climate overlap) that simultaneously estimates changes in the means, variation and correlation between multiple weather variables. Specifically, we estimate the overlap between multivariate normal probability distributions representing historical and current or projected future climates. We provide methods for estimating the statistical significance of climate overlap values and methods to estimate velocity using climate overlap.We show that climates have changed significantly across 80% of the continental United States in the last 32 years and that much of this change is due to changes in the variation and correlation between weather variables (two statistics that are rarely incorporated into climate change studies). We also show that projected future temperatures are predicted to be locally novel (using climate overlap compared to 1·4 km yr−1 when estimated using traditional methods.Our results suggest that accounting for changes in the means, variation and correlation between multiple weather variables can dramatically affect estimates of climate change exposure and velocity. These climate components are known to affect the ecology and evolution of organisms, but are ignored by most measures of climate change. We conclude with a set of future directions and recommend future work to determine which measures of climate change exposure and velocity are most related to biological responses to climate change.

Biodiversity and Climate Change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Onyango, J.C.O.; Ojoo-Massawa, E.; Abira, M.A.

1997-01-01

Biological diversity or biodiversity is crucial for ecological stability including regulation of climate change, recreational and medicinal use; and scientific advancement. Kenya like other developing countries, especially, those in Sub-Saharan Africa, will continue to depend greatly on her biodiversity for present and future development. This important resource must, therefore be conserved. This chapter presents an overview of Kenya's biodiversity; its importance and initiatives being undertaken for its conservation; and in detail, explores issues of climate change and biodiversity, concentrating on impacts of climate change