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612. Not (yet) an Energy Revolution. India between Climate Change Mitigation and Development Imperatives
- Author:
- Lidia Puka
- Publication Date:
- 10-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Polish Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- Indian decisions regarding the country's energy mix have global consequences. For this reason it is of paramount importance whether Indian declarations to take on climate change mitigation efforts could, indeed, mean a shift away from a fossil fuels-dominated energy mix and towards the deployment of renewable energy sources.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Demographics, Development, Economics, and Energy Policy
- Political Geography:
- Asia
613. Delivering on US Climate Finance Commitments
- Author:
- Trevor Houser and Jason Selfe
- Publication Date:
- 11-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- At the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen in 2009 and Cancun in 2010, the United States joined other developed countries in pledging to mobilize $100 billion in public and private sector funding to help developing countries reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to a warmer world. With a challenging US fiscal outlook and the failure of cap-and-trade legislation in the US Congress, America's ability to meet this pledge is increasingly in doubt. This paper identifies, quantifies, and assesses the politics of a range of potential US sources of climate finance. It finds that raising new public funds for climate finance will be extremely challenging in the current fiscal environment and that many of the politically attractive alternatives are not realistically available absent a domestic cap-and-trade program or other regime for pricing carbon. Washington's best hope is to use limited public funds to leverage private sector investment through bilateral credit agencies and multilateral development banks.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Development, Economics, Energy Policy, Politics, and Foreign Direct Investment
- Political Geography:
- United States, America, Washington, and United Nations
614. Compliance with the Climate Change Obligations: The Kyoto Protocol Compliance Mechanism
- Author:
- Şûle Anlar Güneş
- Publication Date:
- 09-2011
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Uluslararasi Iliskiler
- Institution:
- Uluslararasi Iliskiler
- Abstract:
- “Procedures and Mechanisma on Compliance Under the Kyoto Protocol” was adopted by the Kyoto Protocol First Meeting of Parties at Montreal in 2005. The Compliance Committee which constitutes of Facilitative Branch and Enforcement Branch, started to operate in 2006. While the Enforcement Branch deserves a special attention due to its innovative quasi-judicial characteristics, the mandate of the Facilitative Branch have many similarities with the Non-Compliance Procedures which is already applicable for various Multilateral Environmental Agreements, predominantly the Montreal Protocol. The outcomes of the ongoing climate change negotiations for post-2012 will possibly shape and guide the necessary changes to the Kyoto Protocol compliance regime as well. Thereupon, the purpose of this article is to shed light on the structure and functioning of the compliance mechanism; the mandates used by the Facilitative and Enforcement Branches; the legal nature of the decisions taken by the Compliance Committee.
- Topic:
- Climate Change and Kyoto Protocol
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
615. MacArthur Asia Security Initiative Dissemination Meeting on Non-Traditional Security
- Publication Date:
- 11-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS)
- Abstract:
- Over the last three years, the Centre for Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) coordinated cluster three of the MacArthur Asia Security Initiative, which focused on internal challenges in Asia. The Centre developed an active research agenda that drew on its own resources as well as that of its network partners around the region to deliver policy-relevant outputs. The research addressed many of the most pressing challenges faced by Asia's policymaking communities, from climate change, natural disasters, and energy, to internal and cross-border conflict.
- Topic:
- Security, Climate Change, Energy Policy, and Natural Disasters
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Australia
616. Standards Regulations for the Geologic Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Waste
- Author:
- Rodney C. Ewing
- Publication Date:
- 03-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for International Security and Cooperation
- Abstract:
- This paper draws on my experience as a reviewer of the scientific programs and performance assessments of the geological repository for transuranic waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico and the proposed repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. In addition, I have served on numerous committees of the National Research Council that have addressed many aspects of nuclear waste management. These comments and recommendations focus on standards and regulations for licensing a geological repository for SNF and HLW; however, I have added a brief annex on the classification of nuclear wastes. The initial classification of the waste determines the disposal strategy: deep geological disposal vs. near surface disposal.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, Science and Technology, and Nuclear Power
- Political Geography:
- Mexico
617. Transforming U.S. Energy Innovation
- Author:
- Matthew Bunn, Charles Jones, Venkatesh Narayanamurti, Ruud Kempener, Laura Diaz Anadon, Gabriel Chan, Melissa Chan, Audrey Lee, and Nathaniel Logar
- Publication Date:
- 11-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- The United States needs a revolution in energy technology innovation to meet the profound economic, environmental, and national security challenges that energy poses in the 21st century. If the U.S. government does not act now to improve the conditions for innovation in energy, even in times of budget stringency, it risks losing leadership in one of the key global industries of the future, and the world risks being unable to safely mitigate climate change and to reduce vulnerability to disruptions and conflicts—both domestic and international. Waiting is not an option.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Climate Change, and Energy Policy
- Political Geography:
- United States
618. Minorities and Green Political Thought: Normative challenges to an ideal ethics?
- Author:
- Tove H. Malloy
- Publication Date:
- 09-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- European Centre for Minority Issues
- Abstract:
- What does Green minority action do to our traditional views of minorities as conflict-prone, rights claiming entities that defy definition and pose constant tension in normative political theory? Normally concerned with justification of such issues as the right to existence, the right of self-determination, the protection of culture and language, and steeped in discourses of politics and struggles for recognition as well as of identity and difference, and multiculturalism versus egalitarianism, political theory has confined itself to addressing minority issues in terms of normative accommodation. The arrival on the scene of Green political thought has not c hanged this (as yet) but the empirical facts may force normative political theorists to engage with Green theory as well as impel Green political thought to address normative minority accommodation. It is the possibility of the latter that I will explore in this paper.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, and Minorities
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Germany, Denmark, Latin America, North America, and Mexico
619. After the Disaster: Rebuilding Communities
- Author:
- Megan Scribner and Lauren Herzer
- Publication Date:
- 04-2011
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Wilson Center
- Abstract:
- What is the relationship between a community's resilience and its ability to cope with a disaster? How can one identify the strengths of a community? How can technology give voice to communities, fostering engagement and resilience in daily life and in responses to a disaster? These are just a few of the provocative questions discussed at the Retrieving the Wisdom of Those in Need: Community Engagement and Healing in Times of Disaster seminar held April 4-5, 2011, at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. This gathering was the last of three remarkable seminars brought about through a partnership of the Wilson Center and the Fetzer Institute to look at the issues that hinder and support efforts to revitalize community within and across boundaries.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Science and Technology, Natural Disasters, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Washington
620. The EU should not shy away from setting CO2-related targets for transport
- Author:
- Christian Egenhofer
- Publication Date:
- 01-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- Transport is the only sector in the EU in which greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. Unless this trend can be reversed, the EU will have little chance of reaching its objectives in the context of global obligations on industrialised countries to reduce emissions between 80% and 95% by 2050 compared to 1990. Many different solutions exist, including, for example, new technology such as electrification of road transport, modal shift, optimising existing technologies and policy measures and more radical measures such as binding GHG emissions targets. While there is some merit to all of these approaches, this Policy Brief argues that current EU policy thinking is not (yet) bold enough to credibly tackle the GHG emissions challenge from transport.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Regional Cooperation, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- Europe