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672. The Odd Couple? The Merits of Two Tracks in the International Climate Change Negotiations
- Author:
- Kristian Tangen
- Publication Date:
- 04-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Finnish Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- It is far from certain that a strong, legally-binding climate agreement preferred by the EU will produce better environmental results than the broader and weaker scheme proposed by the USA. By ratifying the Kyoto Protocol, countries that are listed in Annex B of the protocol also committed themselves to inscribe new emission reduction targets for the period after 2012. The push by some countries for a single legal outcome to replace the Kyoto Protocol has antagonized developing countries, who see this as an attempt by the developed countries to back out of their commitments. In terms of environmental results and the negotiation dynamics there are significant merits to a system where one group of countries takes on legally binding commitments under the Kyoto Protocol for the post-2012 period, and another group of countries take on less binding commitments under the Climate Change Convention. Such a system could broaden participation by including countries not yet ready to accede to a legally-binding instrument (i.e. the USA and major developing countries), while preserving the operational detail of the Kyoto Protocol to serve as a benchmark for the development of the climate regime going forward.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Climate Change, Environment, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- United States
673. The Multiplicity of Climate and Rural Risk
- Author:
- Ian Christoplos
- Publication Date:
- 01-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- This paper looks at rural risk in relation to climate change, globalisation and other factors, with a focus on how these risks are perceived and managed with-in different policy frames and among local institutions involved with agriculture and rural development. The changing and multidimensional landscape of risk is analysed in terms of how it impacts on natural resource management governance, strategies and decision-making. Pro-poor growth and community-based risk reduction policies are contrasted so as to highlight their implications for local actors struggling to deal with climate variability and market volatility. Food security is presented as an example of an area where policy coherence in responding to these multiple challenges is lacking, but where rural people and institutions are adapting in their own ways. The study suggests a number of entry points for further research that could be used to better align climate change efforts with the perceptions and priorities of rural populations at risk.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Development, Globalization, Poverty, and Third World
674. Climate change adaptation: Enabling people living in poverty to adapt
- Author:
- Catherine Pettengell
- Publication Date:
- 04-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Climate change is fast pushing communities, particularly the most poor and marginalized, beyond their capacity to respond. Across the world, staple subsistence crops are approaching their outer viable temperature ranges; erratic rainfall patterns and changing seasons are upsetting agricultural cycles and leaving many struggling to feed their families; and rising sea levels are causing the inundation of crops and the contamination of water supplies with salt water.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, Poverty, and Third World
675. The rain doesn't come on time anymore: Poverty, vulnerability, and climate variability in Ethiopia
- Author:
- Senait Regassa, Christina Givey, and Gina E. Castillo
- Publication Date:
- 04-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Climate variability in Ethiopia is not new—its diverse agro-ecological zones have brought a dazzling variety of micro-climates, and corresponding weather patterns, and people have developed ways to respond successfully to these challenges. But now, in addition to the usual struggles, Ethiopians living in poverty are additionally suffering the effects of climate change—both more variable climate and more extreme weather events. Women, men, families, and whole communities are struggling with how to understand this new variability, identify new patterns, and establish what resources they need to be able to move beyond reacting and coping to adapting to the new realities and being resilient. Policy makers, likewise, face the daunting challenge of how to refine policies, especially investments in and related to agriculture, to focus on poverty and vulnerability reduction in context of the new realities of climate change.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, and Poverty
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Ethiopia
676. Toward a Post-2010 International Climate Agreement
- Author:
- Fulvio Conti
- Publication Date:
- 03-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- Negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at Copenhagen in December 2009 did not produce a new international treaty with binding emissions commitments, but have defined a roadmap for dealing with global climate change in the post-2012 era. As countries continue to pursue new models for global agreement, it will be important to learn from the weaknesses of past approaches, while building on positive aspects of the experience with the Kyoto Protocol so far.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, United Nations, and Kyoto Protocol
677. Climate Change Policies: Many Paths Forward
- Author:
- Paula Dobriansky and Vaughan Turekian
- Publication Date:
- 02-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- The twelve years since the conclusion of Kyoto have provided an abundance of ideas and experiences that can contribute to effective global action to address climate change. Individually, developed and developing countries are establishing and implementing national policies and investing in new technologies. Internationally, governments, the private sector, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are working together in numerous venues to share ideas, to coordinate policies in areas such as regulation, research, and investment, and to distill lessons that can be incorporated into new policies. Linking these many efforts, which range from large international exchanges to targeted multilateral groups to actionoriented partnerships, will be crucial to success in combating climate change.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Development, Non-Governmental Organization, and Kyoto Protocol
678. The São Paulo Proposal for an Improved International Climate Agreement
- Author:
- Erik Haites
- Publication Date:
- 01-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- An effective international climate agreement poses formidable challenges. Existing agreements, naturally, have some good features. Further improvements are being discussed in the current negotiations. But the cost and uncertainty associated with regular renegotiation of commitments is not being addressed. The São Paulo Proposal suggests mechanisms that would avoid the need for regular renegotiation of commitments and suggests other ways to make international climate agreements more effective.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, United Nations, and Kyoto Protocol
679. Reducing the U.S. Transportation Sector's Oil Consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- Author:
- Henry Lee, Kelly Sims Gallagher, W. Ross Morrow, and Gustavo Collantes
- Publication Date:
- 03-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- Harder Than it Looks. Reducing oil consumption and carbon emissions from transportation is a much greater challenge than conventional wisdom assumes. It will require substantially higher fuel prices, ideally in combination with more stringent regulation. Higher Gasoline Prices Essential. Reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the transportation sector 14% below 2005 levels by 2020 may require gas prices greater than $7/gallon by 2020. Tax Credits Expensive. While relying on subsidies for electric or hybrid vehicles is politically seductive, it is extremely expensive and an ineffective way to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the near term. Climate and Economy Not a Zero Sum Game. Aggressive climate change policy need not bring the economy to a halt. Even under high-fuels-tax, high-carbon price scenarios, losses in annual GDP, relative to business-as-usual, are less than 1%, and the economy is still projected to grow at 2.1-3.7% per year assuming a portion of the revenues collected are recycled to taxpayers.
- Topic:
- Climate Change and Oil
- Political Geography:
- United States
680. Earth Observation for Climate Change
- Author:
- James A. Lewis, Sarah O. Ladislaw, and Denise E. Zheng
- Publication Date:
- 06-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Abstract:
- Until this year, America's civil space policies—and the budgets that derive from it—were shaped to a considerable degree by the political imperatives of the past and by the romantic fiction of spaceflight. We believe there is a new imperative—climate change—that should take precedence in our national plans for space and that the goal for space spending in the next decade should be to create a robust and adequate Earth observation architecture.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Economics, and Natural Disasters
- Political Geography:
- America