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692. Tools for building EU climate concensus: Bringing the CEE Member States on board
- Author:
- Anna Korppoo and Thomas Spencer
- Publication Date:
- 05-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Finnish Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- Despite the lack of a global agreement in Copenhagen, momentum remains for the further development of EU climate policy, as indeed it does in many other countries. A 2010 Deutsche Bank report surveying the development of climate policies worldwide concluded that "…'the race is on' for countries to achieve a green economy". A wide range of EU initiatives on energy and climate are expected this year, providing opportunities to enhance the coherence and impact of EU policy.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe
693. Confronting the Crisis of International Climate Policy
- Author:
- Warwick McKibbin, Fergus Green, and Greg Picker
- Publication Date:
- 07-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Lowy Institute for International Policy
- Abstract:
- After an extraordinary build-up, stratospheric public expectations, unprecedented political attention, and the presence of more than 100 heads of State, the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference spectacularly failed to produce an international response to climate change commensurate with the scale of the problem. Instead, the Conference revealed with great drama the fundamental weaknesses of the existing framework for international climate governance. Even the Copenhagen Accord – a 3-page, heavily-qualified, nonbinding Statement of political intent, and the singular achievement of the Conference – was vigorously resisted by a number of countries when it was submitted to the full plenary for adoption on the final night of negotiations. As exhausted delegates lay lifeless, strewn across the cavernous negotiating hall watching Venezuelan officials block the adoption of the Accord because it made reference to the role of market mechanisms in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, even the most ardent advocate of the 20-year old UN climate process could not have helped but think 'there must be a better way'.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, International Cooperation, Treaties and Agreements, and United Nations
694. Climate Finance Post-Copenhagen: The $100bn questions
- Publication Date:
- 05-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Climate change is the single greatest threat to development – making the battle to overcome poverty ever harder and more expensive. Finance is urgently needed to help vulnerable communities adapt to a changing climate. Last year the World Bank estimated the costs of adaptation in poor countries were $75–100bn per year if global warming was kept to 2°C. The non-binding pledges from rich countries to cut emissions offered since Copenhagen would steer a course towards a catastrophic 4°C.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- United Nations
695. After Copenhagen Climate Governance and the Road Ahead
- Author:
- Joshua W. Busby
- Publication Date:
- 08-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- Climate change is the most difficult collective action problem the world has ever faced. The activities responsible for greenhouse-gas emissions are central to our modern way of life, and the uncertain effects of climate change will disproportionately fall on future generations that have no say in current decision-making processes. Climate change is also a difficult challenge because it cannot be ad- dressed by governments alone—it depends on coordination with private actors and nongovernmental organizations.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Globalization, and Treaties and Agreements
696. 'Human Securitising' the Climate Security Debate
- Author:
- Lorraine Elliott
- Publication Date:
- 03-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS)
- Abstract:
- Efforts to understand the connection between climate change and national, regional and international security have fuelled something of a climate security industry, evidenced in a range of reports from governments, international organisations, and non-governmental organisations. In much of this, particularly those works produced by defence agencies and individual governments, the focus has been on threats to national security through civil unrest and violence that derive from competition for resources, access to environmental services, and the unregulated movement of people in the face of ecosystem collapse. This paper reinstates a human security approach.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, Political Violence, and Climate Change
697. Never an Empty Bowl: Sustaining Food Security in Asia
- Author:
- Dan Glickman and M.S. Swaminathan
- Publication Date:
- 09-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Asia Society
- Abstract:
- Asia's ability to feed itself is of fundamental importance not only to the people living in the region, but also to the world. One of the bright spots over the past half-century has been Asia's capacity to lift many of its citizens out of poverty and ensure that they have plentiful, inexpensive supplies of food, including rice, the region's main staple. But Asia still accounts for about 65% of the world's hungry population, and the historical gains from the Green Revolution are increasingly at risk. Declining trends in agricultural research and rural investment may lead to long-term food supply shortages and increased vulnerability to the famines that used to plague the region.
- Topic:
- Security, Climate Change, Demographics, Poverty, Food, and Famine
- Political Geography:
- Asia
698. Climate Change and Armed Conflict: Hot and Cold Wars
- Author:
- Melanne Civic
- Publication Date:
- 06-2010
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- PRISM
- Institution:
- Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University
- Abstract:
- Climate change has reemerged in the mainstream of U.S. Government policy as a central issue and a national security concern. President Barack Obama, addressing an audience at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology in October 2009, identified climate change and fossil fuel dependence as a national security threat needing innovative, science-based solutions to "[prevent] the worst consequences of climate change." President Obama asserted that "the naysayers, the folks who would pretend that this is not an issue . . . are being marginalized."
- Topic:
- Climate Change and Cold War
- Political Geography:
- United States and United Nations
699. The Challenge: NATO Amidst Geopolitical Realities
- Author:
- Rob de Wijk
- Publication Date:
- 02-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- Should NATO remain primarily a collective defense alliance or should it be transformed into a worldwide security provider? This question lies at the core of the debate in allied capitals as NATO develops its next Strategic Concept. New security challenges, as well as NATO's military operations in Afghanistan, suggest that the pressure for change has become irresistible.
- Topic:
- NATO, Climate Change, Economics, Politics, and International Security
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Europe, and North America
700. A Role for the G-20 in Addressing Climate Change?
- Author:
- Trevor Houser
- Publication Date:
- 10-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- Following the chaotic Copenhagen conference of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), policymakers and pundits have discussed the G-20 as an alternative forum for advancing climate change diplomacy. This paper assesses the risks and rewards of tackling climate change in the G-20 and finds that despite its seeming attractiveness, the G-20, as structured, is not a suitable replacement for the UN-led process and has limited ability, at present, to advance climate change negotiations. There is much, however, that the G-20 can do to contribute to the goals of the climate negotiations outside of wading into the negotiations themselves. Building on its existing agenda the G-20 has the power to significantly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, accelerate the deployment of clean energy technology, and help vulnerable countries adapt to a warmer world through the mobilization of public and private finance. Following through on the existing G-20 pledge to phase out and rationalize inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, establishing new green guidelines for multilateral development banks, coordinating green stimulus exit strategies, promoting open markets for environmental goods and services, and rebalancing global economic growth all fall well within the G-20's mandate and help meet the climate challenge.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Diplomacy, Environment, and International Organization
- Political Geography:
- United Nations