Building low-carbon and disaster-resilient communities: integrating climate mitigation and adaptation into the assessment of self-help housing design

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 695-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sasima Charoenkit ◽  
S. Kumar
2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 410-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chandrika Mehta ◽  
Uday Shankar ◽  
Tapas K. Bandopadhyay

The urge to adopt the proceedings at the recently concluded COP-21 with a binding legal status is indicative of the fact that nations now realise the seriousness of the issue, alike. The international community is just paving way for a low carbon, energy efficient planet. Rapid urbanisation has led to overpopulated cities that demand better quality of life for its residents. On the one hand, there is a global urge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and on the other hand, the world is moving towards a ‘smart’ future. Both these suppositions are interspersed by a common goal of sustainable development. Alternately, the discussion tends to focus on use of clean energy technologies. Cities will be at the centre of this unique and unprecedented challenge. This research seeks to explore the role that city governance plays in climate mitigation and adaptation at the global level. Furthermore, the article examines and evaluates low carbon technology as a choice to be inculcated in encountering climate change hazards and essentially looks into the modus operandi of the transfer and diffusion of low carbon/clean energy technologies.


2011 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 485-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
KIMBERLEY WARREN-RHODES ◽  
ANNE-MAREE SCHWARZ ◽  
LINDA NG BOYLE ◽  
JOELLE ALBERT ◽  
STEPHEN SUTI AGALO ◽  
...  

SUMMARYMangroves are an imperilled biome whose protection and restoration through payments for ecosystem services (PES) can contribute to improved livelihoods, climate mitigation and adaptation. Interviews with resource users in three Solomon Islands villages suggest a strong reliance upon mangrove goods for subsistence and cash, particularly for firewood, food and building materials. Village-derived economic data indicates a minimum annual subsistence value from mangroves of US$ 345–1501 per household. Fish and nursery habitat and storm protection were widely recognized and highly valued mangrove ecosystem services. All villagers agreed that mangroves were under threat, with firewood overharvesting considered the primary cause. Multivariate analyses revealed village affiliation and religious denomination as the most important factors determining the use and importance of mangrove goods. These factors, together with gender, affected users’ awareness of ecosystem services. The importance placed on mangrove services did not differ significantly by village, religious denomination, gender, age, income, education or occupation. Mangrove ecosystem surveys are useful as tools for raising community awareness and input prior to design of PES systems. Land tenure and marine property rights, and how this complexity may both complicate and facilitate potential carbon credit programmes in the Pacific, are discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dirk Heine ◽  
Willi Semmler ◽  
Mariana Mazzucato ◽  
João Paulo Braga ◽  
Michael Flaherty ◽  
...  

Summary: To finance the transition to low-carbon economies required to mitigate climate change, countries are increasingly using a combination of carbon pricing and green bonds. This paper studies the reasoning behind such policy mixes and the economic interaction effects that result from these different policy instruments. We model these interactions using an intertemporal model, related to Sachs (2015), which proposes a burden sharing between current and future generations. The issuance of green bonds helps to enable immediate investment in climate change mitigation and adaptation, and the bonds would be repaid by future generations in such a way that those who benefit from reduced future environmental damage share in the burden of financing mitigation efforts undertaken today. We examine the effects of combining green bonds and carbon pricing in a three-phase model. We are using a numerical solution procedure which allows for finite-horizon solutions and phase changes. We show that green bonds perform better when they are combined with carbon pricing. Our proposed policy option appears to be politically more feasible than a green transition based only on carbon pricing and is more prudent for debt sustainability than a green transition that relies overly on green bonds.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francislene Angelotti ◽  
Diana Signor ◽  
Vanderlise Giongo

A comunidade científica, ao longo dos últimos anos, tem buscado soluções para o desenvolvimento sustentável do Semiárido. Os estudos dos impactos das mudanças climáticas subsidiam medidas de mitigação e adaptação frente às futuras alterações no clima. Adicionalmente, o desenvolvimento e adoção de processos e tecnologias voltados para o desenvolvimento sustentável, tendo em vista a viabilidade econômica, social e ambiental são fundamentais, para aumentar a segurança alimentar, gerenciar os recursos hídricos e erradicar a pobreza. O avanço do conhecimento obtido nos últimos anos e a interação entre as instituições de ensino e pesquisa assumem um papel importante na proposição e adoção de políticas públicas que visam aumentar a capacidade adaptativa da sociedade e da economia regional frente às mudanças climáticas, criando espaços de oportunidades e caminhos para a resiliência climática. Nesse sentido, a busca de soluções e oportunidades para o desenvolvimento do Semiárido brasileiro é estratégico, razão pela qual mantem-se um fórum de discussão permanente traduzido no Simpósio de Mudanças Climáticas e Desertificação no Semiárido Brasileiro, realizado bianualmente. A adoção de ações voltadas para o desenvolvimento sustentável é estratégica. A economia verde e o pagamento por serviços ambientais se tornaram oportunidades, pois atualmente o desenvolvimento econômico não pode estar dissociado das preocupações com relação às mudanças no clima e a preservação do ambiente. Para o Semiárido brasileiro é necessário fortalecer as ações em andamento e buscar soluções inovadoras para reduzir os impactos e riscos inerentes às mudanças climáticas, criar oportunidades na economia de baixo carbono e promover a inclusão social. The scientific community over the last few years has been sought solutions for sustainable development of the semiarid. The research about impacts of climate change is subsidizing mitigation and adaptation measures facing future changes, in semi-arid region. In addition, the development and adoption of processes and technologies for sustainable development, in view of economic, social and environmental sustainability are essential to increasing food security, manage water resources and eradicate poverty. The knowledge progress achieved in recent years and the interaction between education and research institutions play an important role on proposition and adopting public policies that aimed to increase the adaptive capacity of society and the regional economy to climate change, creating opportunities spaces and directions for climate resilience. In this sense, the search for solutions and opportunities for the development of the Brazilian semiarid is strategic, which is why keeping a permanent discussion forum translated at the Symposium on Climate Change and Desertification in the Brazilian semiarid carried out every two years. The adoption of actions for sustainable development, in view of economic, social and environmental viability is strategic. The green economy and payment for environmental services have become opportunities because currently the economic development cannot be dissociated from concerns about climate change. For the Brazilian semiarid is necessary to strengthen actions in progress and seek innovative solutions to reduce the impacts and risks posed by climate change, creating opportunities in the low carbon economy and promoting social inclusion. Key-words: adaptation, mitigation, environmental services, research.   


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (15) ◽  
pp. 2880 ◽  
Author(s):  
Getachew F. Belete ◽  
Alexey Voinov ◽  
Iñaki Arto ◽  
Kishore Dhavala ◽  
Tatyana Bulavskaya ◽  
...  

The use of simulation models is essential when exploring transitions to low-carbon futures and climate change mitigation and adaptation policies. There are many models developed to understand socio-environmental processes and interactions, and analyze alternative scenarios, but hardly one single model can serve all the needs. There is much expectation in climate-energy research that constructing new purposeful models out of existing models used as building blocks can meet particular needs of research and policy analysis. Integration of existing models, however, implies sophisticated coordination of inputs and outputs across different scales, definitions, data and software. This paper presents an online integration platform which links various independent models to enhance their scope and functionality. We illustrate the functionality of this web platform using several simulation models developed as standalone tools for analyzing energy, climate and economy dynamics. The models differ in levels of complexity, assumptions, modeling paradigms and programming languages, and operate at different temporal and spatial scales, from individual to global. To illustrate the integration process and the internal details of our integration framework we link an Integrated Assessment Model (GCAM), a Computable General Equilibrium model (EXIOMOD), and an Agent Based Model (BENCH). This toolkit is generic for similar integrated modeling studies. It still requires extensive pre-integration assessment to identify the ‘appropriate’ models and links between them. After that, using the web service approach we can streamline module coupling, enabling interoperability between different systems and providing open access to information for a wider community of users.


Climate Law ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 279-319
Author(s):  
Benjamin J. Richardson

Climate change has multifaceted aesthetic dimensions of legal significance. Global warming alters the aesthetic properties of nature, and further aesthetic changes are precipitated by climate mitigation and adaptation responses of impacted societies. The social and political struggles to influence climate change law are also influenced by aesthetics, as environmental activists and artists collaborate to influence public opinion, while conversely the business sector through its marketing and other aesthetic communications tries to persuade consumers of its climate-friendly practices to forestall serious action on global warming. This article distils and analyses these patterns in forging a novel account of the role of aesthetics in climate change law and policy, and it makes conclusions on how this field of law should consider aesthetic values through ‘curatorial’ guidance.


Climate ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constantine Boussalis ◽  
Travis Coan ◽  
Mirya Holman

City governments have a large role to play in climate change mitigation and adaptation policies, given that urban locales are responsible for disproportionately high levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and are on the “front lines” of observed and anticipated climate change impacts. This study examines how US mayors prioritize climate policies within the context of the city agenda. Employing a computer-assisted content analysis of over 2886 mayoral press releases related to climate change from 82 major American cities for the period 2010–2016, we describe and explain the extent to which city governments discuss mitigation and adaptation policies in official communications. Specifically, we rely on a semi-supervised topic model to measure key climate policy themes in city press releases and examine their correlates using a multilevel statistical model. Our results suggest that while mitigation policies tend to dominate the city agenda on climate policy, discussion of adaptation efforts has risen dramatically in the past few years. Further, our statistical analysis indicates that partisanship influences city discussion on a range of climate policy areas—including emissions, land use policy, and climate resiliency—while projected vulnerability to climatic risks only influences discussion of climate resiliency and adaptation efforts.


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