scholarly journals Changing International Law for a Changing Climate

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 112 ◽  
pp. 279-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel C. Esty ◽  
Dena P. Adler
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
National Governments

After more than two decades of inadequate international efforts to address climate change resulting from rising greenhouse gas emissions, the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement shifted gears. That agreement advances a “bottom-up” model of global cooperation that requires action commitments from all national governments and acknowledges the important role that cities, states, provinces, and businesses must play in delivering deep decarbonization. Given the limited control that presidents and prime ministers have over many of the policies and choices that determine their countries’ carbon footprints, the Paris Agreement missed an opportunity to formally recognize the climate change action commitments of mayors, governors, and premiers. These subnational officials often have authorities complementary to national governments, particularly in federal systems (including the United States, China, Canada, and Australia). They therefore possess significant independent capacities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through their economic development strategies, building codes, zoning rules and practices, public transportation investments, and other policies. Likewise, the world community missed an opportunity to formally recognize the commitments of companies to successful implementation of the Paris Agreement and thereby to highlight the wide range of decisions that business leaders make that significantly affect greenhouse gas emissions.

Introduction

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Eelco J. Rohling
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Greenhouse Gases ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Emission Reduction ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Is Implementation

This chapter outlines the challenge facing us. The Paris Agreement sets a target maximum of 2°C global warming and a preferred limit of 1.5°C. Yet, the subsequent combined national pledges for emission reduction suffice only for limiting warming to roughly 3°C. And because most nations are falling considerably short of meeting their pledges, even greater warming may become locked in. Something more drastic and wide-ranging is needed: a multi-pronged strategy. These different prongs to the climate-change solution are introduced in this chapter and explored one by one in the following chapters. First is rapid, massive reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Second is implementation of ways to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Third may be increasing the reflectivity of Earth to incoming sunlight, to cool certain places down more rapidly. In addition, we need to protect ourselves from climate-change impacts that have already become inevitable.

Vulnerable Regions in a Changing Climate

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Leichenko
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Planetary Systems ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Changing Climate

Economic geographers have made important contributions to the understanding of many facets of climate change, yet the field has had relatively limited engagement with the study of climate impacts, vulnerabilities, and adaptation. Instead, most work on the economic consequences of climate disruption is being done by researchers in other disciplines or in other subfields of geography. This chapter argues that broad recognition of humanity’s role in shaping Earth’s planetary systems, combined with new hope and opportunity engendered by the 2015 Paris Agreement on reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, present a pivotal moment for economic geographers to take a more central role in the study of climate change and in broader, interdisciplinary conversations about the meaning and implications of the Anthropocene.

From Paris to Poland

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-46
Author(s):  
Tim Cadman ◽  
Klaus Radunsky ◽  
Andrea Simonelli ◽  
Tek Maraseni
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Climate Justice ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Social Quality ◽  
United Nations Framework Convention

This article tracks the intergovernmental negotiations aimed at combatting human-induced greenhouse gas emissions under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change from COP21 and the creation of the Paris Agreement in 2015 to COP24 in Katowice, Poland in 2018. These conferences are explored in detail, focusing on the Paris Rulebook negotiations around how to implement market- and nonmarket-based approaches to mitigating climate change, as set out in Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, and the tensions regarding the inclusion of negotiating text safeguarding human rights. A concluding section comments on the collapse of Article 6 discussions and the implications for climate justice and social quality for the Paris Agreement going forward.

scholarly journals The Paris Climate Agreement and the Three Largest Emitters: China, the United States, and the European Union

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 219-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miranda A. Schreurs
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
European Union ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Emission Reduction ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
The United States ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Gas Emissions

The Paris Agreement would not have come into being had China, the United States (US), and the European Union (EU), which together contribute more than half of all global greenhouse gas emissions, not signaled their intent to take major steps to reduce their domestic emissions. The EU has been at the forefront of global climate change measures for years having issued binding domestic emission reduction targets for 2020 and 2030. For many years, China refused to announce a target date for when it might begin reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, and the US Congress blocked action on climate change.  In the lead up to the Paris climate negotiations, however, there were major shifts in China’s and the US’s climate positions. This commentary examines the climate policies of the three largest emitters and the factors motivating the positions they took in the Paris negotiations. Given that the commitments made in Paris are most likely insufficient to keep global temperature from rising 2 °C above pre-industrial levels, the commentary also considers what the likelihood is that these three major economies will strengthen their emission reduction targets in the near future.

scholarly journals The atmosphere, the Paris Agreement and global governance

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Macey
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Global Governance ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
International Governance ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
New Model ◽  
Tackle Climate Change

The 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change set a remarkable precedent for speed of entry into force of a global treaty. With the threshold of 55 parties and 55% of greenhouse gas emissions being reached within a year of its adoption, the agreement entered into force before the following Conference of the Parties (COP22) in Marrakech (November 2016). By the end of COP22 there were over a hundred ratifications. This was both a vote of confidence in the agreement and a sign of the strong international commitment to tackle climate change. Less obvious is the fact that the agreement reflects a new model of international governance of climate change, in which the role of the central legal instrument has changed. It is yet to be tested, but these early signs of confidence augur well. 

Technical steps will vex post-Paris climate agenda

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Emissions Reduction ◽  
Annual Conference ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
National Leader

Significance The Paris Agreement will enter into force on November 4, ahead of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) annual Conference of Parties (COP22) meeting in Marrakech, Morocco, which begins the following week. The two thresholds for entry into force -- more than 55 countries ratifying, accounting for 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions -- were met in early October. Impacts Activist states will continue to advance Paris-complementary measures in non-UNFCCC settings. The Paris Agreement's entry into force means that a signatory government can only withdraw in four years' time. However, a national leader willing to bear the diplomatic fallout could nevertheless undermine the pact through inaction and backsliding. The natural gas sector is a likely beneficiary of incremental international emissions reduction efforts.

What We Can Do

2021 ◽  
pp. 182-188
Author(s):  
Michael P. Hoffmann ◽  
Carrie Koplinka-Loehr ◽  
Danielle L. Eiseman
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
The United States ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Knowing That

Farmers, food businesses, and scientists are doing their part. Now let’s turn to what each of us can do. Knowing that climate change poses increasing risks to the foods and beverages we need and love, we must adapt and cut greenhouse gas emissions in every way possible. Those of us living in rich nations such as the United States are the biggest contributors to climate change and are best positioned to tackle it....

FISHING FROM THE SAME POOL: THE INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE ON LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE ACTIONS IN SCOTLAND AND THE US PACIFIC NORTHWEST

2012 ◽  
Vol 14 (02) ◽  
pp. 1250011 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANTHONY JACKSON ◽  
BARBARA ILLSLEY ◽  
WILLIAM LYNCH
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Local Climate ◽  
Local Climate Change

The impact of environmental governance on the delivery of local climate change plans is examined by comparing two transatlantic sub-national jurisdictions which have adopted stringent targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions: Scotland and the Pacific Northwest region of the United States of America. The former relies on dirigiste top-down environmental governance, through which central government sets targets and imposes statutory duties that apply equally to all local councils. In the latter, a bottom-up multi-level form of environmental governance has emerged to compensate for the absence of a federal mandate. Specific action plans from a climate change pioneer in each location are assessed to test the strengths and limitations of these alternative modes of environmental governance: Portland in Oregon and Fife in Scotland. The Scottish dirigiste approach offers its local councils a consistent policy framework, allowing them to focus on specific measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while avoiding concerns about free-rider effects from non-participating councils. The asymmetrical uptake of climate change measures by United States municipalities exposes their domestic market to the risks of carbon leakage that America sought to avoid in global markets during negotiations over the Kyoto Protocol.

scholarly journals Analysis of the State of the Art of International Policies and Projects on CCU for Climate Change Mitigation with a Focus on the Cases in Korea

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Seok-ho Jung ◽  
Seong-ho Lee ◽  
Jihee Min ◽  
Mee-hye Lee ◽  
Ji Whan Ahn
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
The United States ◽  
Industrial Sector ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Korean Government ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Reduction

In 2016, the Korean government selected carbon capture and utilization (CCU) as one of the national strategic projects and presented a detailed roadmap to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to create new climate industries through early demonstration of CCU technology. The Korean government also established the 2030 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Roadmap in 2016 and included carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technology in the new energy industry sector as a CCU technology. The Korean government recognizes the importance of CCUS technology as a mid- to long-term measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and implements policies related to technological development. The United States (U.S.), Germany, and China also expect CCUS technology to play a major role in reducing greenhouse gases in the industrial sector in terms of climate and energy policy. This study analyzed the CCU-related policies and technological trends in the U.S., Germany, and China, including major climate and energy plans, driving roadmaps, some government-led projects, and institutional support systems. This work also statistically analyzed 447 CCU and CCUS projects in Korea between 2010 and 2017. It is expected to contribute to responding to climate change, promoting domestic greenhouse gas reduction, and creating future growth engines, as well as to be used as basic data for establishing CCU-related policies in Korea.

scholarly journals Coping With Global Change: The Need for New Values

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Singer
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Change ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
The United States ◽  
Industrialized Countries ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Philosophical Inquiry ◽  
International Council ◽  
Per Capita

The following text was presented to the 1995 conference of the International Council of Philosophical Inquiry with Children, and is reprinted here unrevised. Unfortunately the challenges of coping with global change that it discusses have still not been addressed. Some of the facts have changed—for example, China’s per capita greenhouse gas emissions have risen significantly, although they are still far below those of the United States and most other industrialized countries. But the planet is warming faster than scientists predicted twenty years ago, and little has been done to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, so the problem of climate change is even more urgent than it seemed to be when the text was first presented. Therefore my arguments about the changes we need to make to the way we live are still relevant, and it is for that reason that I have accepted the editors’ invitation to reprint the article.

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