From Ideas to Action

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janis Sarra
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
The Face ◽  
Zero Carbon ◽  
Retirement Funds

Climate change represents an urgent and potentially irreversible threat to human societies, economies, and the planet. Yet despite clear signals, we are slow to act in a meaningful way, despite the fact that we have the legal, political, and technological tools to transition our economies to net zero carbon. While some businesses are reluctant to take significant steps to reduce their carbon footprint, many companies are well-intentioned but feel somewhat paralysed in the face of overwhelming data that portend a financially and environmentally devastating future. Yet we can still reverse the trajectory of climate change, but it requires bold and informed action to reduce our carbon footprint in a manner that embeds fairness in the transition. This book offers a guide for companies, pension funds, asset managers, and other institutional investors to commence the legal, governance, and financial strategies needed for effective climate mitigation and adaptation, and to help distribute the economic benefits of these actions to their stakeholders. It takes the reader from ideas to action, from first steps to a more meaningful contribution to the move towards a ‘climate positive’ circular economy. It can also serve as a helpful guide to everyone implicated in a corporation’s activities—employees, pensioners, consumers, banks and other lenders, policy-makers, and community members. It offers insights into what we should be expecting, and asking, of these individuals who have taken responsibility for effectively managing our savings, our retirement funds, our investments, and our tax dollars.

The Role of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) in Climate Change

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Stewart Lee Kugara ◽  
Andrew Tapiwa Tapiwa Kugedera ◽  
Nyasha Sakadzo ◽  
Emmerson Chivhenge ◽  
Taona Museva
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Knowledge Systems ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge Systems ◽  
The Face ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Development Goals

Climate change is projected to have a negative effect towards food security and attainment of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Africa. Its impact is expected to be extremely severe in regions of Africa that depend on rainwater agriculture and have limited resources to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Much of the climate awareness on climate change comes from models or scenarios that face certain degrees of uncertainty. The knowledge of local and indigenous peoples, commonly mentioned to as local knowledge systems (LKS) or indigenous knowledge systems (IKS), is gradually being recognized as an imperative source of information for climate mitigation and adaptation. It is essential that policymakers draw on the best available knowledge in the face of global climate change.

Conclusion

2020 ◽  
pp. 309-312
Author(s):  
Janis Sarra
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Institutional Investors ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Climate Governance ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Sustainable Economy ◽  
Zero Carbon ◽  
Combat Climate Change ◽  
Asset Managers

Chapter 10 concludes with some final observations on charting a path forward from ideas to action in the transition to net zero carbon emissions. It draws attention once again to the need for a just and equitable transition to a sustainable economy. It briefly reflects on the coronavirus pandemic lockdown that has commenced. The Appendix offers a governance checklist for directors, officers, pension fiduciaries, and asset managers as they begin to embed effective climate governance in their management and oversight. The Appendix can also be used by employees, investors, community members, and regulators to ask questions that help hold companies and institutional investors accountable for their actions to combat climate change and move towards a sustainable planet.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Janis Sarra
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Carbon Intensity ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Effective Governance ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Climate Resilience ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Zero Carbon

Chapter 1 introduces the need for effective climate governance in businesses and financial institutions. A variety of concurrent strategies are required to tackle global warming through mitigation and adaptation internationally and domestically. The chapter introduces how the best of current scholarly and business literature on effective governance can guide this transition and offer a coherent normative and practical framework for moving forward. It offers some essential definitions so that readers understand how the terms are used throughout the book, including the Anthropocene, global warming and climate change, greenhouse gas emissions and carbon intensity, systemic risk, climate mitigation and adaptation, net zero carbon emissions, climate resilience, and the circular economy. It provides an overview of the book’s structure and objectives.

scholarly journals Governing Net Zero Carbon Removals to Avoid Entrenching Inequities

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Healey ◽  
Robert Scholes ◽  
Penehuro Lefale ◽  
Pius Yanda
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Burden Sharing ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Global North ◽  
Zero Carbon ◽  
Interdisciplinary Effort ◽  
Global Agreement

Climate change embeds inequities and risks reinforcing these in policies for climate change remediation. In particular, with policies designed to achieve “net zero” carbon dioxide, offsets may be considered inequitable if seen to avoid or delay gross emission reductions; offsets to emissions through technologically mature methods of carbon dioxide removals (CDR) require natural resources at scales threatening food security; knowledge of the potential of immature CDR is largely a global north monopoly; and CDR in particular environments is ill-understood and its implications for development unexamined. The use of CDR to contribute to robust progress toward Paris climate goals requires global agreement on simultaneously reducing emissions and enhancing removals, equity in burden sharing, and an interdisciplinary effort led by individual jurisdictions and focused on the co-development of technologies and governance to create CDR portfolios matched to local needs.

A qualitative assessment of the impact of smart homes and environmentally beneficial technologies on the UK 2050 net-zero carbon emission target

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ghasson Shabha ◽  
Francesca Barber ◽  
Paul Laycock
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Smart Home ◽  
Smart Homes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Zero Carbon ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Home Technology ◽  
Smart Home Technology

PurposeThere are 29 million homes in the UK, accounting for 14% of the UK's energy consumption. This is given that UK has one of the highest water and energy demands in Europe which needs to be addressed according to the Committee on Climate Change (CCC). Smart homes technology holds a current perception that it is principally used by “tech-savvy” users with larger budgets. However, smart home technology can be used to control water, heat and energy in the entire house. This paper investigates how smart home technology could be effectively utilised to aid the UK government in meeting climate change targets and to mitigate the environmental impact of a home in use towards reducing carbon emissions.Design/methodology/approachBoth primary and secondary data were sought to gain insight into the research problem. An epistemological approach to this research is to use interpretivism to analyse data gathered via a semi-structured survey. Two groups of participants were approached: (1) professionals who are deemed knowledgeable about smart home development and implementation and (2) users of smart home technology. A variety of open-ended questions were formulated, allowing participants to elaborate by exploring issues and providing detailed qualitative responses based on their experience in this area which were interpreted quantitatively for clearer analysis.FindingsWith fossil fuel reserves depleting, there is an urgency for renewable, low carbon energy sources to reduce the 5 tonnes annual carbon emissions from a UK household. This requires a multi-faceted and a multimethod approach, relying on the involvement of both the general public and the government in order to be effective. By advancing energy grids to make them more efficient and reliable, concomitant necessitates a drastic change in the way of life and philosophy of homeowners when contemplating a reduction of carbon emissions. If both parties are able to do so, the UK is more likely to reach its 2050 net-zero carbon goal. The presence of a smart meter within the household is equally pivotal. It has a positive effect of reducing the amount of carbon emissions and hence more need to be installed.Research limitations/implicationsFurther research is needed using a larger study sample to achieve more accurate and acceptable generalisations about any future course of action. Further investigation on the specifics of smart technology within the UK household is also needed to reduce the energy consumption in order to meet net-zero carbon 2050 targets due to failures of legislation.Practical implicationsFor smart homes manufacturers and suppliers, more emphasis should be placed to enhance compatibility and interoperability of appliances and devices using different platform and creating more user's friendly manuals supported by step-by-step visual to support homeowners in the light of the wealth of knowledge base generated over the past few years. For homeowners, more emphasis should be placed on creating online knowledge management platform easily accessible which provide virtual support and technical advice to home owners to deal with any operational and technical issues or IT glitches. Developing technical design online platform for built environment professionals on incorporating smart sensors and environmentally beneficial technology during early design and construction stages towards achieving low to zero carbon homes.Originality/valueThis paper bridges a significant gap in the body of knowledge in term of its scope, theoretical validity and practical applicability, highlighting the impact of using smart home technology on the environment. It provides an insight into how the UK government could utilise smart home technology in order to reduce its carbon emission by identifying the potential link between using smart home technology and environmental sustainability in tackling and mitigating climate change. The findings can be applied to other building types and has the potential to employ aspects of smart home technology in order to manage energy and water usage including but not limited to healthcare, commercial and industrial buildings.

Climate Change Law: Encounters with Aesthetics and Art

Climate Law ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 279-319
Author(s):  
Benjamin J. Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Law And Policy ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Struggles ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
Aesthetic Values

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.

scholarly journals Communicating Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Efforts in American Cities

Climate ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constantine Boussalis ◽  
Travis Coan ◽  
Mirya Holman
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Policy ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Press Releases ◽  
City Governments ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Adaptation Policies ◽  
American Cities ◽  
The City

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.

scholarly journals Sustainable crossbreeding systems of beef cattle in the era of climate change

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 8-11
Author(s):  
MC Mokolobate ◽  
A Theunissen ◽  
MM Scholtz ◽  
FWC Neser
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Beef Cattle ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Metabolizable Energy ◽  
Daily Weight Gain ◽  
Ghg Mitigation ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation Strategies

Beef cattle are unique, because they not only suffer from climate change, but they also contribute to climate change through the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG). Mitigation and adaptation strategies are therefore needed. An effective way to reduce the carbon footprint from beef cattle would be to reduce the numbers and increase the production per animal, thereby improving their productivity. Sustainable crossbreeding systems can be an effective way to reduce GHG, as it has been shown to increase production. There are a wide range of different cattle breeds in South Africa which can be optimally utilized for effective and sustainable crossbreeding. This paper reports on the effects of crossbreeding on the kilogram calf weaned per Large Stock Unit (kgC/LSU) for 29 genotypes. These genotypes were formed by crossing Afrikaner (A) cows with Brahman (B), Charolais (C), Hereford (H) and Simmentaler (S) bulls and by back-crossing the F1 cows to the sire lines. A LSU is the equivalent of an ox of 450 kg with a daily weight gain of 500 g on grass pastures with a mean digestible energy (DE) content of 55% and a requirement of 75 MJ metabolizable energy (ME). Crossbreeding with A as dam line increased the kgC/LSU on average by 8 kg (+6%) - with the CA cross producing the most kgC/LSU (+8%) above that of the AA. The BA dam in crosses with C, H and S, increased kgC/LSU on average by 26 kg (+18%) above that of the AA dam, with the H x BA cross, producing the most kgC/LSU (+21%). The BA, CA, HA and SA F1 dam lines, back-crossed to the sire line breeds, increased kgC/LSU on average by 30 kg (21%), 21 kg (15%), 19kg (13%) and 26 kg (18%) above the that of the AA, respectively. The big differences between breeds in kgC/LSU provide the opportunity to facilitate effective crossbreeding that can be useful in the era of climate change. From this study it is clear that cow productivity can be increased by up to 21% through properly designed, sustainable crossbreeding systems, thereby reducing the carbon footprint of beef production.Keywords: Carbon footprint, cow productivity, kilogram calf, production systems

Megaprojects and the limits of ‘green resilience’ in the global South: Two cases from Malaysia and Qatar

Urban Studies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (7) ◽  
pp. 1520-1535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agatino Rizzo
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Urban Planning ◽  
Urban Development ◽  
Urban Health ◽  
Global South ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Environmental Humanities ◽  
Spatial Processes ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Resilience Thinking

The emergence of the climate change discourse in urban planning emphasises resilience as a key concept to deal with issues such as climate mitigation and adaptation, and urban health. What we have termed in this article ‘green resilience’, the coalescence of technological solutions and resilience thinking to solve cities’ ecological issues, is constantly gaining traction in urban planning research. However, green resilience often fails to take into account the socio-political and spatial processes that pertain to the exploitation of land for urban development particularly in the global South. Based on our latest research on two urban megaprojects, in Johor-Singapore (Malaysia) and Doha (Qatar), in this article we build a critique of green resilience and urbanism by leveraging research in the fields of environmental humanities and urban planning.

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