scholarly journals The Comparative Politics of Climate Change

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Harrison ◽  
Lisa McIntosh Sundstrom
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Comparative Politics ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Economic Costs ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Government Action ◽  
Institutional Conditions ◽  
Change Leaders ◽  
Abatement Policies ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change

The authors use a comparative politics framework, examining electoral interests, policy-maker's own normative commitments, and domestic political institutions as factors influencing Annex 1 countries' decisions on Kyoto Protocol ratification and adoption of national policies to mitigate climate change. Economic costs and electoral interests matter a great deal, even when policy-makers are morally motivated to take action on climate change. Leaders' normative commitments may carry the day under centralized institutional conditions, but these commitments can be reversed when leaders change. Electoral systems, federalism, and executive-legislative institutional configurations all influence ratification decisions and subsequent policy adoption. Although institutional configurations may facilitate or hinder government action, high levels of voter concern can trump institutional obstacles. Governments' decisions to ratify, and the reduction targets they face upon ratification, do not necessarily determine their approach to carbon emissions abatement policies: for example, ratifying countries that accept demanding targets may fail to take significant action.

Costing the Earth: A Numbers Game or a Moral Imperative?

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 378-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerard Roe
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Relative Weight ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Economic Costs ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Moral Arguments

Abstract It is a simple truism that public policy must be guided by an objective analysis of the physical and economic consequences of climate change. It is equally true that policy making is an inherently value-laden endeavor. While these two threads are interconnected, the relative weight given to each depends on the certainty that the technical analyses can deliver. For climate change, the envelope of uncertainty is best understood at the global scale, and there are some well known and formidable challenges to reducing it. This uncertainty must in turn be compounded with much more poorly constrained uncertainties in regional climate, climate impacts, and future economic costs. The case can be made that technical analyses have reached the point of diminishing returns. Should meaningful action on climate change await greater analytical certainty? This paper argues that policy makers should give greater weight to moral arguments, in no small part because that is where the heart of the debate really lies.

scholarly journals The economic costs of planting, preserving, and managing the world’s forests to mitigate climate change

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
K. G. Austin ◽  
J. S. Baker ◽  
B. L. Sohngen ◽  
C. M. Wade ◽  
A. Daigneault ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Forest Management ◽  
Carbon Price ◽  
Private Land ◽  
Economic Costs ◽  
Mitigation Potential ◽  
Mitigation Costs ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Prices

AbstractForests are critical for stabilizing our climate, but costs of mitigation over space, time, and stakeholder group remain uncertain. Using the Global Timber Model, we project mitigation potential and costs for four abatement activities across 16 regions for carbon price scenarios of $5–$100/tCO2. We project 0.6–6.0 GtCO2 yr−1 in global mitigation by 2055 at costs of 2–393 billion USD yr−1, with avoided tropical deforestation comprising 30–54% of total mitigation. Higher prices incentivize larger mitigation proportions via rotation and forest management activities in temperate and boreal biomes. Forest area increases 415–875 Mha relative to the baseline by 2055 at prices $35–$100/tCO2, with intensive plantations comprising <7% of this increase. Mitigation costs borne by private land managers comprise less than one-quarter of total costs. For forests to contribute ~10% of mitigation needed to limit global warming to 1.5 °C, carbon prices will need to reach $281/tCO2 in 2055.

scholarly journals The impact of COVID-19 related regulations and restrictions on mobility and potential for sustained climate mitigation across the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK: A data-based commentary.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Corker ◽  
Kaloyan Mitev ◽  
Astrid Nilsson ◽  
Milan Tamis ◽  
Thijs Bouman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Behaviour Change ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Observed Behaviour ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Behaviour Changes ◽  
The Impact

Human behaviour change is necessary to meet targets set by the Paris Agreement to mitigate climate change. Restrictions and regulations put in place globally to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 during 2020 have had a substantial impact on everyday life, including many carbon-intensive behaviours such as transportation. Changes to transportation behaviour may reduce carbon emissions. Behaviour change theory can offer perspective on the drivers and influences of behaviour and shape recommendations for how policy-makers can capitalise on any observed behaviour changes that may mitigate climate change. For this commentary, we aimed to describe changes in data relating to transportation behavioursrelating to working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic across the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK. We display these identified changes in a concept map, suggesting links between the changes in behaviour and levels of carbon emissions. We consider these changes in relation to a comprehensive and easy to understand model of behaviour, the COM-B, to understand the capabilities, opportunities and behaviours related to the observed behaviour changes and potential policy to mitigate climate change. There is now an opportunity for policy-makers to increase the likelihood of maintaining pro-environmental behaviour changes by providing opportunities, improving capabilities and maintaining motivation for these behaviours.

scholarly journals A Measurement Tool for the Assessment of Farmers’ Perception about Impact of Changing Climate on Agriculture in India

2022 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-127
Author(s):  
Rohit Shelar ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Environmental Problem ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Measurement Tool ◽  
Review Of Literature ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Changing Climate ◽  
Rating Method ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change

Changing climate is a serious environmental problem affecting agricultural productivity at global level. It is important to study the perceptions of farmers’ towards changing climate and its impact on agriculture as it is one of the strong interpreters of changing farmers’ behaviour to mitigate climate change and adopt adequate and appropriate measures to ensure agricultural production. For the construction of the scale to measure the farmers’ perception, summating rating method suggested by Likart (1932) was followed. Based on review of literature 79 statements were enlisted initially and 21 statements were finalized for the final construction of the scale. The reliability and validity of the scale was calculated to find out the precision and consistency of the results. This scale will be helpful for interested policy makers, academicians and researchers who willing to study the farmers’ perceptions about climate change and its impact on agriculture.

scholarly journals An assessment of electric vehicles: technology, infrastructure requirements, greenhouse-gas emissions, petroleum use, material use, lifetime cost, consumer acceptance and policy initiatives

2014 ◽  
Vol 372 (2006) ◽  
pp. 20120325 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Delucchi ◽  
C. Yang ◽  
A. F. Burke ◽  
J. M. Ogden ◽  
K. Kurani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Electric Vehicles ◽  
Combustion Engine ◽  
Lifetime Cost ◽  
Urban Air Pollution ◽  
Consumer Acceptance ◽  
Urban Air ◽  
Hydrogen Fuel Cell ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change

Concerns about climate change, urban air pollution and dependence on unstable and expensive supplies of foreign oil have led policy-makers and researchers to investigate alternatives to conventional petroleum-fuelled internal-combustion-engine vehicles in transportation. Because vehicles that get some or all of their power from an electric drivetrain can have low or even zero emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and urban air pollutants, and can consume little or no petroleum, there is considerable interest in developing and evaluating advanced electric vehicles (EVs), including pure battery-electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles. To help researchers and policy-makers assess the potential of EVs to mitigate climate change and reduce petroleum use, this paper discusses the technology of EVs, the infrastructure needed for their development, impacts on emissions of GHGs, petroleum use, materials use, lifetime costs, consumer acceptance and policy considerations.

scholarly journals Effects of Carbon Markets on the Optimal Management of Slash Pine (Pinus elliottii) Plantations

2005 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janaki R.R. Alavalapati ◽  
G. Andrew Stainback
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Pinus Elliottii ◽  
Carbon Markets ◽  
Optimal Management ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Management Regime ◽  
Rotation Age ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change

Abstract Global climate change is a growing concern among many policy makers. This concern has led to substantial interest in using forests as one option to mitigate climate change. In this article, the effect of internalizing carbon sequestration benefits on the optimal management of slashpine plantations is explored. Results suggest that without carbon benefits, it is optimal to use herbicide and bedding but not fertilizer because the increase in timber yield does not justify the high cost of fertilizer. With carbon benefits, however, the use of fertilizer becomes profitable.Thus a carbon market would likely induce plantation owners to increase their management intensity, which may in turn also have significant impacts on the amount of carbon sequestered. For example, by allowing the management regime to vary in addition to rotation age, the amount of carbon sequestereddecreased from 204 to 164 metric tons of carbon per acre when carbon prices increased from $40 to $200 per metric ton. Thus increasing carbon sequestration on the intensive margin may be less feasible than previously supposed, but increasing on the extensive margin may be highlypracticable South. J. Appl. For. 29(1):27–32.

The Contradictory Effects of Consensus Democracy on the Size of Government: Evidence from the Swiss Cantons

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 359-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
ADRIAN VATTER ◽  
MARKUS FREITAG
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Politics ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Government Size ◽  
Size Of Government ◽  
Suitable Alternative ◽  
Government Action ◽  
Consensus Democracy ◽  
Broad Concept ◽  
Swiss Cantons

In this research note we have set ourselves the following three principal objectives. First, we show that the well-known concept of consensus democracy, which covers various forms of the division of power, involves analytical problems. Confusion may arise when relating consensus democracy to government action, because the institutions subsumed under the broad concept of consensus democracy, such as executive power-sharing, the multiparty system and federalism, are likely to have different and contradictory effects on the size of government. In this vein, we provide considerable evidence that different aspects of consensus democracy have contradictory effects on government size. In doing so, we endorse the view that it is only variance in the type of democracy (majoritarian versus consensus democracy) that causes systematic differences in government action. Secondly, in scrutinizing the contradictory effects of various aspects of consensus democracy on government size, we distinguish and operationalize the three different analytical views of Crepaz, Lijphart and Tsebelis on how political institutions may be distinguished with regard to their veto nature. Thirdly, we try to close a gap in understanding comparative politics, by quantifying and comparing the veto potential of direct democracy. International comparative investigations of the effects of direct democracy on public policy are hardly possible. The Swiss cantons present themselves as a suitable alternative source of evidence, given that they vary considerably with respect to their plebiscitary elements.To understand why consensus democracies have a contradictory effect on government size, it is crucial to bear in mind that there are two separate dimensions of the majoritarian–consensual contrast.

scholarly journals The impact of COVID-19 related regulations and restrictions on mobility and potential for sustained climate mitigation across the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK: A data-based commentary.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Corker ◽  
Kaloyan Mitev ◽  
Astrid Nilsson ◽  
Milan Tamis ◽  
Thijs Bouman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Behaviour Change ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Observed Behaviour ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Behaviour Changes ◽  
The Impact

Human behaviour change is necessary to meet targets set by the Paris Agreement to mitigate climate change. Restrictions and regulations put in place globally to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 during 2020 have had a substantial impact on everyday life, including many carbon-intensive behaviours such as transportation. Changes to transportation behaviour may reduce carbon emissions. Behaviour change theory can offer perspective on the drivers and influences of behaviour and shape recommendations for how policy-makers can capitalise on any observed behaviour changes that may mitigate climate change. For this commentary, we aimed to describe changes in data relating to transportation behavioursrelating to working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic across the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK. We display these identified changes in a concept map, suggesting links between the changes in behaviour and levels of carbon emissions. We consider these changes in relation to a comprehensive and easy to understand model of behaviour, the COM-B, to understand the capabilities, opportunities and behaviours related to the observed behaviour changes and potential policy to mitigate climate change. There is now an opportunity for policy-makers to increase the likelihood of maintaining pro-environmental behaviour changes by providing opportunities, improving capabilities and maintaining motivation for these behaviours.

scholarly journals Methods to Evaluate Electricity Policy from Climate Perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-147
Author(s):  
Liga Rozentale ◽  
Dagnija Blumberga
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Electricity Market ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
National Level ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change

Abstract Nowadays government policies to mitigate climate change are of a wide variety and they are evaluated before and after implementation. Much research has been conducted on how climate change policy will affect the climate. However, there is very little research on policies that are not intended to mitigate or reduce climate change and which, from the policy makers’ point of view, have no relation to climate change. The goal of this study is to review the electricity policy in Latvia and the aspects that can be evaluated under this policy, and apply multiple-criteria analysis to determine on what spheres the electricity policy leaves the most positive impact – is it climate or are they consumers and other electricity market players? The outcome of the analysis shows that, at the national level, the most positive impact on climate is provided by the National Energy and Climate Plan, indicating that climate is taken into consideration mostly only under complex multi-sectoral legislation.

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