scholarly journals Climate Policies in Indonesia’s Development Agenda: Why a Carbon Tax is Marginalised

Author(s):  
Rakhmindyarto Rakhmindyarto

Drawing on the results of an exploratory qualitative study based on in-depth interviews involving government executives, politicians, business players, and non-government organisations (NGOs), this paper explores climate policies in Indonesia’s national development agenda, including whether a carbon tax could be one of the national priority policy goals. The results suggest that there is heterogeneity in how Indonesian key stakeholders perceive climate policies in Indonesia’s development agenda. Indonesian stakeholders are cognisant of the adverse impacts of climate change on social, economic, and environmental aspects. They also acknowledge that having clear and sound climate mitigation policies is required to achieve Indonesia’s ambitious GHG emissions reduction target. However, Indonesia’s development policy goals are focusing on economic growth, in particular boosting infrastructure investments, reducing poverty and inequality, and job expansion. This makes climate policies are compromised and has created conflicts between Indonesia’s development agenda and its commitment to deal with climate change issues. Overall, the study finds that climate policies are incompatible with Indonesia’s development agenda, therefore a carbon tax is placed at the bottom of the national policy goals.

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 87
Author(s):  
Alan F. Rodriguez-Jasso ◽  
Arturo Briseno ◽  
Ana L. Zorrilla

Climate change is considered as one of the major threats for the international community due to its negative consequences in the financial, social, and environmental issues. Companies, who are considered as an essential element in the mitigation process, have exerted corporate inactivity to address climate change that has led to the increment of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, contributing to climate change over the last decade. The objective of this review is to explore, summarize, and analyze the state of knowledge in the business and management literature about climate inaction that guides future researches to diminish this corporate inactivity, enhancing the practices aimed to reduce such emissions. The review was developed through the narrative method in order to acquire a broad perspective of the phenomenon through the examination of 24 articles from the Web of Science from 1998 to 2018. Our findings indicate that climate inaction is nascent and fragmented literature where the company is identified as one of the main actors, being this approach developed from different perspectives that guide to decrease such corporate inactivity, and motivating the corporate action. The inclusion of the concept of climate inaction might lead to an understanding of the mechanisms for climate mitigation, providing a guide for future research in the field of environmental performance.


2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Neha Arora

India ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in November, 1993 and is a non-Annex party to the UNFCCC. Accordingly, as a Non Annex Party, India is not liable to legally reduce its Greenhouse gases under the convention. However India has taken a responsible stance towards Global warming and Climate change. Recent measures and developments at the governmental front and initiatives undertaken by the private sector have paved the way for sustainable development. The present paper studies the recent financial and market based mechanisms and the underlying policy environment for low carbon development in India undertaken by Indian government and the Indian corporate sector. The various policy mechanisms initiated include the Coal Cess, Carbon tax, Issuance of Masala bonds and Subsidies on solar enabled appliances. The Indian corporate sector has attracted commendable admiration by the Global leaders owing to the integration of sustainability into business activities. The issuance of Green bonds, voluntary GHG emissions disclosure in the Carbon Disclosure Project Report and establishment of Greenex are the various recent sustainable steps taken by industry leaders to fight global warming.


Author(s):  
James Hansen ◽  
Makiko Sato ◽  
Pushker Kharecha ◽  
Gary Russell ◽  
David W Lea ◽  
...  

Palaeoclimate data show that the Earth's climate is remarkably sensitive to global forcings. Positive feedbacks predominate. This allows the entire planet to be whipsawed between climate states. One feedback, the ‘albedo flip’ property of ice/water, provides a powerful trigger mechanism. A climate forcing that ‘flips’ the albedo of a sufficient portion of an ice sheet can spark a cataclysm. Inertia of ice sheet and ocean provides only moderate delay to ice sheet disintegration and a burst of added global warming. Recent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions place the Earth perilously close to dramatic climate change that could run out of our control, with great dangers for humans and other creatures. Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is the largest human-made climate forcing, but other trace constituents are also important. Only intense simultaneous efforts to slow CO 2 emissions and reduce non-CO 2 forcings can keep climate within or near the range of the past million years. The most important of the non-CO 2 forcings is methane (CH 4 ), as it causes the second largest human-made GHG climate forcing and is the principal cause of increased tropospheric ozone (O 3 ), which is the third largest GHG forcing. Nitrous oxide (N 2 O) should also be a focus of climate mitigation efforts. Black carbon (‘black soot’) has a high global warming potential (approx. 2000, 500 and 200 for 20, 100 and 500 years, respectively) and deserves greater attention. Some forcings are especially effective at high latitudes, so concerted efforts to reduce their emissions could preserve Arctic ice, while also having major benefits for human health, agricultural productivity and the global environment.


Author(s):  
Alicia Gutierrez González

AbstractThis article aims to give an overview of the international influence of the Emissions Trading System (ETS) in Mexico. It is divided into three parts. First, it briefly examines both the international Climate Change regime through the description of such instruments as the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and the 2015 Paris Agreement, and the national regime by reviewing as the 2012 General Law on Climate Change (LGCC), the National Emissions Registry (RENE) and its Regulations, as well as other instruments regarding mitigation from carbon tax and clean energy. Second, it analyzes the legal framework of the pilot phase of the ETS in Mexico (under the cap and trade principle) which seeks to reduce carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) only in the energy and industry sectors whose emissions are greater than 100 thousand direct tonnes of CO2. In doing so, it also explains the relevance of implementing an ETS as a cost-effective mitigation measure to achieve the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in order to reduce 22% greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030 (increasing to 36% if there is international support and financing) and 50% by 2050 as a developing country. Third, it focuses on the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) experience and shows that all its phases must be done gradually by adopting the learning-by-doing approach.


Author(s):  
Michele N Dempster

In light of the 2009 United Nations Copenhagen climate change conference, South Africa announced that in order to combat climate change it would commit to reducing domestic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 34 per cent by 2020 and 42 per cent by 2025. Due to this commitment, a carbon tax will be implemented as from 1 January 2015. This market-based instrument has received broad attention sparking debate as industries most affected, namely Eskom and the petroleum sector, have rallied together in complaint. The main debate being that despite the politically ambitious commitment to reduce GHG emissions, little scientific, economic or comparative evidence has been given to show that an influence will actually be had on the amount of GHG emitted. The purpose of this article is not to provide a detailed analysis of the entire scope of the South African climate change policy. It focuses on the more limited issue of carbon taxation. This does not however mean that the numerous other competing policy options, which still beg for attention, are not viable or will not be implemented in the future.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-181
Author(s):  
C. Ofoegbu ◽  
C. Ifejika Speranza

In South Africa, forests can play an important role in achieving the broader goals of climate change mitigation and adaptation. However, national policies on climate change mitigation and adaptation seem to narrow the potential contributions of the forest sector to climate protection targets. This is largely because of the divergence between the management goals of forests for climate protection, and products for both industries and livelihoods. This article uses discourse analysis as a methodological tool to analyze South Africa's climate and forest policies to identify the discourses shaping forest policy goals and mandates, and their integration into climate policy targets for forest-based climate change interventions. Four discourses, namely, preservation of forest integrity, social inclusiveness, equitable benefit sharing, and inclusive development of forests and forest-based communities, were identified as the dominant discourses influencing forest policy goals in South Africa. Their influence on forest management programmes has a mix of costs and benefits outcomes. For example, policy responses to the discourse on the preservation of forest integrity have resulted in ecologically sustainable forests in some cases and in other cases restricted the participation of local people in forest enterprise development. Additionally, climate policies recognized six possible interventions with respect to forest-based climate change mitigation and adaptation in South Africa but were silent about the four discourses shaping forest policy goals. Consequently, existing climate policies do not contain regulations to guide forest management for climate change mitigation and adaptation. We therefore recommend that forest-related goals in climate policy be grounded in the past experiences and lessons of forest policy implementations in order to take advantage of the synergies and reduce the trade-offs with respect to multipurpose management of forests for livelihoods, enterprise development, and climate change mitigation and adaptation.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danilo Freire ◽  
Umberto Guarnier Mignozzetti ◽  
David Skarbek

Which institutional features do Latin American elites favor for local climate change policies? Climate change mitigation requires active local level implementation, but it remains unclear which institutional arrangements maximize support for environmental rules. In this paper, we run a conjoint experiment with elite members of 10 Latin American countries and ask respondents to evaluate institutional designs drawn from a pool of 5,500 possible local climate governance arrangements. We find that Latin American elites prefer international organizations to formulate climate policies, support imposing increasing fines on violators, and favor renewing agreements every five years. We also find that elites support both international institutions and local courts to mediate conflicts, but they distrust non-governmental organizations and reject informal norms as a means of conflict resolution. Our results identify possible challenges in crafting local climate mitigation policies and offer new insights about how to integrate local and international levels in environmental agreements.


Author(s):  
Karen Alvarenga Oliveira

This chapter examines the climate change policy of Brazil. In 2010 at the Sixteenth Conference of Parties in Cancún, Brazil announced its voluntary national target of significantly reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions between 36.1 per cent and 38.9 per cent of projected emissions by 2020. These targets were defined in the Brazilian National Policy on Climate Change (PNMC). The PNMC establishes principles, guidelines, and economic instruments for reaching the national voluntary targets. It relies on sectoral plans for mitigation and adaptation to climate change in order to facilitate the move towards a low-carbon economy. The PNMC defined various aspects related to the measurement of goals, formulation of sectoral plans and of action plans for the prevention and control of deforestation in all Brazilian biomes, and governance structure.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 311
Author(s):  
Joo Young Lee ◽  
Su Hyeon Han

This paper looks at the current state of multilateral development banks (MDBs) for climate change measures and the funding status of those invested in mitigation technology in order to briefly review the current outcome of the technology transfer and financial support. In other words, the aim of this study is to collect and analyze information about the current status of total investment in the field of technology for mitigating GHGs (Greenhouse Gases) from MDBs and identify implications of the status. In this study, a screening technique has been used three times to make a database for project information in the field of mitigation of climate change. So far, based on the finalized DB (Database), mitigation technology projects supported by MDBs have been investigated; based on the result, a connected analysis has been conducted between MDBs, mitigation technology, and countries. According to the derived current status, project support in renewable energy and energy demand areas turned out to be the highest at 75% of the entire mitigation technology. Rather than the renewable energy and energy demand areas where climate technology projects have frequently been performed throughout the world, it was confirmed that long-term climate technology projects for GHG fixation were being performed. According to the results of comparison and analysis of countries with high GHG emissions and their centrality, centrality turned out to be high in the field of GHG fixation in China, the country with the highest GHG emissions. This seems to indicate that countries emitting a substantial amount of GHGs will invest more on projects in the field of GHG fixation as well as on projects on renewable energy. Thus, this study is expected to contribute to understanding the trends of climate technology projects for coping with climate change and using them in establishing future policies on climate technology. In addition, it is expected to be used as a reference for countries with insufficient investment in climate technology despite the high Climate Risk Index (CRI).


Author(s):  
Patrick Gwimbi

Purpose The concept of National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) is advocated at international, regional and national levels. The concept is thought to foster sustainability of livelihoods against impacts of climate change. This paper analyses the mainstreaming of NAPA into national development plans in Lesotho as accentuated by policies and programmes. Design/methodology/approach The analysis is broadly qualitative and reviews policies and projects on agriculture and food security, environment, forestry, water and irrigation aimed at sustaining rural livelihoods. Data from relevant government documents, commissioned studies’ reports, literature and key stakeholders are used. Findings Although the mainstreaming entry point for NAPA is identified in the country’s Vision 2020 and National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) 2012/13-2016/17, financial, technical, human and other resources are inadequate to ensure its effective implementation. There is little evidence of NAPA mainstreaming into development plans by the line ministries of finance and economic development other than donor-funded projects. Absence of climate change policy influence means NAPA is not well-factored into the national development agenda, as mainstreaming is difficult without appropriate policies. Most projects with effect on climate change impact abatement originate from specific sectors and are disconnected from each other. Originality/value Based on the findings, ways to leverage NAPA via mainstreaming are discussed. It is concluded that NAPA mainstreaming offers a promising avenue for initiating and promoting sustainable livelihoods in Lesotho. The study demonstrates the applicability of the presented sustainable livelihood framework.


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