scholarly journals Climate Adaption for Energy Utilities: Lessons Learned From California's Pioneering Regulatory Actions

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonya Ziaja ◽  
Mohit Chhabra

This Policy Brief provides lessons learned from regulation of climate adaptation by energy utilities. The regulatory bodies responsible for oversight of investor-owned energy utilities are ill-equipped to regulate climate adaptation in the energy sector; but they may be the only institutions with authority to do so. In 2018, the California Public Utilities Commission initiated the first quasi-legislative procedure to regulate investor owned energy utilities' climate adaptation activities. The Commission's new rules for climate adaptation offer some general guidance on climate adaptation, and require investor owned utilities to conduct and submit climate vulnerability studies. Structural limitations, including conflicting interest, capacity of staff, and scope of the problem hampered the success of adaptation regulation, which failed to address fundamental questions about what constitutes adaptive measures.

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (9) ◽  
pp. 57-64
Author(s):  
Hoang Manh Nguyen

This paper presents the cultural behavior to Nature of traditional housing in Vietnam Northern low land area and the discussion around the following issues: Characteristic of climate in Vietnam Northern lowland area. Approaches to environmental sustainability and climate adaptation through the analysis of traditional housing in Vietnam Northern lowland area. Status and architectural trends of rural housing development in Northern lowland area today. Keywords: Cultural behavior; climate adaption; Vietnam Northern lowland area; environmental sustainability eISSN 2514-751X © 2018. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/aje-bs.v3i9.299  


Author(s):  
JAMIE DRAPER

Social scientific evidence suggests that labor migration can increase resilience to climate change. For that reason, some have recently advocated using labor migration policy as a tool for climate adaptation. This paper engages with the normative question of whether, and under what conditions, states may permissibly use labor migration policy as a tool for climate adaptation. I argue that states may use labor migration policy as a tool for climate adaptation and may even have a duty to do so, subject to two moral constraints. First, states must also provide acceptable alternative options for adaptation so that the vulnerable are not forced to sacrifice their morally important interests in being able to remain where they are. Second, states may not impose restrictive terms on labor migrants to make accepting greater numbers less costly for themselves because doing so unfairly shifts the costs of adaptation onto the most vulnerable.


2021 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 857-872
Author(s):  
Kate McCue ◽  
Bill McCue

In 2018, the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation (GIFN) implemented a First Nation property tax system under the First Nations Fiscal Management Act (FMA)—one of the earliest First Nations in Ontario to do so. Implementation of a property tax system gave GIFN an opportunity to improve funding for and expand local services, and provide a more equitable sharing of local service costs between cottagers leasing First Nation land and the First Nation. Key challenges encountered when implementing the property tax system were building consensus around the need for a tax system, building an appropriate administrative infrastructure, carrying out property assessments, and professionals lacking knowledge of First Nation property tax. These challenges, however, presented opportunities to create a knowledge base around property taxation within GIFN, among cottage leaseholders, and in the wider community. Key lessons learned were (1) start as soon as possible; (2) First Nations Tax Commission support and standards are important; (3) staff training is important; (4) communicate early and often; (5) hold open houses; (6) local services are more than garbage collection; (7) property taxes do not harm lease rates or cottage sales; (8) educate lawyers, real estate agents, and other professionals; (9) startup costs were significant; (10) coordinate laws and standards with provincial variations; (11) modernize systems; and (12) utilize other parts of the FMA.


2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 199-205
Author(s):  
L. Corre ◽  
P. Dandin ◽  
D. L'Hôte ◽  
F. Besson

Abstract. From the French National Adaptation to Climate Change Plan, the "Drias, les futurs du climat" service has been developed to provide easy access to French regional climate projections. This is a major step for the implementation of French Climate Services. The usefulness of this service for the end-users and decision makers involved with adaptation planning at a local scale is investigated. As such, the VIADUC project is: to evaluate and enhance Drias, as well as to imagine future development in support of adaptation. Climate scientists work together with end-users and a service designer. The designer's role is to propose an innovative approach based on the interaction between scientists and citizens. The chosen end-users are three Natural Regional Parks located in the South West of France. The latter parks are administrative entities which gather municipalities having a common natural and cultural heritage. They are also rural areas in which specific economic activities take place, and therefore are concerned and involved in both protecting their environment and setting-up sustainable economic development. The first year of the project has been dedicated to investigation including the questioning of relevant representatives. Three key local economic sectors have been selected: i.e. forestry, pastoral farming and building activities. Working groups were composed of technicians, administrative and maintenance staff, policy makers and climate researchers. The sectors' needs for climate information have been assessed. The lessons learned led to actions which are presented hereinafter.


2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (Special Issue) ◽  
pp. 113-114
Author(s):  
Krishma Labib ◽  
◽  
Joeri Tijdink ◽  
◽  

"Co-creation is a qualitative research methodology that engages stakeholders in playful activities to produce user-centered outputs. Through an interactive and open approach, co-creation explores stakeholders’ latent values, generates innovative ideas, and captures minority views, allowing for in-depth understanding of how stakeholders are affected by various factors. Therefore, co-creation is a promising methodology for developing guidelines on research integrity (RI), although there is no literature available about co-creation in this context. In our presentation, we share experiences of using co-creation to design institutional guidelines on RI together with research managers, funders and researchers across Europe. We conducted 24 co-creation workshops on topics ranging from RI education, to creating a responsible research environment, resulting in concrete guidelines that research institutions and funders can implement to foster RI. Our experience has provided us with valuable insights on using co-creation for RI guideline development. While motivating research stakeholders – often serious and analytically oriented people – to engage in creative exercises can be a challenge, particularly in the online setting, it is possible to achieve when ‘play’ and ‘work’ are carefully balanced. Additionally, to ensure the concreteness of guidelines while accounting for differences among institutions and countries, best practice examples can be used to show different approaches to implementing more general guidance. We have also learned that it is valuable to explore stakeholders’ preferences regarding the guideline format, since implementability is not only influenced by the content. These insights provide practical considerations that other researchers can use when co-creating RI guidelines. "


Author(s):  
Lyn R. Greenberg ◽  
Barbara J. Fidler ◽  
Michael A. Saini ◽  
Robert Schnider ◽  
Ashley-Lauren Reyes

In this chapter, the authors identify central themes that unite the disparate chapters in this volume and offer suggestions for future directions. The chapters have ranged from research reviews to integrated models, based on research-supported components, detailed case applications, and general guidance and practice tools. A common uniting theme is the importance of seeking and maintaining current knowledge relevant to treatment and other interventions, including research from related fields as appropriate. Judicious application and understanding of the literature is important. Future needs include addressing the training gap among both specialized providers and other professionals, addressing resource gaps, and including in our professional guidelines the requirement that professionals who make recommendations about services have sufficient knowledge to do so. Issues in cross-disciplinary communication and training of lawyers and judges are also addressed.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Kellison ◽  
Madeleine Orr

PurposeSevere hazards associated with climate change are threatening human settlements, thereby requiring global cities to implement comprehensive climate adaptation strategies. For sports organizations, adaptive measures may include designing and constructing new stadiums. In this study, the authors explore climate change as a vehicle for urban transformation, particularly as it relates to the replacement of existing stadiums with new, more sustainable and resilient venues.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employed a collective case study approach focusing on three recent cases of stadium replacement: Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas; Oakland Ballpark in Oakland, California; and Marlins Park in Miami, Florida. These cases were selected because an official representative of each team made explicit references to some form of climate adaptation, though each ballpark faces a distinctive climate-related threat.FindingsEach of the cases illustrates the various ways in which climate vulnerability may be deployed by teams and policymakers to replace professional sports stadiums. Although all three examples involved the replacement of an existing ballpark, only in the Texas case was climate adaptation openly cited as the primary reason for stadium replacement. Still, ballpark replacement plans in Oakland and Miami included significant and costly design features to protect the stadiums from extreme weather events.Originality/valueThis study applies the concept of climate vulnerability to illustrate a potential strategy to justify stadium replacement. As cities and metropolitan regions continue to grapple with the grand challenge of climate change, the associated vulnerability of large public assembly facilities such as major sports stadiums – particularly those prominently situated in urban centers – can no longer be ignored.


2008 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael G. Alles ◽  
Alexander Kogan ◽  
Miklos A. Vasarhelyi

ABSTRACT: In the almost twenty years since Vasarhelyi and Halper (1991) reported on their pioneering implementation of what has come to be known as Continuous Auditing (CA), the concept has increasingly moved from theory into practice. A 2006 survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers shows that half of all responding firms use some sort of CA techniques, and the majority of the rest plan to do so in the near future. CA not only has an increasing impact on auditing practice, but is also one of the rare instances in which such a significant change was led by the researchers. In this paper we survey the state of CA after two decades of research into continuous auditing theory and practice, and draw out the lessons learned by us in recent pilot CA projects at two major firms, to examine where this unique partnership between academics and auditors will take CA in the future.


2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 473-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
ERIK GAWEL ◽  
PAUL LEHMANN ◽  
SEBASTIAN STRUNZ ◽  
CLEMENS HEUSON

AbstractIn this paper, we take a Public Choice perspective to identify and categorise barriers to efficient public climate adaptation. Specifically, we distinguish three dimensions of public adaptation: extent, structure (form and timing) and organisation (coordination across territorial authorities and policy fields). Within each of these dimensions, we investigate how the self-interest of voters, pressure groups, bureaucrats and politicians may bias adaptation decisions. Thus, we indicate specific barriers to efficient public adaptation. Based on this framework, we illustrate how Germany's response to major flood disasters reflects the incentive structure of concerned stakeholders and their political interaction. The ad hoc character of some public adaptation measures implies a clear bias from the efficient benchmark. In conclusion, we argue that the propositions of Public Choice theory shed some light on how empirical public adaptation processes unfold.


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