Comparing developing countries under potential carbon allocation schemes

Abstract

To stabilise atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, all countries will eventually need to be included in the effort to limit climate change. This article explores what potential future greenhouse gas allocation schemes might mean for key developing countries. The need for development is widely acknowledged, but growth in non-Annex I country emissions means that such development may need to take a different path to business as usual. The national interests of developing countries in negotiating potential future commitments are shaped by basic characteristics, notably emissions (both annual and historical cumulative), economic growth and population. These factors in turn shape the acceptability of allocations based on ability to pay, emissions intensity, or emissions per capita.

Results for six major developing countries (China, India, Brazil, South Africa, Argentina and Nigeria) show that the implications for developing countries differ widely. For example, ability to pay does not favour Argentina; a reduction based on emissions intensity is not appropriate for Brazil; and per capita allocations would be problematic for South Africa. It is difficult to conceive of a single allocation scheme that would be appropriate for all developing countries. This points to the need for differentiation between developing countries in terms of any potential future commitments.     

Towards an equitable global climate change regime: compatibility with Article 2 of the Climate Change Convention and the link with sustainable development

Abstract

In this paper we argue that the discussion on how to get to an equitable global climate change regime requires a long-term context. Some key dimensions of this discussion are responsibility, capability and development needs. Each of these, separately or in combination, has been used in designing schemes for differentiation of commitments to limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Many implementation problems of these proposals are often side-stepped. In particular, some proposals may be incompatible with Article 2 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), i.e. they are unlikely to keep the option open of long-term stabilisation of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations at relatively low levels. We present some evidence that shifting the emphasis from emission reduction to sustainable development needs can contribute significantly to relieving the threat of human-induced climate change.     

Social impacts of a temperate fisheries closure: understanding stakeholders' views

The social dimensions of marine protected areas (MPAs) play an important role in MPA success, yet these social dimensions are little understood. We explore the social impacts arising from the establishment of an MPA using Lyme Bay (south west England) as a case study. Through a series of small group semi-structured interviews the social impacts experienced by fishermen (mobile and static gear), recreational users (divers and sea anglers) and recreation service providers (charter boat and dive businesses) were explored. The social impacts expressed varied according to activity in which the stakeholder group engaged. Negative themes included lengthening fishing trips, tension and conflict, fishermen identity, equity and uncertainty in the long-term. Positive themes included improved experiences for both commercial fishermen and recreational users, and expectations for long-term benefits. These impacts need to be understood because they influence stakeholder behaviour. Failure to interpret stakeholder responses may lead to poor decision-making and worsening stakeholder relations. These findings have implications for the success of the MPA in Lyme Bay, but also for the future network of marine conservation zones around the UK. Any assessment of MPA impacts must therefore identify social as well as economic and environmental change.     

Is REDD+ effective,efficient, and equitable? Learning from a REDD+ project in Northern Cambodia

REDD+ is a global scale climate change mitigation program aiming at creating financial values for carbon stored in forests. According to the proponents, REDD+ is an effective, efficient, and equitable mechanism for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. Some scholars question this assumption, and some call for further analysis to understand how REDD+ can contribute to economic, environmental, and social goals, and what are the synergies and trade-offs between them. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the debate about whether REDD+ projects can be brought to accommodate economic (efficiency), environmental (effectiveness), and social (equity) concerns at the same time by drawing on own field results from a REDD+ project in Cambodia. The paper follows three tracks. The first is to develop and explain the conceptual and analytical framework for our empirical investigations. The second is to explain the field results. The third track is to discuss what general lessons can be learnt. Our case illustrates some of the mechanisms that are likely to work against the willingness and ability of REDD+ projects to ensure local people’s net-gains, and the risk that effectiveness and equity will suffer if REDD+ projects rely solely on the private market. Our case thus indicates a tension between the objectives of creating financial value from carbon stored in trees through the private market, and environmental and social equity concerns. However, we call for more comparative studies of REDD+ projects, and hope our conceptual framework can assist such studies.     

“绅士化运动”对我国旧城更新的启示

探讨了西方“绅士化运动”的概念、起源及其发展演变的动力机制 ,着重分析了“绅士化运动”对原住居民的影响以及城市地方政府在“绅士化运动”中的作用 ,认为“绅士化运动”对我国当前的旧城更新具有重要的启示与借鉴作用。文中建议在编制旧城更新规划时开展关于旧城更新项目对原住居民影响的专项研究 ,以保障社会公平的实现。     

Nationalising local sustainability: Lessons from the British wartime Utility furniture scheme

Analyses of sustainable design and commodity networks often make a priori assumptions about the capacity of markets to provide solutions to environmental problems; and have a tendency to celebrate local scales of action. This paper offers a contrasting account, in which the national state sought to carefully manage scarce natural resources and to ensure equitable consumption at a time of deep crisis. We utilise the historical example of the British wartime Utility furniture scheme in order to draw out three lessons for sustainable and equitable environmental practice. First, we argue that national states do not simply provide an institutional backdrop to sustainable production but rather can act as important organising agents. Second, the paper emphasises that sustainability is best achieved through interventions across a commodity network, beyond simply modifications to a single node such as design. Finally, we underscore the value of ‘pragmatic centralism’ in environmental decision-making, calling attention to the collaborative practices that underpinned the scheme. The example of Utility’s adaptive responses—borne out of crisis, scarcity and shortage during wartime—offers much that is of intrinsic interest to current concerns about resource consumption and the drivers of sustainability in commodity networks.     

Multipolarity and the new world (dis)order: US hegemonic decline and the fragmentation of the global climate regime

The international climate change negotiations leading to and including the Copenhagen and Cancun Conferences of the Parties in 2009 and 2010 have shown a very different balance of power from those of the 1997 Kyoto round. This “New World dis(Order)” is characterized by insecurity of the United States in the face of economic and political decline vis-à-vis China; fragmentation of the Group of 77 developing nations negotiating bloc; and weakening of the European Union, which was cut out entirely from the group negotiating the Copenhagen Accord. In addition to old alignments of developing countries based on solidarity, negotiating blocs have fractured along lines of responsibility for climate change, capability to address it, and national vulnerability to climate risks. This paper assesses whether, over the past two decades, negotiations have come closer to meeting basic criteria of international climate justice, and chronicles how environmental negotiations have come to reflect a different and shifting balance of power. Drawing insights from Giovanni Arrighi and Beverly Silver's analyses of US hegemonic decline and the rise of China, the article argues that the roots of the worst stubbornness by the US in recent climate talks lie in growing insecurity about its ability to provide jobs for its workers in a future where all sorts of work is moving to China and India.     

Sustainable energy development and climate change in China

Abstract

This article analyses the national circumstances and major factors underpinning China's energy demand and supply, energy-related emissions, and consequently China's sustainable development. These factors include the huge, still growing, and aging population, rapid economic growth, ongoing industrialization and urbanization, environmental and health concerns at local, regional and global level. Against such background analysis, the article explores the potential and constraints of non-fossil fuel, fuel-switching to natural gas, economy restructuring and clean coal technology in mitigating emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) and ensuring energy supply in China. The authors reiterate the importance of improving energy efficiency in China and discuss how to integrate renewable energy into rural development. The article concludes with an in-depth discussion about redefining development goals, the equity issue in climate change process, and the linkage with sustainable development.     

Carbon sequestration in agroforestry systems

Abstract

Management of trees in agroecosystems such as agroforestry, ethnoforests, and trees outside forests can mitigate green house gas (GHG) emissions under the Kyoto Protocol. Agroforestry systems are a better climate change mitigation option than oceanic, and other terrestrial options because of the secondary environmental benefits such as helping to attain food security and secure land tenure in developing countries, increasing farm income, restoring and maintaining above-ground and below-ground biodiversity, corridors between protected forests, as CH₄ sinks, maintaining watershed hydrology, and soil conservation. Agroforestry also mitigates the demand for wood and reduces pressure on natural forests. Promoting woodcarving industry facilitates long-term locking-up of carbon in carved wood and new sequestration through intensified tree growing. By making use of local knowledge, equity, livelihood security, trade and industry, can be supported. There is need to support development of suitable policies, assisted by robust country-wide scientific studies aimed at better understanding the potential of agroforestry and ethnoforestry for climate change mitigation and human well-being.     

An assessment of the current status of the chokka squid fishery in South Africa and an evaluation of alternative allocation strategies

The South African squid fishery is based on a single species, Loligo reynaudi, locally referred to as chokka and commonly found around the Agulhas Bank and West Coast shelf of South Africa. The existing long term rights for participation in the fishery expire at the end of 2013 and a new set of rights will have to be issued. Progress made to date in achieving the objectives of the South African Marine Living Resources Act of 1998 (MLRA), including progress towards greater equity, will be an important consideration in allocation decisions. The draft Small-Scale Fisheries Policy, scheduled to be adopted in 2013, could also influence the criteria to be used. This study updates the information on the current structure and functioning of the squid jig sector and considers the likely performance of two alternative access allocation scenarios against the current and evolving policy goals. The study reaffirms that the squid fishery is an important contributor to human well-being in South Africa and particularly in the Eastern Cape Province but there is scope for improvement in the extent of transformation and equity. The study concludes that, as a result of a common lack of experience and capital amongst potential new entrants, the risks associated with transformation in this fishery are likely to be high, especially if the option of allocating rights to community-based legal entities was to be used. The risks could be reduced by ensuring that a number of pre-conditions were met. These include, amongst others, not allowing total effort in the fishery to increase; ensuring effective management by the responsible government authorities; adequate capacity building of new entrants, whether individuals or cooperatives; and ensuring new entrants have viable business plans.