Improving energy-efficiency is essential to any strategy to reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). New generations of household appliances are becoming ever more energy-efficient due to continuing technological advances, often spurred by government policies. These products are manufactured, sold and used on a global scale not imagined a decade ago. Yet achieving the full market potential of these best-available technologies has proven elusive, due to a variety of factors, some of which are trade-related. This paper considers these factors and looks at ways of addressing them. It examines four products in the residential sector that have considerable potential for significantly reducing GHG emissions: refrigerators, televisions, lighting, and air conditioners. These technologies are also widely traded globally. To develop a better understanding of how improvements in energy efficiency could affect CO2 emission reductions, the paper draws on work undertaken by Japan’s Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE), using their DNE21+ model.
Public expenditure remain crucial for addressing environmental problems and, more broadly, promoting a greener model of development in the countries of Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA). Traditionally, however, the environmental sector in the EECCA countries has not been very effective in attracting domestic public financing. As the global economic and financial crisis imposes ever-tighter constraints on public budgets in the region, and as donors shift to new approaches of delivering aid via country systems, this sector becomes increasingly vulnerable to underfunding.
The concept of a green economy has become the new buzz word in sustainability discourses, particularly in light of the Rio+20 Conference. Because of the current economic crisis and the perception that sustainability politics cannot be implemented efficiently, politicians have set their hopes on greening the economy. However, there are major problems with the aims and strategies linked to this concept. Specifically, if political, economical, and cultural constraints are not considered, green economy strategies will not be successful in their goals to end environmental degradation and reducing poverty.
This publication offers a general introduction to sustainability impact assessment, which is an approach for exploring the combined economic, environmental and social impacts of a range of proposed policies, programmes, strategies and action plans. Such assessments can also assist decision-making and strategic planning throughout the entire policy cycles. It is not an in-depth or detailed user manual, but rather outlines basic principles and process steps of sustainability impact assessments, drawing on examples from Switzerland, Belgium and the European Commission, among others. This publication is a valuable source of information for policy makers on sustainability impact assessments.
This publication (the 10th edition of Greenhouse Gas Market) brings together carbon market professionals, policymakers, academics and NGOs to provide in-depth analysis and perspective on the main issues affecting carbon policy worldwide. IETA is global in its outreach and the publication features latest developments in current and emerging carbon markets, as well as taking a step back to consider the wider implications of climate policy design and implementation.