Against the background of a projected doubling of world greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century, this book explores feasible ways to abate them at least cost. Through quantitative analysis, it addresses key climate policy issues:
• What would an ideal set of climate policy tools look like?
• How large are the economic and environmental costs of incomplete country or sector coverage of climate change mitigation policies? What are the pros and cons of policy tools to broaden that coverage, such as international sector-wide agreements or border-tax adjustments? What are the main challenges in incorporating a mechanism to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation?
• How can we concretely develop a global carbon market?
• What is the case for, and what can we reasonably expect from, R&D and technology support policies?
This report assesses the role that nuclear energy can play in supporting the transition to a low-carbon energy system. It begins by considering the greenhouse gas emissions from the full nuclear fuel cycle, reviewing recent studies on indirect emissions and assessing the impact that nuclear power could make in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
There are currently debates in many countries on whether or not to adjust or correct the measure of gross domestic product (GDP) for deterioration of the state of the environment and depletion of natural resources. The surge in interest for developing such a "green GDP" can perhaps be traced back to the World Commission on Economy and Development's report "Our common future" (WCED, 1987) and the follow-up conference in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, (UNCED). Also the process of revising the system of national accounts (SNA) and the emergence of a "blue book" on System for Economic and Environmental Accounting (SEEA) (UN, 2003) have played an important role in motivating these debates.
This report is an effort to summarise international experiences and current status with regard to the development of a "green GDP". The context is an ongoing debate in China on how to measure performance at the national and local level in a way that not only gives incentives for economic development, but also take due notice and care of the impact on the environment and the natural resources of the unprecedented economic development taking place in parts of China.
This publication includes the latest available economic, financial, social and environmental indicators for the 48 regional members of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). It aims to present the latest key statistics on development issues concerning the economies of Asia and the Pacific to a wide audience. Part I of this issue is a special chapter on green urbanisation in Asia. This chapter tackles two growing concerns: environmental sustainability and rapid urbanisation. It argues that proper management of the urbanisation process can mitigate the environmental impacts and lead to a better life for the region's urban residents. Parts II and III comprise of brief, non-technical analyses and statistical tables on the millennium development goals (MDGs) and seven other themes. This summary was prepared by Eldis.
As France works out its plan to tackle climate change issues, questions are arising in the forest sector as to how sectoral mitigation programs such as those designed to enhance fuel wood consumption or to stimulate in-forest carbon sequestration may coincide with an inter-sectoral program such as an economy-wide carbon tax.
This paper provides insights into this question by exploring the impacts of (1) a combination of a carbon tax and a fuel wood policy, and (2) a combination of a carbon tax and a sequestration policy on (i) the economy of the forest sector, and (ii) the dynamics of the forest resource. To do this, a modified version of the French Forest Sector Model (FFSM) is used and simulations are carried out on a 2020 time horizon.