Climate Change Mitigation Policies Research Articles

Indonesian Government Mitigation Efforts towards Climate Change in the Marine and Fisheries Sector

Aims: This study aims to determine the Indonesian Government's mitigation efforts in dealing with climate change, especially in the marine and fisheries sector.
 Study Design: Literature study model.
 Place and Duration of Study: Yogyakarta, Indonesia; 2020-2021.
 Methodology: This study method utilized a qualitative approach with a literature study model. Sixty scientific national and international journals, online mass media, and legislations were collected. Data sources were used to explain the mitigation policy analysis of climate change in the marine and fisheries sector. The study stages started from article searching, theme classification, literature mapping based on discussions of various scientific journals, books, and online mass media with different orientations, data analysis, interpretation, and data presentation.
 Results: The results of the study reveal that the impact of climate change on the marine and fisheries sector is very significant so that the Indonesian government establishes various policies, undertakes mitigation efforts to strengthen its identity as a maritime country, eradicates illegal, unreported, unregulated (IUU) fishing, imposes a moratorium on ex-foreign ships, accelerates the growth of national economy, enhance food sovereignty and promote the development of maritime and marine economies. However, there are still problems in implementing policies, so it is necessary to improve the management system for climate change countermeasures in the marine and fisheries sector in Indonesia.
 Conclusion: Mitigation strategies in the marine and fisheries sector in Indonesia that can be implemented include applying sustainable aquaculture management practices suitable for carrying capacity and developing an integrated cultivation system. Various climate change mitigation policies in the marine and fisheries sector of the Government of Indonesia are commendable given many recognized successes, but there are still many problems with policy implementation. Ineffective application of policies is due to the government's focus on tackling climate change based on forestry and energy sectors, weak application of laws, and other problems. There is still a need for improvement in the management system for climate change countermeasures in Indonesia's marine and fisheries sector.

Climate change in a changing world: Socio-economic and technological transitions, regulatory frameworks and trends on global greenhouse gas emissions from EDGAR v.5.0

Over the last three decades, socio-economic, demographic and technological transitions have been witnessed throughout the world, modifying both sectorial and geographical distributions of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Understanding these trends is central to the design of current and future climate change mitigation policies, requiring up-to-date methodologically robust emission inventories such as the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR), the European Commission’s in-house, independent global emission inventory. EDGAR is a key tool to track the evolution of GHG emissions and contributes to quantifying the global carbon budget, providing independent and systematically calculated emissions for all countries.According to the results of the EDGAR v.5.0 release, total anthropogenic global greenhouse gas emissions (excluding land use, land use change and forestry) were estimated at 49.1 Gt CO2eq in 2015, 50 % higher than in 1990, despite a monotonic decrease in GHG emissions per unit of economic output. Between 1990 and 2015, emissions from developed countries fell by 9%, while emissions from low to medium income countries increased by 130%, predominantly from 2000 onwards. The 27 Member States of the European Union and the United Kingdom led the pathway for emission reductions in industrialised economies whilst, in developing countries, the rise in emissions was driven by higher emissions in China, India, Brazil and nations in the South-East Asian region. This diversity of patterns shows how different patterns for GHG emissions are and the need for identifying regionally tailored emission reduction measures.

Perceptions of human thermal comfort in an urban tourism destination – A case study of Porto (Portugal)

Tourism is one of the fastest growing economic sectors on an international scale. Based on this growth, it became necessary to consider climatic-meteorological conditions as determinants for boosting tourism in some geographical areas. The main objective of this paper is to characterize the perception of bioclimatic comfort of tourists who visited the city of Porto in the summer seasons of 2019 and 2020 (in the on-going pandemic). Primary data were obtained from a questionnaire on perceptions of bioclimatic comfort and microclimatic measurements applied to 207 tourists in the summer of 2019, 146 in the winter of 2019–2020 and 210 in the summer of 2020. It took place in one of the main places of passage for tourists visiting the city of Porto. Based on statistical analysis, responses were parameterized according to the environmental and sociodemographic characteristics of the tourists. In addition, summary indicators (Physiological Equivalent Temperature – PET, Thermal Sensation Vote – TSV, Thermal Preference Vote – TPV) were used to characterize the profile of visiting tourists. The influence of microclimate conditions on the thermal comfort of tourists was evident, showing, however, that they still felt comfortable regardless of the situation. The results demonstrated a good effort to reduce thermal discomfort through adapted behavior. Air temperature and relative humidity seem to be more directly related to mean thermal sensation votes in the summer of 2019 (r2 = 0.86 and r2 = 0.68, respectively). In the winters of 2019–2020 and summer of 2020, these indicators do not show such a strong correlation. Anyway, it is verified that there is a greater tolerance for higher and lower temperatures than those that are verified for the residents, when compared to previous studies. The consideration of average thresholds for thermal comfort in tourism is crucial. In future studies and planning proposals, it will be necessary to consider the optimal climatic conditions of local climate change adaptation and mitigation policies.

Global externalities from avoided emissions in the Costa Rican cattle sector: opportunities for more efficient mitigation policies

The livestock sector has had an important contribution to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In Costa Rica, more than 20% of emissions come from beef and milk production. This paper performs a cost–benefit analysis of a climate policy in the Costa Rican cattle sector, and tries to innovate by including the positive global externality of emissions reduction into the analysis; to assess the extent to which it affects the attractivity of the referred policy. National sectorial policies for climate change mitigation generate global benefits, such as avoided GHG emissions into the atmosphere—a global public good. However, such global positive externalities, which represented 13% to 31% of the policy’s benefits in the widest scenario of our study, are usually not included in national climate planning, which may lead efficient policies to be dismissed. This paper shows that taking externalities into account makes sectorial climate mitigation policies more efficient, i.e., more appealing for investments. Benefit–cost ratios varied between 0.27 and 7.31 and break-even points average around the third and fourth years. Moreover, the results under different economic assumptions varied in terms of net benefits, but viability balance (viable vs. unviable scenarios) remained stable for different settings. The crucial question remains on how to best balance such global positive externalities to be advantageous to both funders and beneficiaries, enabling an efficient global climate mitigation strategy.

Global scenarios of household access to modern energy services under climate mitigation policy

Emission reduction scenarios to meet climate change mitigation policy goals rarely explore the differential impact of alternative pathways on access to energy for different economic strata of society across countries. Here we show that even under optimistic socioeconomic growth scenarios, inequalities in use of modern energy in homes could persist. We find that, although access improves in high growth scenarios, over 10% of populations in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia could lack access to energy services for thermal comfort, food preparation and conservation, and cleaning in 2050. Ambitious climate mitigation scenarios do not substantially alter household access to energy services in the Global South, and only affect gas consumption in high-income regions. Our work suggests that efforts to meet climate mitigation policy goals are not at odds with progress towards universal access to modern energy services in the Global South, however, directed policy will be needed to meet access goals.

Eco-social State in the European Union: the Relationship Between the Social and Climate Policy of the Member States

This article analyzes the relationship between the social and climate policies of the European Union member states and examines the concept of the eco–social state. In the climate crisis era, the need for a close link between social and climate policies is particularly acute. The European Green Deal and other EU strategies reflect a political agenda with a specific interest in social and ecological goals. We aim to answer whether more significant state efforts in the social field are related to a similarly more substantial commitment in climate policy or whether a greater focus on one means less attention on another. 
 On a theoretical level, we discuss the challenges of climate change for social policy and present the concept of climate justice. The similarities and differences between the ecological and the welfare state are also examined. We argue that the concept of climate justice highlights the phenomenon of a double and even triple injustice on a global level, which requires joint efforts in spheres of social and climate policy. Eco-social state combines social and environmental institutions intending to ensure welfare and sustainability and thus complements the traditional concept of the welfare state. The Koch-Fritz (2014) classification, which distinguishes between the established, deadlocked, emerging, and failing eco-social states, is presented in the paper and used for the empirical analysis. 
 The empirical part of the paper employs non-parametrical correlation and hierarchical cluster analysis. The former allows for exploring the links between the ecological and social indicators. The latter enables countries to be grouped according to social and climate indicators and compared to the traditional classification of welfare states and Koch-Fritz models of eco-social states. The analysis is based on social and climate indicators of the Europe 2020 strategy. The study found that countries that provide relatively more significant funding for traditional social problems also perform better in climate change adaptation and mitigation policies by reducing greenhouse gas emissions in an effort–sharing sectors and final energy consumption. We show that clusters of the EU member states in terms of social and climate indicators (eco–social state models) are very similar to their membership in the traditional welfare states’ classification.
 Moreover, social democratic welfare states are better prepared to address climate change than countries representing other types of welfare states. Thus the analysis confirms the social democratic welfare states as established eco–social states, while the conservative-corporate and liberal welfare states can indeed be called deadlocked eco–social states with average results. We show, however, that Lithuania, together with other Eastern European and Southern European countries, fluctuates on both the best and the worst social and climate change mitigation outcomes. Hence those should be attributed to a group with the mixed results and can be named as failed-emerging eco-social states.

Links between Climate Change Knowledge, Perception and Action: Impacts on Personal Carbon Footprint

The current understanding of determinants of climate action and mitigation behaviour is largely based on measures of climate change including concerns, attitudes and beliefs. However, few studies have shown the actual effects of external and internal drivers on citizens’ lifestyles related to climate change, particularly in terms of their carbon footprint (CF). A questionnaire (N = 845) assessing the impact of potential explanation factors for personal CF was carried out in Spain. The study showed the importance of better understanding the factors affecting citizen’s consumption and climate change mitigation policies. Internal factors were not very explicative. Knowledge was linked to clothing and perceived commitment to food, with both sectors being more directly linked to personal choices than other CF sections. Both accounted for 40% of personal emissions. Frequency of action was not shown to be significantly related to any CF section. External factors, such as income, level of studies, age and type of work, were found to be more important than internal drivers in explaining personal CF, particularly type of work, age and income, which were linked to all CF sectors but household energy. Sex was highly associated to clothing, but also significant for transport. Political orientation was not found to be linked to any section of personal CF.

Climate Change Warning Labels on Gas Pumps: The Role of Public Opinion Formation in Climate Change Mitigation Policies.

This article analyzes City of Cambridge, Massachusetts legislation that requires all gasoline and diesel pumps to display a consumer warning label outlining the climate change and public health impacts from fuel combustion. This review of empirical and theoretical scholarship on efficacy of carbon label programs and health warning labels suggests government‐sponsored “warming labels” may increase self‐efficacy beliefs. The analysis reveals warming labels may activate extant climate concern norms and shift public opinion toward long term support of sustainable transportation emissions policies and practices.

Current surveys may underestimate climate change skepticism evidence from list experiments in Germany and the USA.

Strong public support is a prerequisite for ambitious and thus costly climate change mitigation policy, and strong public concern over climate change is a prerequisite for policy support. Why, then, do most public opinion surveys indicate rather high levels of concern and rather strong policy support, while de facto mitigation efforts in most countries remain far from ambitious? One possibility is that survey measures for public concern fail to fully reveal the true attitudes of citizens due to social desirability bias. In this paper, we implemented list-experiments in representative surveys in Germany and the United States (N = 3620 and 3640 respectively) to assess such potential bias. We find evidence that people systematically misreport, that is, understate their disbelief in human caused climate change. This misreporting is particularly strong amongst politically relevant subgroups. Individuals in the top 20% of the income distribution in the United States and supporters of conservative parties in Germany exhibit significantly higher climate change skepticism according to the list experiment, relative to conventional measures. While this does not definitively mean that climate skepticism is a widespread phenomenon in these countries, it does suggest that future research should reconsider how climate change concern is measured, and what subgroups of the population are more susceptible to misreporting and why. Our findings imply that public support for ambitious climate policy may be weaker than existing survey research suggests.

Social and ecological dominance orientations: Two sides of the same coin? Social and ecological dominance orientations predict decreased support for climate change mitigation policies

In this article, we examine the roles of social dominance orientation (SDO) and ecological dominance orientation (EDO) as predictors of climate change risk and threat perceptions and associated pro-environmental policy support. EDO is a novel measure that we devised based on social dominance theory to assess general preferences for an anthropocentric, hierarchical arrangement between humans, non-human animals, and the natural environment. Across two pre-registered studies ( N = 715; USA and Germany) our results indicate that SDO and EDO are uniquely associated with decreased support for climate change mitigation policies benefitting humans, non-human animals, and the natural environment. These relationships in turn are partially mediated by decreased climate change risk and threat perceptions. We successfully replicate our findings using a more behavioral measure as dependent variable. Notably, using a more behavioral measure (Study 2), EDO was significantly associated with pro-environmental behavior but not SDO, when threats are accounted for as mediators.

Time of emergence of economic impacts of climate change

We introduce the concept of time of emergence of economic impacts (ToEI), which identifies the initial moment when the climate change impact signal exceeds a previously defined threshold of past economic output shocks in a given geographic area. We compute the ToEI using probabilistic climate change projections and impact functions from three integrated assessment models of climate change: DICE, RICE and CLIMRISK. Our results demonstrate that, in terms of the business-as-usual carbon emissions scenario, the global economy could reach its ToEI by 2095. Regional results highlight areas that are likely to reach the ToEI sooner, namely Western Europe by 2075, India by 2083, and Africa by 2085. We also explore local-scale variations in the ToEI demonstrating that, for example, Paris already reached the ToEI around 2020, while Shanghai will reach it around 2080. We conclude that the ToEI methodology can be applied to impact models of varying scales when sufficient historical impact data are available. Moreover, unprecedented impacts of climate change in the 21st century may be experienced even in economically developed regions in the US and Europe. Finally, moderate to stringent climate change mitigation policies could delay the extreme economic impacts of climate change by three decades in Latin America, the Middle East, and Japan, by two decades in India, Western Europe, and the US, and by one decade in Africa. Our results can be used by policymakers interested in implementing timely climate policies to prevent potentially large economic shocks due to climate change.

Demoralizing: integrating J.D. Peters’ communication “chasm” with Niklas Luhmann’s (1989) ecological communication to analyze climate change mitigation inaction

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explain the US society’s insignificant mitigation of climate change using Niklas Luhmann’s (1989) autopoietic social systems theory in ecological communication. Specifically, the author’s analysis falls within the context of Luhmann re-moralized while focusing on particular function systems’ binary codes and their repellence of substantive US climate change mitigation policy across systems.Design/methodology/approachThe author achieves this purpose by resituating Luhmann’s conception of evolution to forgo systems teleology and better contextualize the spatial-temporal scale of climate change; reinforcing complexity reduction and differentiation by integrating communication and media scholar John D. Peters’s (1999) “communication chasm” concept as one mechanism through which codes sustain over time; and applying these integrated concepts to prominent the US climate change mitigation attempts.FindingsThe author concludes that climate change mitigation efforts are the amalgamation of the systems’ moral communications. Mitigation efforts have relegated themselves to subsystems of the ten major systems given the polarizing nature of their predominant care/harm moral binary. Communication chasms persist because these moral communications cannot both adhere to the systems’ binary codes and communicate the climate crisis’s urgency. The more time that passes, the more codes force mitigation organizations, activist efforts and their moral communications to adapt and sacrifice their actions to align with the encircling systems’ code.Social implicationsIn addition to the conceptual contribution, the social implication is that by identifying how and why climate change mitigation efforts are subsumed by the larger systems and their codes, climate change activists and practitioners can better tool their tactics to change the codes at the heart of the systems if serious and substantive climate change mitigation is to prevail.Originality/valueTo the author’s knowledge, there has not been an integration of a historical communication concept into, and sociological application of, ecological communication in the context of climate change mitigation.

Citywide Energy-Related CO2 Emissions and Sustainability Assessment of the Development of Low-Carbon Policy in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Cities are one of the key contributors to the environment and sustainability. This study aims to quantify citywide energy-related CO2 emissions and assess the sustainability feasibility of implementing climate change mitigation policies in Chiang Mai, Thailand. By employing the GPC method, it was found that the average energy-related CO2 emission in Chiang Mai from 2015 to 2019 was 2,146,060 tCO2eq. Residences, industries (i.e., food preservation industries), and commercial and governmental buildings were the top three energy consumption-related GHG emitters. According to the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), in terms of mitigation measures, LED lighting presented the highest score (0.380), followed by improving air conditioning efficiency (0.278), and the use of energy-efficient appliances (0.203). Energy-efficient technologies would be more feasible than the development of renewable energy technologies to lower CO2 emissions. In terms of sustainability, political, technical, and economic feasibility criteria presented the highest AHP score (0.789), followed by human and social dimensions criteria (0.129), and environmental performance criteria (0.073). Policy possibility had the highest AHP score, while direct contribution to climate benefits as GHG reduction presented the lowest score. The integration of climate mitigation opportunities into national policies, the green industry scheme, and promoting residents’ self-determined motivation are urgently recommended.

Carbon footprint impacts of banning cars with internal combustion engines

• Banning new internal combustion engine cars reduce tailpipe CO 2 emissions. • A ban in 2030 is not sufficient for reaching Swedish climate targets for 2030. • An earlier ban year or increased biofuel use is needed to reach targets. • Regulation of carbon footprints for new vehicles and/or batteries may be motivated. • Prospective lifecycle assessment and vehicle fleet turnover simulations are used. Banning sales of passenger cars with internal combustion engines is becoming a common climate change mitigation policy. This study analyzes the effects of such a ban on the carbon footprints of passenger car travel in Sweden using a novel vehicle turnover model and prospective lifecycle assessment, with scenarios for decarbonization of supply chains. A ban on internal combustion engines results in significantly decreased carbon footprints primarily due to reduced tailpipe CO 2 emissions. The full effect of a ban is delayed due to fleet inertia. Increasing the pace of electrification is beneficial for the carbon footprint regardless of global manufacturing decarbonization pathways. A ban in 2030 is not sufficient to reach national policy targets for the transport sector, requiring either an earlier ban (i.e., 2025) or increased biofuel use. Risks of carbon leakage may motivate extending current regulations of vehicle-specific tailpipe emissions to also cover carbon footprints for new cars.

Reduced Use of Fossil Fuels can Reduce Supply of Critical Resources

Previous research has identified that climate change mitigation policies could increase demand for resources perceived as critical, because these are used in many renewable energy technologies. This study assesses how reducing the extraction and use of fossil fuels could affect the supply of (i) elements jointly produced with fossil fuels and (ii) elements jointly produced with a host that is currently mainly used in fossil fuel supply chains. Several critical resources are identified for which supply potential from current sources is likely to decline. Some of these, e.g. germanium and vanadium, have uses in low-carbon energy systems. Renewable energy transitions can thus simultaneously increase demand and reduce supply of critical elements. The problem is greatest for technology groups in which by-products are more difficult to recycle than the host. Photovoltaic cell technology stands out as one such group. Phasing out fossil fuels has the potential to reduce both the supply potential (i.e. primary flow) and recoverable resources (i.e. stock) of materials involved in such technology groups. Further studies could examine possibilities to increase recovery rates, extract jointly produced resources independently of hosts and how the geographical distribution of by-product supply sources might change if fossil fuel extraction is scaled back.

Radical Existentialist Exercise

Radical Existentialist Exercise

Greenhouse Gas Emission Mitigation Pathways for Urban Passenger Land Transport under Ambitious Climate Targets.

Urban passenger land transport is an important source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally, but it is challenging to mitigate these emissions as this sector interacts with many other economic sectors. We develop the Climate change constrained Urban passenger Transport Integrated Life cycle assessment (CURTAIL) model to outline mitigation pathways of urban passenger land transport that are consistent with ambitious climate targets. CURTAIL uses the transport activity of exogenously defined modal shares to simulate the associated annual vehicle stocks, sales, and life cycle GHG emissions. It estimates GHG emission budgets that are consistent with global warming below 2 and 1.5 °C above preindustrial levels and seeks mitigation strategies to remain within the budgets. We apply it to a case study of Singapore, a city-state. Meeting a 1.5 °C target requires strong commitments in the transport and electricity sectors, such as reducing the motorized passenger activity, accelerating the deployment of public transit and of electrification, and decarbonizing the power generation system. Focusing on one mitigation technology or one mode of transport alone will not be sufficient to meet the target. Our novel model could be applied to any city to provide insights relevant to the design of urban climate change mitigation targets and policies.

A novel approach for estimation of aboveground biomass of a carbon-rich mangrove site in India

Mangroves can play a crucial part in climate change mitigation policies due to their high carbon-storing capacity. However, the carbon sequestration potential of Indian mangroves generally remained unexplored to date. In this study, multi-temporal Sentinel-1 and 2 data-derived variables were used to estimate the AGB of a tropical carbon-rich mangrove forest of India. Ensemble prediction of multiple machine learning algorithms, including Random Forest (RF), Gradient Boosted Model (GBM), and Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGB), were used for AGB prediction. The multi-temporal dataset was used in two different ways to find the most suitable method of using them. The results of the analysis showed that the modeling field measured AGB with individual date data values results in estimates with root mean square errors (RMSE) ranging from 149.242 t/ha for XGB to 151.149 t/ha for the RF. Modeling AGB with the average and percentile metrics of the multi-temporal image stack improves the prediction accuracy of AGB, with RMSE ranging from 81.882 t/ha for the XGB to 74.493 t/ha for the RF. The AGB modeling using ensemble prediction showed further improvement in accuracy with an RMSE of 72.864 t/ha and normalized RMSE of 11.38%. In this study, the intra-seasonal variation of Sentinel-1 and 2 data for mangrove ecosystems was explored for the first time. The variations in remotely sensed variables could be attributed mainly to soil moisture availability and rainfall in the mangrove ecosystem. The efficiency of Sentinel-1 and 2 data-derived variables and ensemble prediction of machine learning models for Indian mangroves were also explored for the first time. The methodologies established in this study can be used in the future for accurate prediction and repeated monitoring of AGB for mangrove ecosystems.

Deep decarbonisation of buildings energy services through demand and supply transformations in a 1.5°C scenario

Buildings energy consumption is one of the most important contributors to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide, responsible for 23% of energy-related CO2 emissions. Decarbonising the energy demand of buildings will require two types of strategies: first, an overall reduction in energy demand, which could, to some extent, be achieved at negative costs; and second through a reduction of the carbon content of energy via fuel switching and supply-side decarbonisation. This study assesses the contributions of each of these strategies for the decarbonisation of the buildings sector in line with a 1.5°C global warming. We show that in a 1.5°C scenario combining mitigation policies and a reduction of market failures in efficiency markets, 81% of the reductions in buildings emissions are achieved through the reduction of the carbon content of energy, while the remaining 19% are due to efficiency improvements which reduce energy demand by 31%. Without supply-side decarbonisation, efficiency improvements almost entirely suppress the doubling of emissions that would otherwise be expected, but fail to induce an absolute decline in emissions. Our modelling and scenarios show the impact of both climate change mitigation policies and of the alleviation of market failures pervading through energy efficiency markets. The results show that the reduction of the carbon content of energy through fuel switching and supply-side decarbonisation is of paramount importance for the decarbonisation of buildings.

Energy Poverty and Low Carbon Just Energy Transition: Comparative Study in Lithuania and Greece.

EU has set ambitious commitment to achieve low carbon energy and economy transition up to 2050. This low carbon transition means sustainable energy development path based on renewable energy sources and first of all should address the energy poverty vulnerability and justice issues. The main goal of the paper is to develop indicators framework for assessing low carbon just energy transition and to apply this framework for analysis how climate change mitigation policies in households targeting enhancement of energy renovation of residential buildings and promotion of the use of micro-generation technologies and other policies are affecting household’s energy poverty and vulnerability in selected countries: Lithuania and Greece. This framework allows to assess three main dimensions of sustainable energy development: environmental, social and economic. The paper provides policy recommendations how to deal with just low carbon energy transition which means addressing energy poverty issues during moving to 100% renewables in power generation based on performed case studies.