Effective Climate Change Policies Research Articles

The climate change literacy of public officials in Taiwan: implications and strategies for global adaptation

ABSTRACT Climate change literacy (CCL) is recognized as a critical component in formulating and implementing effective climate change policies and actions. However, the degree of CCL among those entrusted with these very responsibilities – public officials, remains relatively unexplored. This study pioneers an investigation into the CCL of public officials in Taiwan through a national survey. Our findings indicate that while a majority of these officials are cognizant of climate change issues, their personal commitment to climate action leaves considerable room for growth. Furthermore, their general understanding of climate change, its impacts, and the necessary adaptation strategies is found wanting. A similar deficit is observed in their comprehension of the relevance of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to climate change. Our study, by establishing a framework for assessing CCL among public officials and providing preliminary data on the CCL of Taiwanese officials, not only fills a significant knowledge gap but also lays the groundwork for comparative studies across nations. Moreover, our findings underscore the need for governments to invest in enhancing the CCL of their personnel, thereby equipping them with the requisite knowledge and motivation to contribute effectively to global climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.

Does institutional quality affect CO2 emissions? Evidence from explainable artificial intelligence models

Although the debate regarding the impact of high-quality institutional measures to address climate change associated with global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions has gained increasing attention, there is insufficient quantitative evidence to support this debate. Using data from 136 countries between 1996 and 2016, we provide unique and compelling evidence that transcendent institutional measures and conscious government policies for environmentally sound and sustainable economic growth can effectively reduce CO2 emissions. Our research reveals that effective climate change policies must be associated with improvement in at least three main institutional dimensions: protection of property rights (the rule of law), citizens' participation in elections and freedom of expression (voice), and control of corruption. Climate-friendly economic policies must consider improving such institutional features while simultaneously advancing economic development, increasing the use of renewable energy by private and public entities, and significantly reducing the consumption of fossil fuels.

Carbon pricing world wide

The article deals with the features of existing carbon pricing policies in different countries. While some countries have only a carbon tax and others a cap-and-trade system, there are jurisdictions that combine them. The differences in the existing cap-and-trade systems and carbon taxes in selected countries — both in terms of sectors and emissions covered, as well as carbon prices are shown. As it appeared to be at least 70 different carbon pricing initiatives at the national and subnational levels, they cover less than ¼ of global GHG emissions. Examples of fuel excise tax — still most common indirect carbon pricing mechanism in the world — are highlighted. The assessment by international organizations and national agencies of effective carbon rates are given, which vary by countries and potential effects for the global decarbonization. According to the working assumption, effective climate change policies must include a mix of regulatory actions combining restrictions and control over emissions as well as economic incentives. This article describes mechanisms of bilateral and international cooperation on emission pricing and provides examples of voluntary standards for verification and validation of climate change projects. Despite proposals of different international organizations, there has been no agreement so far on an international carbon price floor. However, in 2021, negotiators closed a deal setting global rules for carbon markets, allowing countries that have emission units to trade them. The world’s first major carbon border tax — a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will introduce a carbon price on certain products imported into the EU.

How agro-environmental and climate measures are affecting farming system performances in Guadeloupe?: Lessons for the design of effective climate change policies

ABSTRACT Relatively a few studies assess the impact of climate change (CC) policies on effective farmers’ agronomic practices and associated agro-technical performance. This study aimed at characterizing how CC policies can help farmers to combine CC with other environmental issues to support the design of more effective policies at the farm level. It was conducted in Guadeloupe, where farming systems are highly vulnerable to CC. We analyzed the Agro-Environmental and Climate Measures (AECM) proposed by the European Union. We made surveys with 39 farmers and used an existing whole-farm simulation tool to assess practices promoted by the current AECM. The tool was also used to assess the new AECM under discussion by stakeholders. Structural characteristics allowed identifying various types of farms. These characteristics may affect farmers’ capacity to implement the current AECM given that they are labour-intensive. New AECM focused on the decrease in pesticides and do not properly address CC since most of them lead to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions and are very different from the current farmers’ CC adaptation strategies. Synergies can be found between the reduction of pesticide use and CC if the alternatives proposed also permit to decrease in the use of synthetic fertilizers.

The challenge of integrating subnational governments in multilevel climate governance: the case of Mexico

ABSTRACT Climate change (CC) actions need to happen at multiple scales, with coordination between horizontal and vertical levels of governance. Achieving national determined contributions signed as part of the Paris Agreement depends on the power of national and subnational governments to implement effective CC policies. Using a framework based on three power categories: power by design, pragmatic power, and framing power, we analyse how different types of power across multiple levels of government entities operate within various sectors in an emerging economy. Specifically, we analyse the multilevel governance in Mexico’s federal system. Our sample comprises six states (out of 32) and 18 municipalities and considers two mitigation sectors (transport and urban solid waste) and the adaptation domain. We find evidence of more robust climate policy at the state level delivered through power by design (policy instruments) and pragmatic power (to implement actions), but weak power performance at the municipal level. The sectoral analysis shows more consistent adaptation policies than mitigation policies. The power imbalances across the three categories are relevant because the quantity and coherence of designed policy instruments and actions can be contrasted with the capacity to implement actions, which depends on the availability of resources and political will.

Analyzing climate change impacts on health, energy, water resources, and biodiversity sectors for effective climate change policy in South Korea

This study analyzes how climate change affects the economy, society, and environment in South Korea. Then, the study explores the ways to strengthen capabilities that can alleviate climate change impacts. To find them, the study employs a system dynamics simulation method and builds a model with several sectors including the urban, rural, population, and social-environmental sectors. The study compares the size of climate change damages in rural and urban areas. The results with representative concentration path (RCP) 8.5 show that the size of climate change damage will continue to increase by 2050. The projected damages from the reduced industrial outputs in urban areas will be larger than that in rural areas. The results also show that the service sector will face stronger impacts from climate change than the manufacturing and agricultural sectors. However, the total size of damage in the rural areas will be bigger than that of the urban areas. It is because the size of reduced industrial outputs per capita in the rural areas is twice bigger than that of the urban areas. The climate change damage in the social and environmental sectors (including a loss of biodiversity and an increase in health costs) account for the largest part of the total damage. The study finally provides suggestions and policies that can improve the capabilities to reduce the climate change damages. One of the major suggestions of this study is that the increase in the climate change budget corresponding to the GDP growth can minimize the size of climate change impacts.

The Possibility of Consensus Regarding Climate Change Adaptation Policies in Agriculture and Forestry among Stakeholder Groups in the Czech Republic.

As ongoing research efforts contribute to elucidating the consequences of climate change as well as adaptation and mitigation options, aligning the current research knowledge with stakeholder opinions and perceptions remains critical for adopting effective climate change policies. This paper utilizes an interactive survey to (1) address the aforementioned gap in studies involving three groups of stakeholders and opinion makers and (2) perform a comparative primary study of the climate change assumptions, risk perceptions, policy preferences, observations, and knowledge of Czech farmers, governmental policy-makers and researchers. This study shows that the stakeholder groups agree that the climate is clearly changing, attribute this change mostly to man-made causes and expect the negative effects to either prevail or be unevenly geographically distributed. The large majority of all three groups consider unmitigated climate change a major threat even by 2050 and agree that preparing in advance is the best sectoral strategy. Importantly, while investment in adaptation measures is considered the most efficient tool for accelerating the implementation of adaptation measures, the CAP and EU rules (as valid in 2016) are believed to hinder such measures. The results of this study have ramifications for the wider region of Central Europe.

Exploring climate change discourses across five Australian federal elections

ABSTRACT It is clear that transitioning towards environmental sustainability requires a strong and sustained effort to address climate change. However, despite high levels of public concern about climate change, it has remained a highly politicised and hotly contested issue in Australia, and Australia’s climate change policy remains inadequate and ineffective. Climate change first emerged as a key election issue in Australia’s 2007 federal election and remained a highly contentious issue in the 2010 election. Although climate change was much less prominent during the 2013 and 2016 election campaigns, it re-emerged as a major election issue in 2019. This paper uses critical discourse analysis to identify and trace climate change discourses in the media through these five federal election campaigns. It explores the main arguments, actors, and discursive strategies associated with two key discourses, how climate change was constructed during each campaign, and the implications of these constructions for the development of Australia’s climate change policy. It is argued that while the discourse of climate change activism has put climate change firmly on the national agenda, the discourse of climate change denialism has contributed to stymieing the development of effective climate change policy in Australia.

When IPCC graphs can foster or bias understanding: evidence among decision-makers from governmental and non-governmental institutions

To develop effective climate change policy, decision-makers need to have the best possible understanding of the available climate science. The IPCC Assessment Reports therefore aim to lay the foundation for informed political decision-making by providing policy-relevant information. But how successful are IPCC reports at communicating key findings? Although IPCC reports display key information in graphs, the interpretation of such graphs has received little attention. Here we provide an empirical evaluation of IPCC graph comprehension among IPCC target audience (N = 110), (political) decision-makers from climate-related (non-)governmental organizations from 54 countries, and a comparative sample of German junior diplomats, representing future international decision-makers (N = 33). We assess comprehension of current climate change risk visualizations using two IPCC graphs, one that employs principles of intuitive design, and one that violates principles of intuitive design. Results showed that (i) while a minority of IPCC target audience misinterpreted the intuitive graph, (ii) the majority of participants systematically misinterpreted the counter-intuitive graph, drawing the opposite conclusion from what was meant to be conveyed by the graph, despite (iii) having high confidence in the accuracy of their interpretation. Since misinterpretation of IPCC graphs does not allow for optimal use of the scientific information for policy-making, the results emphasize the importance of IPCC graphs that follow the principles of intuitive design.

Quantitative models in emission trading system research: A literature review

Diverse quantitative models have been applied to analyse emission trading system, as the top effective climate change policy. This paper aims to present a comprehensive literature review on full-scale types of quantitative models in emission trading system research. The models dominating emission trading system-related literature can be categorized as optimization models, simulation models, assessment models, statistical models, artificial intelligences and ensemble models. Using different quantification and solution tools, these models complemented and enriched each other in serving the various agents involved in emission trading system and facilitating their respective emission trading system related works: the government to design emission trading system policies, enterprises to participate in emission trading system and goods markets, third parties to regulate emission trading system and emission trading system markets involving different agents. For each agent, a systematic analysis is provided on research hotspots (the challenges to address), quantitative models (to describe the problems and find the results), main findings (the policy implications from the models) and future research (potential improvements on existing models). Some conclusions are obtained. (1) Generally, China was the largest contributor to emission trading system research using quantitative models (representing 35.71% of the total articles). (2) The research hotspots were decision making by enterprises under an emission trading system (20.92%), spillovers amongst emission trading system and other markets (17.54%) and allowance allocation by the government (12.52%). (3) Popular quantitative models included various optimization models (32.00%) and simulation models (29.64%).

Social Vulnerability and Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change Impacts of Women-headed Households in the Philippines: a Comparative Analysis

This study analyzed the social vulnerability and adaptive capacity to climate change impacts of women-headed households in two remote coastal communities in Lagonoy, Camarines Sur. Quantitative method following descriptive-correlational research design was employed. Out of 281 WHHs, 162 were randomly selected as the respondents of this study. Descriptive statistics, principal component analysis (PCA), t-test for independent samples, and multiple linear regression analysis were used to analyze the data. Women-headed households in the two remote coastal communities have moderate to high vulnerability in terms of demographic, economic, and social factors. No significant difference was found in their level of social vulnerability; however, a substantial difference was found in the adaptive capacity of the respondents from the East and North coastal communities. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the number of household members with disabilities, affiliation with social groups, time travel of the respondents, and household size were significant factors influencing social vulnerability in the two remote coastal communities. The study recommends formulating effective climate change policies and responsive strategies that enhance the rights and welfare of these households for equal distribution and access to resources, especially in socio-political structures in the community.

Resilience, Adaptation, and Inertia: Lessons from Disaster Recovery in a Time of Climate Change

ObjectivesTo examine and assess sociocultural or socioeconomic inertia as an impediment to effective climate change policy response and practice.MethodsTwo core concepts to climate change policy response, “resilience” and “adaptation,” are seen as critical in disaster recovery strategies and practice. As ideal types, these concepts are coalescing in theory and gaining acceptance in the professional community, but not necessarily in practice. These concepts are explored through a study of disaster recovery efforts following the West Virginia floods of 2016.ResultsDisaster recovery strategies based on ideal forms of resilience and adaptation face significant barriers to adoption and practice. Disjunction between theory and practice constitutes one form of inertia. Other contributing factors include individual and collective behavior that resists change through social justification and insular forms of social capital. Institutional drag, in the form of waning political will and limited administrative capacity, also impedes adoption and use.ConclusionSociocultural and socioeconomic inertia challenge the development of effective policies and practices to address climate change; social science can contribute to our understanding of these sources of constraint.

Reviewing Vietnam's Nationally Determined Contribution: A New Perspective Using the Marginal Cost of Abatement

The processes countries use to revise their Nationally Determined Commitments (NDCs) under the UNFCCC’s Paris Agreement will be key to ensure that their pledges give effective climate change policy. In many developing countries, the agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) sector is central to their NDCs. We generated a marginal abatement cost (MAC) curve for Vietnam’s AFOLU sector and used it to review the country’s mitigation pledges for this sector. We conclude that Vietnam could increase the emission pledges in its NDC, especially in future land use. Other options for mitigation at negative cost include water techniques in rice, agroforestry and management of livestock diets and manure. The MAC curve alone is insufficient to prioritize policy options for climate change policy, however, because it underestimates adaptation co-benefits, for example, in protected mangrove systems

Climate Change Policy of Turkey: An Analysis of Regular Progress Reports

Abstract When assessed from a global perspective; environmental problems, especially in the last five decades, have been a threat to almost all countries. International organisations and institutions struggle to develop effective solutions for arising issues. Climate change is also evaluated as one of the most crucial risks for the environment. European Commission regular progress reports hold a guiding role for the candidate countries and in light of that numerous policies of the relevant countries have aligned with the European Union (EU) acquis. The main purpose of the study is to analyze the climate change policy of Turkey within the context of regular progress reports in an effort to mend the gap fill the void in literature regarding climate change policy of Turkey. Therefore, 7 regular progress reports between the years 2010-2016, when climate change was considered as a title, will be scrutinised in terms of legislation, institutional structure and emission gas through content analysis method with the aim of having a functional assessment about the determinations and the expectations of the EU. The study reveals that although Turkey has made fundamental progress over the years regarding climate change, there are still some crucial issues that need to be reconsidered to have an effective climate change policy.

Substitute or complement? Assessing renewable and nonrenewable energy in OECD countries

The elasticity of interfuel substitution between renewable and nonrenewable energy is key to establishing effective climate change policy. This is the first study to estimate the elasticity of substitution between different fossil fuels and renewable resources. We used 12 manufacturing industry-level datasets for the OECD countries from 1995 to 2009. We found a complementary relationship from nonrenewable energy to renewable energy in eight industries, whereas a substitute relationship was maintained for four industries. In particular, the food and pulp industries had a strong complementary relationship.

Political Economy of Climate Change Policy

Anthropogenic climate change poses a threat to all people and governments, but the response to that threat varies enormously across countries. Some adopt politically costly and economically challenging climate change mitigation policies, while others deny that climate change is occurring. Why do some countries adopt effective climate change policies while others do not? To answer this fundamental question, this paper analyses the political economy determinants of climate change policy around the world. In order to measure climate change policy, we introduce a new index, the ‘Climate Laws, Institutions and Measures Index’ (CLIMI), the first systematic attempt to measure countries’ policy responses to the risk of climate change. CLIMI covers all the relevant institutions and sector-specific policies in 95 countries, representing 90% of the world’s GHG emissions. We then use CLIMI to examine the political and economic factors that determine countries’ choices to implement policies to tackle climate change. We find that the level of democracy alone is not a major driver of climate change policy adoption, but that public knowledge of climate change is. Not surprisingly, a high concentration of carbon-intensive industry in the economy hinders the adoption of climate change policy. Countries in which the citizenry has a better public awareness of climate change have more effective climate policies regardless of the presence of democratic institutions.

Climate Change Policies of City Governments in Federal Systems: An Analysis of Vancouver, Melbourne and New York City

Jones S. Climate change policies of city governments in federal systems: an analysis of Vancouver, Melbourne and New York City, Regional Studies. Canada, Australia and the United States are among the world's heaviest emitters per capita of greenhouse gases. City governments within these countries have been implementing policies to help reduce emissions and control the impacts of climate change. Vancouver, Melbourne and New York City governments have been policy activists in this area for a considerable period. Policy research on climate change argues that effective climate change action in federal systems requires collaboration and coordination between all levels of government. This article outlines a typology that identifies current thinking on the factors that shape the capacity of city governments in federal systems to establish effective climate change policies. Findings suggest a policy gap continues to impede effective policy implementation with city government being severely limited without the support of other levels of government. The conclusions provide a number of refinements to the typology as a result of the experiences of the three city governments. Jones S. 联邦体制下城市政府的气候变化政策：对温哥华、墨尔本以及纽约进行的分析，区域研究。加拿大、澳大利亚以及美国是世界上人均温室气体排放量最大的国家。上述国家的城市政府正在实施相关政策以辅助降低二氧化碳气体排放同时控制其对于气候变化的影响。在相当一段时间内温哥华、墨尔本以及纽约城市政府在上述领域做出了积极的政策回应。对于气候变化的政策研究指出，联邦体制下有效的气候变化议程要求各级政府间的合作与协作。本文对当前联邦系统中城市政府能力的各个要素进行了类型学概括以建立有效的气候变化政策。结果表明，在没有其他各级政府协助的情况下，政策实施的有效性受到政策空白的持续阻碍。研究结果将三个城市政府的经验对上述类型提供了一系列修正。 城市政府 联邦体制 气候变化政策 Jones S. Les politiques sur le changement climatique des administrations municipales dans les systèmes fédéraux: une analyse de Vancouver, de Melbourne et de New York, Regional Studies. Le Canada, l'Australie et les Etats-Unis sont parmi les pays dont les émissions par tête des gaz à effet de serre sont les plus élevées. Au sein de ces pays, les administrations municipales ont mis en oeuvre des politiques pour réduire les émissions et maîtriser les impacts du changement climatique. Les administrations à Vancouver, à Melbourne et à New York jouent depuis assez longtemps un rôle actif dans le domaine de la politique. La recherche sur le changement climatique affirme que les politiques efficaces sur le changement climatique dans les systèmes fédéraux nécessitent de la collaboration et de la coordination entre les administrations à tous les niveaux. Cet article cherche à esquisser une typologie qui identifie la tendance actuelle de l'opinion sur les facteurs qui influent sur la capacité des administrations municipales dans les systèmes fédéraux d’établir des politiques efficaces sur le changement climatique. Les résultats laissent supposer qu'un écart de politique continue à entraver la mise en oeuvre efficace, maintenant que les administrations municipales sont sérieusement limitées sans le soutien des autres niveaux d'administration. Les conclusions apportent un nombre d'améliorations à la typologie suite aux expériences des trois administrations municipales. Administration municipale Systèmes fédéraux Politique sur le changement climatique Jones S. Klimapolitik von Stadtverwaltungen in föderalen Systemen: eine Analyse von Vancouver, Melbourne und New York, Regional Studies. Kanada, Australien und die USA gehören zu den stärksten Pro-Kopf-Erzeugern von Treibhausgasen. Die Stadtverwaltungen in diesen Ländern haben Politiken zur Senkung der Emissionen und Kontrolle der Auswirkungen des Klimawandels umgesetzt. Darüber hinaus sind die Stadtverwaltungen von Vancouver, Melbourne und New York schon seit geraumer Zeit in diesem Bereich politisch aktiv. In der politischen Forschung über den Klimawandel wird argumentiert, dass für wirksame Klimamaßnahmen in föderalen Systemen eine Zusammenarbeit und Koordination zwischen sämtlichen Regierungsebenen erforderlich ist. In diesem Beitrag wird eine Typologie umrissen, die die derzeitige Denkweise hinsichtlich der Faktoren beschreibt, welche die Kapazität von Stadtverwaltungen in föderalen Systemen bei der Umsetzung von wirksamen Klimapolitiken prägen. Aus den Ergebnissen geht hervor, dass eine politische Lücke nach wie vor einer Umsetzung wirksamer Politiken im Wege steht und dass die Stadtverwaltungen ohne Unterstützung auf anderen Regierungsebenen starken Einschränkungen unterliegen. Als Fazit werden verschiedene Verfeinerungen der Typologie aufgrund der Erfahrungen mit den drei Stadtverwaltungen aufgeführt. Stadtverwaltung Föderale Systeme Klimapolitik Jones S. Políticas sobre el cambio climático de gobiernos metropolitanos en sistemas federales: un análisis de Vancouver, Melbourne y Nueva York, Regional Studies. Canadá, Australia y los Estados Unidos son los principales emisores per cápita de gases de efecto invernadero. Los gobiernos metropolitanos en estos países han aplicado políticas para intentar reducir las emisiones y controlar las repercusiones del cambio climático. Los gobiernos de Vancouver, Melbourne y Nueva York han sido activistas políticos en este campo desde hace ya bastante tiempo. En las investigaciones políticas sobre el cambio climático se argumenta que para que las medidas contra el cambio climático sean eficaces en los sistemas federales, es necesaria una colaboración y coordinación entre todos los niveles de gobierno. En este artículo se describe una tipología que identifica las ideas actuales sobre los factores que determinan la capacidad de los gobiernos metropolitanos en sistemas federales para establecer políticas eficaces contra el cambio climático. Los resultados indican que existe un vacío político que continúa impidiendo la aplicación de políticas eficaces y que los gobiernos metropolitanos están gravemente limitados sin el apoyo por parte de otros niveles de gobierno. Para terminar, ofrecemos una serie de mejoras a la tipología como resultado de las experiencias de tres gobiernos metropolitanos. Gobierno metropolitano Sistemas federales Políticas sobre el cambio climático

Emissions trading in New Zealand: development, challenges and design

Successive New Zealand governments have failed to adopt effective climate change policies. A positive, albeit limited, step was taken with the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme in 2008, a scheme founded on a framework of comprehensive coverage, applying to all sectors of the economy and all Kyoto gases, addressing the challenge of creating an emissions trading scheme tailored for a country characterised by large forest sinks and substantial agricultural emissions. Amendments in 2009 created significant changes in the way the scheme operates. These included delaying the entry of key sectors, moving to an ‘intensity' based approach, to the free allocation of emissions units and implementing a ‘transition period’. The development of New Zealand's climate change policy highlights the difficulties of a unique emissions profile and strong political interests, particularly the influence of a powerful agriculture sector.

Citizens as veto players: climate change policy and the constraints of direct democracy

The search for and implementation of effective climate change policies is one of the crucial challenges of policy-makers. One strand of literature argues that domestic factors and in particular institutional prerequisites or veto points strongly influence the quality and pace of a country's policy innovation and adaptation. Focusing on a particular institutional veto point – direct democracy – how does direct democracy influence a country's adaptive capacity in the areas of climate change and, more precisely, what kind of climate change policies have the best chances to be accepted in citizen's direct decision-making? The analyses demonstrate that direct democracy makes it difficult to implement far-reaching, but probably most effective climate change policies, while its direct and indirect impact on the policy-making process rather produces politics of small steps that are supported by a broad political elite.

Examining locally driven climate change policy efforts in three Pacific states

Local jurisdictions play a critical role in climate change mitigation and adaptation. This study analyzes the theoretical framework of locally driven climate change actions and uses geographic information system (GIS) to map local jurisdictions’ climate change policy efforts in three Pacific states – California, Oregon, and Washington. The results of our study indicate statistically significant differences in geographic clusters and variations across jurisdictions. An Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression model was used to examine climate risk, emission stress, and socioeconomic context variables to detect influence on local climate change policy efforts. The explanatory results indicate that coastal proximity, population density, vehicles emission, and education variables significantly influence local jurisdictions’ climate change actions. The findings contribute to local organizational decision model research and can help local communities to develop more effective climate change policies.