Stabilizing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Research Articles

A METHODICAL APPROACH TO REDUCING HEAT ENERGY EXPENDITURES FOR BUILDING HEATING

The work provides a method of preventing the consumption of heat energy for heating the building. It is noted that the energy statistics of Ukraine foresee an increase in the use of primary energy resources in the period 2020–2030 mainly due to energy saving, which, in turn, will ensure a 30-40% reduction in emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere and stabilize greenhouse gas emissions. In order to substantiate the ways of reducing money costs for electricity and heat consumption, certain measures are proposed in the work, which demonstrate the greatest economic effect in the shortest time. The evaluation of the quality of thermal protection of the building's enclosing structures was carried out. The analysis of thermograms of enclosing structures based on infrared scanning of surfaces is presented. The thermal imaging survey was carried out in two stages. With the help of a thermal imager, at the first stage, a scan of the enclosing structures was performed in order to identify areas of the enclosing structures that have different temperature fields. Based on the analysis of the thermograms of the previous scan, a program of detailed examination of the areas with temperature anomalies is planned and the reasons for their appearance are clarified. Based on the conducted research, recommendations are given to increase the combined heat transfer resistance of enclosing structures in order to prevent heat energy costs for heating the building.

An dataset of carbon and water fluxes over the reed wetlands in Panjin City (2018–2020)

With significant carbon sink capacity, active water vapor exchange and heat regulation capacity, wetlands are key ecosystems for stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating climate change. Despite Liaohe Delta wetland being the largest warm temperate coastal wetland in Asia, its long-term carbon and water fluxes of the wetland are still not thoroughly examined, which limits the accuracy of simulating CO2 fluxes and regional carbon sinks. As a result, it is urgent to carry out long-term data monitoring and sorting in this area. This dataset is the flux data of the reed wetland ecosystem in Liaohe Delta from 2018 to 2020, collected from the Panjin Reed Wetland Research Station of the Northeast Ecological and Agrometeorological Field Experimental Base of China Meteorological Administration. Based on the data processing system of China Flux Observation and Research Network (ChinaFLUX), we established the standardized dataset of ecosystem carbon and key meteorological elements, including data files at half-hourly, daily, monthly and yearly scales. This dataset is of great significance in accurately evaluating the status and roles of carbon and water fluxes in the reed wetland ecosystem of Liaohe Delta in the regional and global carbon and water cycles.

A Climate Change Carve-Out for Investment Treaties

ABSTRACT This article responds to the growing risk of Investor–State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) claims arising from states’ measures to mitigate climate change, such as fossil fuel phase-outs. It proposes a carve-out that would cover measures that are adopted in good faith and have a reasonable causal nexus with reducing and stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions (e.g. measures ‘related to’ this aim). Depending on states’ preferences, the carve-out could be designed as a treaty-wide exclusion from international investment agreements (IIAs) or as a carve-out that only removes such measures from ISDS procedures. Importantly, we propose a process to govern the application of the carve-out that prevents this issue being determined by ISDS tribunals. We argue that questions concerning the carve-out’s application to specific investor claims should initially be subject to joint determination by the treaty parties’ environmental authorities. Where these authorities cannot agree, we propose that this issue should be referred to a State–State tribunal that includes members with climate-related expertise. This article advances the specific debate about a climate carve-out for IIAs and wider debates about strategies for protecting regulatory space under IIAs through its detailed examination of carve-outs, drawing on examples from a range of subject areas.

Carbon footprints of the Indian AFOLU (Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use) sector: a review

Stabilizing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from croplands as agricultural demand grows is a critical climate change mitigation strategy. Depending on management, the Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector can be both a source as well as a net sink for carbon. Currently, it contributes 25% of the global anthropogenic carbon emissions. Although India’s emissions from this sector are around 8% of the total national GHG emissions, it can contribute significantly to the country’s aspirations of reaching net-zero emissions by 2070. In this review, we explain the carbon footprints of the AFOLU sector in India, focusing on enteric fermentation, fertilizer and manure management, rice paddies, burning of crop residues, forest fires, shifting cultivation, and food wastage. Furthermore, using the standard autoregressive integrated moving average method, we project India’s AFOLU sector emission routes for 2070 under four scenarios: business as usual (BAU) and three emission reduction levels, viz., 10%, 20%, and 40% below BAU. The article focuses on how the AFOLU sector can be leveraged proactively to reach the net-zero emission goals. Increasing forest cover, agroforestry, and other tree-based land-use systems; improving soil health through soil management, better crop residue, and livestock feed management; emission avoidance from rice ecosystems; and reducing food waste are all important strategies for lowering India’s AFOLU sector carbon footprints.

西双版纳地区森林变化碳效应与生态效益评估

减少发展中国家因森林砍伐与森林退化导致的碳排放和保持碳储量（REDD+），不仅能减少因森林砍伐和森林退化造成的碳排放，而且还可以带来其它生态效益，如减缓森林破碎化、保护生物多样性和增强水土保持功能等。以中国的西双版纳地区为研究区域，以毁林最严重的1976-2007年为REDD+基线，基于卫星影像，并结合植被指数，提取了研究区的土地利用变化信息。基于IPCC温室气体清单方法，计算了研究区的森林碳储量变化。在此基础上，对REDD+的碳汇效益和生态效益进行了系统综合评估。结果显示：（1）1976-2007年间天然林碳储量从占总碳储量的78.24%减少至50.52%，这是造成西双版纳地区碳储量减少的主要原因。（2）1976-2007年，天然林的斑块数量和平均最近邻距离分别增加了120.00%和25.21%，平均斑块面积下降了71.98%，说明天然林的破碎化程度加剧。从研究区整体景观格局来看，斑块数量、Shannon多样性指数和Shannon均一性指数分别增加了8.16%、51.39%和34.07%；与此同时，平均斑块面积和景观内聚力指数分别下降了26.26%和2.13%，表明研究区整体景观格局朝破碎化方向发展，这和碳排放的增加相一致。（3）该区的土壤侵蚀程度逐年加剧，并与碳储量的减少密切相关。分析表明，土壤侵蚀剧烈的区域，其平均碳排放也相对较高。1999年到2007年间，剧烈侵蚀区域的平均碳排放是轻度侵蚀区域的6倍多。这些结果说明：如果REDD+政策得以实施，不仅能减少因毁林和森林退化导致的碳排放，而且能带来高的生态效益。从这个角度出发，REDD+的本质可以认为是以"增汇"或"减排"为主导功能，同时提升生态效益的一种管理方式。;The REDD+ partnership works to promote the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in the developing countries through positive incentives and conversation of forest carbon stocks. It is regarded as an essential component of the post-2012 climate regime to stabilize GHG emissions and engage the developing countries in worldwide mitigation endeavors. If cost-efficient carbon benefits can be achieved through REDD+, increases in atmospheric CO₂ concentrations could be slowed, effectively buying much needed time for countries to move to lower emissions technologies. We chose tropical forests in Xishuangbanna of China as our study area and took the most severe deforestation from 1976 to 2007 as the baseline of REDD+. Land use information was obtained through the combination of Landsat TM images and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index masks. Forest carbon storage change in the study area was firstly calculated based on IPCC methodology. Secondly ecosystem-based benefits from REDD+ were assessed systematically. Our results showed that from 1976 to 2007, the natural forest carbon storage decreased from 78.24% to 50.52% of total carbon storage, which was the main reason for the reduction of carbon storage in Xishuangbanna. At the meantime, significant degradation of ecosystem services emerged. This was demonstrated by two important indicators:forest fragmentation and soil erosion. For example, from 1976 to 2007 the percentage change in the carbon stocks was 1.4%, accompanying with increasing 8.16% in number of patches, 51.39% in Shannon's diversity index and 34.07% in shannon's evenness index. Meanwhile, mean path area and patch cohesion index decreased by 26.26% and 2.13%, respectively. It suggested that the forest ecosystem was changing in both carbon storage and forest landscape structure. The number of patches and average nearest neighbor distance of natural forest increased by 120.00% and 25.21%, respectively, and the average patch area decreased by 71.98%, indicating the degree of exacerbated fragmentation in natural forest. In this sense, carbon emission and forest fragmentation were well integrated. Furthermore, we investigated relationship between carbon emission and soil erosion and high correlation was found. For example, carbon emissions which accounted for 45% of the total located in the high erosion area, which is 18% of the whole study area. As a result, when forests that would have been lost or degraded are retained or restored through REDD+, they deliver ‘multiple benefits’ in addition to protecting or enhancing carbon stocks. These ecosystem-based benefits may include conservation of forest biodiversity, water regulation, soil conservation, timber, forest foods and other non-timber forest products, most of which have been demonstrated or proved in this study. By securing benefits beyond carbon, REDD+ has the potential to encourage countries to realize a broader range of values.

Techno-Economic Analysis of the Oxy-Fuel Combustion Power Cycles with Near-Zero Emissions

This paper is devoted to improvement of environmental safety in hydrocarbon-firing TPPs. Despite the development of renewable power sources, the number of traditional power production facilities continues its growth. The toxic emission mitigation in traditional TPPs has been deeply investigated, but the problem of greenhouse gas atmospheric emissions is of topical interest. Oxy-fuel technology reduces CO2 emissions and is highly efficient and environmentally safe. Also, it requires relatively low capital investments. Thermal efficiency analysis shows that the Allam cycle facilities have the best efficiency. Their thermodynamic parameters can be optimized with minimal primary costs and capital investments. This newly developed analysis was used to compare the investment efficiency of projects for the buildup of oxy-fuel and combined cycle facilities. Without emission quote payments, the NPV of combined cycle projects is 16% higher, as well as having a lower DPP. The electricity production primary costs in oxy-fuel and combined cycle facilities are similar, which reflects the technologies’ similarity and similar fuel costs. Implementation of carbon dioxide emission quote marketing makes oxy-fuel facilities more investment-attractive. Parametric studies show that when Russia implements CO2 emission quotes compatible with the current EU level, an oxy-fuel facility erection project will be financially reasonable. Thus, it can be concluded that the construction of oxy-fuel power plants is one of the most promising and investment-attractive solutions to reduce CO2 emissions in the energy sector for large industrialized countries. The managerial consequences of their implementation will include the stabilization of greenhouse gas emissions while ensuring the financial stability of the energy industry.

The importance of tribology for reducing CO2 emissions and for sustainability

The global community has set itself the goal of stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions at the 2004 level in order to not exceed the climate targets of 500 ppm CO2 in the atmosphere and a mean surface temperature increase of 2 °C by 2054. Tribology is a not directly visible consequence of human activities and is divided into energy consumption due to friction losses and additional resource consumption through wear and failures of machine elements. The broad range of solutions offered by tribology to reduce CO2 and increase sustainability is presented in detail. Consistent application of the existing technologies results in a medium/long-term reduction potential of 6–10 gigatons of CO2eq. or >15–26% of the 37.9 gigatons of direct CO2 emitted globally in 2019. The total greenhouse gas emission in 2019 were 51.8 gigatons of CO2eq..

Mitigation of climate change from the aspect of controlling F-gases in the field of cooling technology

The main objective is to identify, analyze and deliver data on F-gases in Bosnia and Herzegovina and identify potential mitigation measures. Bosnia and Herzegovina became a member of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on December 6, 2000. In its status as non-Annex I country within the UNFCCC, Bosnia and Herzegovina is obliged to undertake the following reporting activities, such as: to calculate annual emissions of greenhouse gases using a defined methodology and reporting to the Conference of the Parties (COP), introduce and implement measures to mitigate the effects of climate change by regulating anthropogenic emissions and adaptation measures to climate change. Also cooperates in the development and transfer of technology, methods and processes that lead to limitation, reduction and stabilization of greenhouse gas emissions, include an impact assessment of climate change and appropriate economic development strategies and policies aimed at minimizing the negative impacts of climate change on the economy, the environment and the health of the population; conduct systematic observation and research, exchange data and exchange information on climate and climate change in order to improve scientific discoveries on the causes and consequences of climate change.This project not only supports the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina in fulfilling the above obligations as a signatory to the UNFCCC, but will also serve as an important strategic document for sustainable development. Also, this project promotes relations between entities and business sectors, establishing links between the environment and other sectors. The data on the emission of F-gases in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including sources of these gases, are provided. In this paper, potentially intrusive measures are suggested. Ozone is a gas located in the earth’s atmosphere in a layer of 15 to 35 km above the Earth and has a special significance for the planets and the entire life on it. It is very important his role for the protection of life on Earth, and the disrupted occurrences of ozone flows through the atmosphere can have harmful effects on the health of man and the environment as a whole. The amount of ozone in the tropospheric (in the first lower layer above the Earth) and the tratospheric (upper-upper layer) was in the past in a natural balance. Uncontrolled human activity, in particular the development of the refrigeration industry, and the accelerated increase in the emissions of individual industrial gases, there was an increase in ozone levels in the tropospheric layer and in the stratospheric reduction. Concentration of ozone in the stratosphere and troposphere is limited by the balance between the chemical processes produced by ozone and the processes that destroy it. This equilibrium of the process is determined and depends on the amount of gases (involved in the reaction) and the speed (or efficiency of individual reactions), depending on the intensity of sunlight, location and area in the atmosphere, temperature and other natural climate factors. Global ozone has declined steadily over the last few decades. The Earth’s stratosphere has increased the amount of reactive gases, containing chlorine and bromine. The biggest impact on climate change is the carbon dioxide emission CO2, due to the far-reaching emissions (measured in billions of tonnes per year). Among the “greenhouse gases” with the far-reaching “global warming potential” (GWP) are the so-called “Ozone gases” or substances that damage the ozone layer CFC and HCFC. Fortunately, there is a far smaller amount of these gases that reaches the atmosphere than CO2.

Radiation-and-temperature resources of the steppe zone in Ukraine under the climate change conditions in the period of up to 2050

Indices of the radiation-and-temperature regime in the Steppe zone of Ukraine in the period of 1986 through 2005, as compared to the expected changes in these indices, calculated in accordance with the two climate change scenarios, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, for the period of up to 2050, are under consideration in the paper. RCP4.5 is a scenario of stabilization of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, while RCP8.5 is the one of very high greenhouse gas emissions. To characterize the radiation and thermal resources in the Steppe zone of Ukraine in the period of 1986 through 2005 (the basic period), and the change in the period of 2021 through 2050 calculations of average long-term values for the first group of environmental factors were performed: the duration of daytime, the total daily solar radiation, the intensity of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), the accumulated PAR, the radiation balance of the vegetation cover, and the temperature regime. The following principal agro-climatic characteristics of the temperature regime were considered: dates of stable rise of the air temperature above 0, 5, 10, 15 °C in spring and autumn, duration of the period with air temperatures above 0, 5, 10, 15 °C, the accumulated positive air temperatures for the period with air temperatures above 0, 5, 10, 15 °C, the average air temperature in January and July, and the amplitude.
 It is pointed out that in the period of up to 2050, according to the calculations in both scenarios, increased indices of the radiation-and-temperature regime will be observed. The values of the radiation regime parameters will predominantly increase in late summer and early autumn. As a result of the inflow of increased accumulated solar radiation, the accumulated temperatures in the period with air temperatures above 5 °C will also rise. The expected increase in the accumulated temperatures will nevertheless not exceed 200 °C. A rise in the total temperature will contribute to better heat supply for the crops.

COP22 – Marrakech 2016: Is the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol dead?

No abstract available.

Climate change: scenarios, impacts, policy, and development opportunities

AbstractThis article is divided into three parts. First, it provides an overview of the main outcomes of the last IPCC assessment report, both in terms of economic drivers of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and in terms of impacts of climate change, in particular for the agriculture sector. Then, it focuses on policy options and their optimal design, taking into account technological availability, international cooperation, and above all the stringency of the remaining carbon budget. Finally, it analyzes the size and direction of investment decisions required to stabilize GHG emissions and their implications for economic development.

The Paris Agreement and the Regulation of International Bunker Fuels

In 1992, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change called for all sectors of the global economy, including transport, to contribute to the stabilization of greenhouse gas emissions. However, five years later, international aviation and maritime transport were explicitly excluded from the Kyoto Protocol's scope and have remained largely untouched. The negotiations on the regulation of these sectors' emissions under the United Nations climate regime, the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Maritime Organization have played the buck‐passing game for over two decades. In December 2015, the Paris Agreement was adopted without a reference to international aviation and maritime transport. Nevertheless, the Agreement is not without consequences for the regulation of these sectors. This article analyses the omission of the sectors from the Paris Agreement and the potential indirect effects of the Agreement in the regulation of emissions from international aviation and maritime transport. It argues that a multilateral regulatory shift to other venues outside the climate regime, unilateral measures and industry action will be further stimulated as a result of the omission of both sectors from the Paris Agreement.

Legal Regulation of Cap-and-Trade System for Greenhouse Gases in Foreign Countries

The article is devoted to the market mechanism of the reduction and stabilization of greenhouse gas emissions. The author considers peculiarities of legal regulation of existing international, national, regional cap-and-trade systems for greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. On the basis of the official data published by the executive authorities governing the cap-and-trade systems, the author provides a detailed analysis of the results of cap-and-trade systems and makes conclusions on their effectiveness. As a result of the work the author provides recommendations for the implementation of cap-and-trade systems in Russia.

A new regime of carbon counting: The practices and politics of accounting for everyday carbon through CO2e

Inspired by the commercial desires of global brands and retailers to access the lucrative green consumer market, carbon is increasingly being counted and made knowable at the mundane sites of everyday production and consumption, from the carbon footprint of a plastic kitchen fork to that of an online bank account. Despite the challenges of counting and making commensurable the global warming impact of a myriad of biophysical and societal activities, this desire to communicate a product or service's carbon footprint has sparked complicated carbon calculative practices and enrolled actors at literally every node of multi-scaled and vastly complex global supply chains. Against this landscape, this paper critically analyzes the counting practices that create the ‘e’ in ‘CO2e’. It is shown that, central to these practices are a series of tools, models and databases which, in building upon previous work (Eden, 2012; Star and Griesemer, 1989) we conceptualize here as ‘boundary objects’. By enrolling everyday actors from farmers to consumers, these objects abstract and stabilize greenhouse gas emissions from their messy material and social contexts into units of CO2e which can then be translated along a product's supply chain, thereby establishing a new currency of ‘everyday supply chain carbon’. However, in making all greenhouse gas-related practices commensurable and in enrolling and stabilizing the transfer of information between multiple actors these objects oversee a process of simplification reliant upon, and subject to, a multiplicity of approximations, assumptions, errors, discrepancies and/or omissions. Further the outcomes of these tools are subject to the politicized and commercial agendas of the worlds they attempt to link, with each boundary actor inscribing different meanings to a product's carbon footprint in accordance with their specific subjectivities, commercial desires and epistemic framings. It is therefore shown that how a boundary object transforms greenhouse gas emissions into units of CO2e, is the outcome of distinct ideologies regarding ‘what’ a product's carbon footprint is and how it should be made legible. These politicized decisions, in turn, inform specific reduction activities and ultimately advance distinct, specific and increasingly durable transition pathways to a low carbon society.

Modeling the impacts of policy interventions from REDD+ in Southeast Asia: A case study in Indonesia

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) and enhancing “removals of greenhouse gas emissions by forests” in developing countries through positive incentives is regarded as an essential component of the post-2012 climate regime for stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions and an important way of engaging developing countries in global mitigation efforts. We aimed to evaluate the potential effectiveness of REDD+ by integrating it into a land use option framework. One of our goals was to develop scenarios for evaluating the impacts of land use changes on carbon and environmental processes. In addition, we aimed to quantify the potential economic benefits to society of compensated reductions and to identify hotspots for applying REDD+. Three land use change scenarios were examined: (I) business as usual (BAU), (II) economic development, and (III) REDD+. A case study in Indonesia was examined using these land use scenarios and policy interventions, evaluating their effects on carbon emissions, socioeconomics, and environmental features of a spatial system using land use models. Significant emissions and water erosion reductions were predicted to be achieved under the REDD+ scenario, due to reduced deforestation of 0.14 Mt CO2e reduction was predicted relative to the BAU scenario. Furthermore, the spatial land use model indicated that REDD+ payments of forest carbon credits in the compliance market would play a key role in compensating rural communities and plantation companies for their opportunity cost in ending deforestation. This study provides an example of integrating land use modeling with a scenario analysis framework to evaluate plausible future forecasts and to evaluate the potential impacts of REDD+.

Predicting current and future global distributions of whale sharks

The Vulnerable (IUCN) whale shark spans warm and temperate waters around the globe. However, their present-day and possible future global distribution has never been predicted. Using 30years (1980-2010) of whale shark observations recorded by tuna purse-seiners fishing in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, we applied generalized linear mixed-effects models to test the hypothesis that similar environmental covariates predict whale shark occurrence in all major ocean basins. We derived global predictors from satellite images for chlorophyll a and sea surface temperature, and bathymetric charts for depth, bottom slope and distance to shore. We randomly generated pseudo-absences within the area covered by the fisheries, and included fishing effort as an offset to account for potential sampling bias. We predicted sea surface temperatures for 2070 using an ensemble of five global circulation models under a no climate-policy reference scenario, and used these to predict changes in distribution. The full model (excluding standard deviation of sea surface temperature) had the highest relative statistical support (wAICc =0.99) and explained ca. 60% of the deviance. Habitat suitability was mainly driven by spatial variation in bathymetry and sea surface temperature among oceans, although these effects differed slightly among oceans. Predicted changes in sea surface temperature resulted in a slight shift of suitable habitat towards the poles in both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans (ca. 5°N and 3-8°S, respectively) accompanied by an overall range contraction (2.5-7.4% and 1.1-6.3%, respectively). Predicted changes in the Pacific Ocean were small. Assuming that whale shark environmental requirements and human disturbances (i.e. no stabilization of greenhouse gas emissions) remain similar, we show that warming sea surface temperatures might promote a net retreat from current aggregation areas and an overall redistribution of the species.

Marine Ecosystem Dynamics and Biogeochemical Cycling in the Community Earth System Model [CESM1(BGC)]: Comparison of the 1990s with the 2090s under the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 Scenarios

The authors compare Community Earth System Model results to marine observations for the 1990s and examine climate change impacts on biogeochemistry at the end of the twenty-first century under two future scenarios (Representative Concentration Pathways RCP4.5 and RCP8.5). Late-twentieth-century seasonally varying mixed layer depths are generally within 10 m of observations, with a Southern Ocean shallow bias. Surface nutrient and chlorophyll concentrations exhibit positive biases at low latitudes and negative biases at high latitudes. The volume of the oxygen minimum zones is overestimated.The impacts of climate change on biogeochemistry have similar spatial patterns under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, but perturbation magnitudes are larger under RCP8.5. Increasing stratification leads to weaker nutrient entrainment and decreased primary and export production (>30% over large areas). The global-scale decreases in primary and export production scale linearly with the increases in mean sea surface temperature. There are production increases in the high nitrate, low chlorophyll (HNLC) regions, driven by lateral iron inputs from adjacent areas. The increased HNLC export partially compensates for the reductions in non-HNLC waters (~25% offset). Stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions and climate by the end of this century (as in RCP4.5) will minimize the changes to nutrient cycling and primary production in the oceans. In contrast, continued increasing emission of CO2(as in RCP8.5) will lead to reduced productivity and significant modifications to ocean circulation and biogeochemistry by the end of this century, with more drastic changes beyond the year 2100 as the climate continues to rapidly warm.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND SOUTH AFRICA: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE NATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE RESPONSE WHITE PAPER AND THE PUSH FOR TANGIBLE PRACTICES AND MEDIA-DRIVEN INITIATIVES

The South African government's response to the universal crisis of global warming has resulted in the creation of the National Climate Change Response White Paper, a proposed country-wide course of action that would aid in the stabilization of greenhouse gas emissions and intervene in current harmful environmental practices. The role of communication and the media is crucial to the success of any policy implementation as well as of the establishment of an 'action-inspired' mind-set amongst citizens that will bolster lifestyle change to support the cause. This paper will assess the National Climate Change Response White Paper in conjunction with climate change coverage from the South African daily online news source, News24. Additionally, films released from the Bjerkness Centre for Climate Research and discussion surrounding youth’s use of relatable mediums to invoke lifestyle change from Lindie Buirski, Head of Environmental Capacity Building, Training and Education in the City of Cape Town’s Environmental Resource Management (ERM) Department, will aid in analysis. Moreover, they will serve to bolster the argument of communications' critical role in realizing any goals set forth by the government. The paper will close by offering proposed climate-change directed development projects for the South African context and will refer to current international successful examples of media use to carry the message of climate change, while inviting audience input, participation, and most importantly, action.

The Wind Energy Industry: R&D Funding and International Technological Diffusion

We analyze how technological diffusion from wind turbine manufacturers in Germany and Denmark to the U.S. have been impacted by changes in U.S. federal funding for wind energy research and development (R&D). We find that government energy R&D funding results in greater technological spillovers from Europe to the U.S., but that this impact is dwarfed by the effect on spillovers from real changes in oil prices. Our analysis of how federal funding for wind energy R&D affects the extent to which manufacturers in the U.S. wind power industry learn from inventors and competitors in other countries has relevance to the manufacturers themselves (in terms of their own R&D efforts) and to policy makers (in terms of the optimal level and form of government incentives). Bosetti et al. (Bosetti, V., C. Carraro, E. Massetti, and M. Tavoni, Energy Economics, 2008), for example, investigated the effect of international knowledge flows on the development of innovations that deal with reducing or stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions. They found that including international technological spillovers resulted in lower levels of optimal R&D investments, particularly in high income countries. Meanwhile, Wiser et al. (Wiser, R., M. Bolinger, and G. Barbose, The Electricity Journal, 2007) found that the major piece of national legislation dealing with wind energy incentives in the U.S.—the Federal Renewable Electricity Production Tax Credit (PTC)—was a significant stimulus to wind power capacity. Our decision to look at technological diffusion in the wind energy industry is based on the extensive R&D investments, the sizeable amount of patenting conducted by manufacturers, and the substantial changes that the industry has undergone in recent decades. We look at technological diffusion from Denmark and Germany because they are home to major wind turbine manufacturers that have been Int Adv Econ Res (2013) 19:77–78 DOI 10.1007/s11294-012-9390-z

A case study of REDD+ challenges in the post-2012 climate regime: The scenarios approach

The REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) partnership works to promote the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by protecting forests in developing countries through positive incentives. It is regarded as an essential component of the post-2012 climate regime to stabilize GHG emissions and engage developing countries in worldwide mitigation endeavours. This study focuses on the gap between agricultural revenue and REDD+ compensation through the construction of several scenarios that explore the impacts of possible carbon price ranges.Three scenarios that reflect different potential policies are examined: (1) current carbon trading; (2) carbon trading with all forestry activities; and (3) carbon trading with all countries participating gradually over the coming decades. Data for developing the scenarios were obtained through a case study in central Kalimantan, Indonesia, by interrogating the potential for revenue by expanding agricultural land. The results indicate that REDD+ payments could not effectively compensate land users for their opportunity cost of deforestation, making it difficult for the governments to ensure that REDD+ money “reaches the ground” in terms of balancing the agricultural revenue of land users.