The Greenhouse Gas Protocol


Book Description

The GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard helps companies and other organizations to identify, calculate, and report GHG emissions. It is designed to set the standard for accurate, complete, consistent, relevant and transparent accounting and reporting of GHG emissions.




Finance & Development, December 2019


Book Description

This issue of Finance & Development looks at the economic and financial impact of climate policy choices. It points to concrete solutions that offer growth opportunities, driven by technological innovation, sustainable investment, and a dynamic private sector. The private sector can stop supporting or subsidizing industries and activities that damage the planet and instead invest in sustainable development. Governments can roll out policies to fight climate change and the destruction of nature. The paper highlights that technological change and innovations are central to longer-term efforts to mitigate climate change by developing alternatives to fossil fuels. A new, sustainable financial system is under construction. It is funding the initiatives and innovations of the private sector and amplifying the effectiveness of governments’ climate policies—it could even accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy. The Bank of England’s latest survey finds that almost three-quarters of banks are starting to treat the risks from climate change like other financial risks—rather than viewing them simply as a corporate social responsibility. Banks have begun to consider the most immediate physical risks to their business models—from the exposure of mortgage books to flood risk to the impact of extreme weather events on sovereign risk.




The Use of Economic Instruments


Book Description

The Working Group on Environment and Economy of the Nordic Council of Ministers publishes regular reports on the use of economic instruments in Nordic environmental policy. This report is part of that series and has two parts. Part 1 presents an overview of the use of economic instruments in Nordic environmental policy, with a focus on policy changes over the period 2010-2013. Part 2 develops a framework for assessing the political possibilities of reforming environmentally harmful subsidies, and applies this framework to three cases relevant in the Nordic context. The report was prepared by Copenhagen Economics, GreenStream Network and Environice. The authors of the report are Hrafnhildur Bragadóttir, Carl von Utfall Danielsson, Roland Magnusson, Sampo Seppänen, Amanda Stefansdotter and David Sundén.




Renewable Energy: Myths and Obstacles


Book Description

Oil production has peaked. The climate is askew. We are in a race to make the inevitable transition to renewable energies and energy conservation. But numerous obstacles stand in the way of important and necessary energy developments. Opposition to hydropower projects is now spilling over onto wind and solar projects. By redeeming hydropower and telling the truth about the potential and limitations of other renewables, the authors dispel myths and identify obstacles to the implementation of a truly sustainable energy strategy.




Decarbonizing Development


Book Description

The science is unequivocal: stabilizing climate change implies bringing net carbon emissions to zero. This must be done by 2100 if we are to keep climate change anywhere near the 2oC warming that world leaders have set as the maximum acceptable limit. Decarbonizing Development: Three Steps to a Zero-Carbon Future looks at what it would take to decarbonize the world economy by 2100 in a way that is compatible with countries' broader development goals. Here is what needs to be done: -Act early with an eye on the end-goal. To best achieve a given reduction in emissions in 2030 depends on whether this is the final target or a step towards zero net emissions. -Go beyond prices with a policy package that triggers changes in investment patterns, technologies and behaviors. Carbon pricing is necessary for an efficient transition toward decarbonization. It is an efficient way to raise revenue, which can be used to support poverty reduction or reduce other taxes. Policymakers need to adopt measures that trigger the required changes in investment patterns, behaviors, and technologies - and if carbon pricing is temporarily impossible, use these measures as a substitute. -Mind the political economy and smooth the transition for those who stand to be most affected. Reforms live or die based on the political economy. A climate policy package must be attractive to a majority of voters and avoid impacts that appear unfair or are concentrated on a region, sector or community. Reforms have to smooth the transition for those who stand to be affected, by protecting vulnerable people but also sometimes compensating powerful lobbies.




The Green Paradox


Book Description

A leading economist develops a supply-side approach to fighting climate change that encourages resource owners to leave more of their fossil carbon underground. The Earth is getting warmer. Yet, as Hans-Werner Sinn points out in this provocative book, the dominant policy approach—which aims to curb consumption of fossil energy—has been ineffective. Despite policy makers' efforts to promote alternative energy, impose emission controls on cars, and enforce tough energy-efficiency standards for buildings, the relentlessly rising curve of CO2 output does not show the slightest downward turn. Some proposed solutions are downright harmful: cultivating crops to make biofuels not only contributes to global warming but also uses resources that should be devoted to feeding the world's hungry. In The Green Paradox, Sinn proposes a new, more pragmatic approach based not on regulating the demand for fossil fuels but on controlling the supply. The owners of carbon resources, Sinn explains, are pre-empting future regulation by accelerating the production of fossil energy while they can. This is the “Green Paradox”: expected future reduction in carbon consumption has the effect of accelerating climate change. Sinn suggests a supply-side solution: inducing the owners of carbon resources to leave more of their wealth underground. He proposes the swift introduction of a “Super-Kyoto” system—gathering all consumer countries into a cartel by means of a worldwide, coordinated cap-and-trade system supported by the levying of source taxes on capital income—to spoil the resource owners' appetite for financial assets. Only if we can shift our focus from local demand to worldwide supply policies for reducing carbon emissions, Sinn argues, will we have a chance of staving off climate disaster.




Reconciling Human Existence with Ecological Integrity


Book Description

'The ecological challenge demands a paradigm shift in our thinking about the human-environment relation. Reconciling Human Existence with Ecological Integrity provides a ‘state of the art account of work on ecological integrity - and offers a compelling vision for the future. Derek Bell, Senior Lecturer at the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, University of Newcastle A book of vast scope and richness ... If policymakers around the world took notice of this insightful set of messages, we would all live with greater happiness, health, and wellbeing, with a brighter future for our children and grandchildren. Lawrence O. Gostin, O‘Neill Professor of Global Health Law, Georgetown University Law Center This book attempts to do in theory what the world needs to do in practice. It is an ecological master plan that shows how we can not only survive but also flourish. James P. Sterba, President of the American Philosophical Association, Central Division Ecosystems have been compared to a house of cards: remove or damage a part and you risk destroying or fundamentally and irreversibly altering the whole. Protecting ecological integrity means maintaining that whole - an aim which is increasingly difficult to achieve given the ever-growing dominance of humanity. This book is the definitive examination of the state of the field now, and the way things may (and must) develop in the future. Written and edited by members of the Global Ecological Integrity Group - an international collection of the worlds most respected authorities in the area - the book considers the extent to which human rights (such as the rights to food, energy, health, clean air or water) can be reconciled with the principles of ecological integrity. The issue is approached from a variety of economic, legal, ethical and ecological standpoints, providing an essential resource for researchers, students and those in government or business in a wide range of disciplines.




Macroeconomic and Financial Policies for Climate Change Mitigation: A Review of the Literature


Book Description

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of this century. Mitigation requires a large-scale transition to a low-carbon economy. This paper provides an overview of the rapidly growing literature on the role of macroeconomic and financial policy tools in enabling this transition. The literature provides a menu of policy tools for mitigation. A key conclusion is that fiscal tools are first in line and central, but can and may need to be complemented by financial and monetary policy instruments. Some tools and policies raise unanswered questions about policy tool assignment and mandates, which we describe. The literature is scarce, however, on the most effective policy mix and the role of mitigation tools and goals in the overall policy framework.




Sustainable Energy in China


Book Description

This timely new book uses historical data from 1980 and alternative scenarios through 2020 to assess China's future energy requirements and the resources available to meet them. Current trends are putting China on an unsustainable and insecure energy growth path, characterized by the use of enormous quantities of "dirty" coal and an alarming oil import dependence. The authors find that what is urgently needed is a high-level commitment to an integrated, coordinated, and comprehensive policy that is set in the framework of the energy law currently being prepared.