Content Type: Working Paper / Publication Year: within 25 Years / Topic: Climate Change

401. What are the Welfare Costs of Shoreline Loss? Housing Market Evidence from a Discontinuity Matching Design

Author:: Matthew Ranson
Publication Date:: 05-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: This paper uses housing market data to estimate the welfare costs of shoreline loss along coastal beaches in Florida. I develop a forward-looking structural model of a housing market in which a time-variant housing characteristic (beach width) follows a Markov process. I use this model to provide an exact welfare interpretation for the coefficients from three empirical research designs: (1) a repeat-sales panel regression of housing prices on beach width; (2) a differences-in-differences approach based on sharp changes in beach width caused by beach nourishment projects; and (3) a new “discontinuity matching” research design that exploits capitalized housing price differentials created by predictable changes in future beach width. Using a unique panel dataset on housing sales, beach width survey measurements, and the timing of 204 beach nourishment projects along 300 miles of Florida's coastline, I then use each of these research designs to estimate homeowners' willingness to pay for an extra foot of sand. In contrast to previous work, I find that changes in beach width have little impact on housing prices, except possibly at very eroded beaches. The results imply that the welfare costs of sea level rise may be low up to a threshold, and then increase sharply.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, and Environment
Political Geography:: United States and Florida

402. The Nature and Role of Regional Agreements in International Environmental Politics: Mapping Agreements, Outlining Future Research

Author:: Miriam Prys, Jörg Balsiger, and Niko Steinhoff
Publication Date:: 10-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: Global agreements to mitigate climate change, conserve biodiversity or combat desertification typically take center stage in scholarly discussions about international environmental politics. Even though the United Nations Environment Programme reported ten years ago that regional agreements make up two‐thirds of all international treaties, regional cooperation has by comparison either received scant attention or been conceptually and empirically lumped together with global treaties. This lack of knowledge about the historical and current scope of regional governance is a serious obstacle to understanding the architecture of global environmental governance and to overcoming current bottlenecks in international environmental cooperation. In response, we report on the outcome of an analysis that complements the most comprehensive database on international environmental agreements (iea.uoregon.edu) with variables for analysis at the regional level. We introduce a multidimensional typology of regional agreements based on contiguous/noncontiguous agreement membership, contiguous/noncontiguous spatial ambit, and whether membership and ambit are adjoining and/or coextensive. We discuss the theoretical and empirical relevance of the different types of agreements and the nature and prevalence of special cases. Given the previous lack of research in this area, our primary purpose is to present a systematic account of regional environmental governance, leaving causal analysis to our own and others' future research. We identify a number of knowledge gaps and analytical directions in the conclusion.
Topic:: Climate Change, Environment, International Cooperation, Treaties and Agreements, and United Nations

403. Migration and Disaster-Induced Displacement: European Policy, Practice, and Perspective

Author:: Michael D. Cooper
Publication Date:: 10-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: Over the last decade, a series of devastating natural disasters have killed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions, and decimated the built environment across wide regions, shocking the public imagination and garnering unprecedented financial support for humanitarian relief efforts. Some suggest that disaster migration must be supported by the international community, first as an adaption strategy in response to climate-change, and second, as a matter of international protection.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Environment, Humanitarian Aid, and Natural Disasters
Political Geography:: Europe

404. Assessing EU Leadership on Climate Change. The Limits of Diffusion in EU Relations with China and India

Author:: Diarmuid Torney
Publication Date:: 09-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:: The EU has for a long time claimed the title of “leader” in the international politics of climate change. However, existing research has generally failed to specify whether the EU's purported leadership has induced the “followership” of other states. This working paper seeks to shed light on this somewhat neglected topic by examining the attempted diffusion of climate change norms, policies, and institutions by the EU to China and India. The paper makes two principal arguments. First, the development of Chinese and Indian climate change policy should be understood as primarily domestic developments. Nonetheless, there was limited evidence of diffusion from the EU, but there was significant variation between the Chinese and Indian responses to the EU's diffusion attempts. The Chinese response was one increasing accommodation; the Indian response was a more straightforward case of resistance. Second, domestic factors help to explain the variation in the Chinese and Indian responses to EU attempts at diffusion and, related, the observed pattern of diffusion from the EU to China and India. Particularly important is the degree to which new external ideas and concepts resonate with pre-existing domestic ideas and concepts. The paper thus paints a picture of limited EU leadership, but also suggests that the EU attempts to secure “followership” could be enhanced by paying greater attention to the domestic politics and preferences of third countries.
Topic:: Climate Change, Environment, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:: China and India

405. Emissions Trading - A Transatlantic Journey for an Idea?

Author:: Katja Biedenkopf
Publication Date:: 09-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:: This paper examines the ways in which the EU greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions trading system (ETS) affected the design of similar programs in North America. It investigates the conditions under which EU pioneering policy can play a role in extra-EU jurisdictions' policy-making. The empirical investigation finds that the EU's promotion of emissions trading was successful to some extent. The EU did not influence or trigger the inception of GHG emissions trading programs in North America. The EU ETS, however, played a role in the design process of the North American programs. Actors learned from elements of the EU system. Domestic North American factors were the triggers and drivers of the agenda-setting stage and dominated the policy adoption stage while the EU ETS significantly contributed to the policy formulation processes. The EU ETS played a role at the technical level rather than at the level of political deliberations and decision- making. The EU's policy promotion efforts depended on the demand in North America. The resonance and receptiveness in North America were decisive factors. The EU was not an importunate persuader. Learning from the ETS was to a significant part demand-driven.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, International Cooperation, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:: North America

406. Independence day: A special report on North America's oil and gas boom

Author:: Martin Adams
Publication Date:: 10-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Economist Intelligence Unit
Abstract:: The bulk of the world's proven oil reserves are concentrated in places that are hostile to the West, unstable or a combination of the two. Since the US is the world's largest importer of oil, concerns about energy security have long simmered in Washington. On top of this, global oil prices have hit new highs in recent years and remained persistently strong. This adds to anxieties about the security of energy supplies and places a burden on the US economy. Partly as a result of elevated prices, however, something new—and, arguably, revolutionary—has happened.
Topic:: Climate Change, Economics, Energy Policy, International Trade and Finance, Oil, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:: United States and North America

407. Policy Roundtable on Asian Non-Traditional Security

Publication Date:: 07-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:: On 30–31 July 2012, a Policy Roundtable on Asian Non-Traditional Security was held at the Hotel Novotel Beijing Peace, China, with the aim of sharing the research findings of participating institutions. The Roundtable was organised by the Center for Regional Security Studies (CRSS), Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS); the Centre for Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS); the National Institute of International Strategy (NIIS), CASS; and the Center for Non-Traditional Security and Peaceful Development Studies (NTS-PD), Zhejiang University.
Topic:: Security, Climate Change, Environment, Human Rights, Human Welfare, Political Economy, Natural Disasters, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:: Israel, Asia, and Australia/Pacific

408. Delivering Environmentally Sustainable Economic Growth: The Case of China

Author:: Junjie Zhang
Publication Date:: 09-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Asia Society
Abstract:: China has achieved miraculous economic growth over the past 30 years to become the world's second largest single-country economy. The economic boom is attributed to China's market-oriented reforms, which prioritize economic growth. However, growing the gross domestic product (GDP) at any cost has created a series of social and environmental problems. Consequently, China's economic losses due to pollution and environmental degradation accounted for 10.51 percent of gross national income in 2008, according to the World Bank.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Environment, and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:: China

409. Mitt Romney's Energy Plan

Author:: Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren
Publication Date:: 10-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Cato Institute
Abstract:: Whenever gasoline prices are substantially above historic norms – which they are today, as we don't need to tell you – energy policy takes center stage in American politics. And whenever pollsters in presidential campaigns find swing states in energy country, you can bet that the stage will be lit like never before.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, and Oil
Political Geography:: United States

410. Resources, risk and resilience: scarcity and climate change in Ethiopia

Author:: Alex Evans
Publication Date:: 08-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:: Ethiopia's resource scarcity context presents a daunting challenge, but also a significant opportunity. The country's current scarcity context includes: Low agricultural yields and farm sizes: Even if farm productivity were to increase by a factor of three, the average farm would still not produce enough food for a family of five. With 83% of Ethiopia's people directly dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods, the country has a major food security challenge; 7.5 million people depend on food safety nets. Major exposure to drought: Ethiopia has erratic rainfall, and acutely limited water storage capacity: the country has only 43m3 of reservoir storage per person, compared to 750m3 in South Africa and 6,150m3 in North America. Levels of irrigation are also low: the World Bank estimates that only 5% of irrigable land in Ethiopia is actually irrigated. Limited access to energy: Ethiopia's total primary energy supply is less than 60% of the African average, and only just over a fifth of the global average. The country depends on waste and biomass for 90 of its energy needs – leading to consequences including deforestation, and soil degradation as a result of biomass not being returned to the soil. High dependence on imported oil and food: Ethiopia currently imports all of its liquid fuels and a significant proportion of its food. This creates major exposure to global commodity price volatility, with the attendant risk of balance of payments problems, inflation and outright supply interruptions.
Topic:: Agriculture, Climate Change, Development, Economics, Poverty, Natural Resources, and Food
Political Geography:: Africa, South Africa, North America, and Ethiopia

411. Lessons Learned From the 2011 Strategic Petroleum Reserve Release

Author:: Blake Clayton
Publication Date:: 09-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:: On June 23, 2011, the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced plans to coordinate the release of emergency oil stockpiles in an attempt to offset an ongoing loss of crude oil production in Libya. In the six months prior, oil prices had jumped more than 20 percent, as political upheaval in Libya had prevented an estimated 132 million barrels of oil from reaching the market. IEA member country policymakers feared that high oil prices risked undermining a nascent global economic recovery. To combat that threat, twelve IEA member countries made roughly sixty million barrels of crude oil and refined oil products, such as diesel and gasoline, available to the market. The release, which the IEA referred to as the “Libya collective action,” lasted from July 23, 2011, until September 15, 2011. It was only the third time in its nearly thirty-year history that the IEA, which was founded after the 1973 oil crisis, has undertaken a coordinated release, though the United States has unilaterally released strategic stocks on several occasions for reasons that include raising revenue and countering rising heating oil prices.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, International Cooperation, International Organization, Oil, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:: Libya

412. Climate Change and Migration in Southeast Asia: Responding to a New Human Security Challenge

Author:: Lorraine Elliott
Publication Date:: 02-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:: Migration and displacement are among the range of pressures on people and their communities likely to arise from the economic, social and environmental consequences of climate change. Despite fragmented data, the climate security literature has focused on the potential for climate change-induced migration to trigger social tensions and conflict within states and across borders. A human security approach seeks to ensure that people are placed at the centre of concerns about mobility and migration in response to climate change. This requires more than identifying those who are vulnerable to migration pressures. It necessitates an understanding of how migration and mobility choices are made, how vulnerabilities can be managed in ways that are participatory and responsive to local needs and circumstances, and how local, national and regional policy responses can strengthen the knowledge base and improve collaborative platforms for action.
Topic:: Security, Climate Change, Economics, Environment, and Migration
Political Geography:: Southeast Asia

413. Climate change and conflict: lessons from natural resource management How development cooperation can address climate change as a conflict multiplier

Author:: Signe Marie Cold-Ravnkilde, Mikkel Funder, and Ida Peters Ginsborg
Publication Date:: 03-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: The report presents the main findings of a desk study of experiences with conflict prevention and resolution in natural resource management, and how these can be applied in development cooperation in relation to climate change.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Climate Change, Environment, and Political Theory

414. Addressing Climate Change and Conflict in Development Cooperation: Experiences from natural resource management

Author:: Signe Marie Cold-Ravnkilde, Mikkel Funder, and Ida Peters Ginsborg
Publication Date:: 03-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: The report presents the main findings of a desk study of experiences with conflict prevention and resolution in natural resource management, and how these can be applied in development cooperation in relation to climate change.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, Climate Change, Development, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:: Africa

415. India's Turn in Climate Policy: Assessing the Interplay of Domestic and International Policy Change

Author:: Joachim Betz
Publication Date:: 03-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: India has long been regarded as a deal-breaker in international climate negotiations; it was at the summit in Copenhagen that India first abandoned its old strategic line and made a commitment to reduce carbon emissions voluntarily. This shift was accompanied by a proliferation of domestic initiatives to save energy, to develop regenerative energies, etc. Traditional IR approaches remain insufficient to explain this policy shift – which is the aim of this paper – insofar as they fail to adequately take into account the fact that climate policies have to confront two audiences: a domestic and an international one, each presenting different tactical necessities for official reaction. On the international front, we argue that globally, India intended to be perceived as a responsible actor, one deserving of a greater say in global governance matters. On the domestic level, shrinking national energy reserves and mounting import dependence made the co-benefit of energy saving in reducing greenhouse gas emissions evident. The shift was made easier because important business associations aligned with a more eco-friendly development perspective and because the reduction commitments made by the Indian government on an international stage did not demand very stringent domestic emission reductions.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Energy Policy, and Globalization
Political Geography:: India

416. How Much Does Natural Resource Extraction Really Diminish National Wealth? The Implications of Discovery

Author:: Alan Gelb, Kai Kaiser, and Lorena Viñuela
Publication Date:: 03-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: The paper considers the process of discovery for subsoil resources, including both hard minerals and hydrocarbons and estimates its magnitude in recent years, as derived from the sum of extraction and changes in proven reserves. Spurred on by technology change and strong market conditions, discovery has been substantial for most minerals. The value of discovered reserves is high relative to the costs of exploration, particularly when low social discount rates are used to value potential production in the future. Discovery is therefore valuable and should be considered as adding to national wealth through increases in proven reserves. Many countries can continue to generate resource rents far longer than indicated by current reserve estimates and this has implications for decisions on how to plan to spend or save rents. With the high response of discovery to prices and technology, environmental constraints (climate change, water) are more likely than the actual exhaustion of resource deposits to limit resource-based development. The divergence between private and social valuation of discoveries may also justify measures taken by countries to encourage exploration, including through the provision of geo-scientific data to increase interest in discovery as well as competition among mining companies. More information is needed on the payoff to such investments, some of which are supported by donors. However, exploration is, of course, only a slice of the resource value chain. Many countries will need to improve management along the entire chain if resource wealth is to benefit their development.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Environment, Natural Resources, and Water

417. FCPR–Forest Conservation Performance Rating for the Pan-Tropics

Author:: David Wheeler, Robin Kraft, and Dan Hammer
Publication Date:: 05-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: This note introduces and illustrates fCPR (Forest Conservation Performance Rating), a system of color-coded ratings for tropical forest conservation performance that can be implemented for local areas, countries, regions, and the entire pan-tropics. The ratings reward tropical forest conservation in three dimensions: (1) exceeding expectations, given an area's forest clearing history and development status; (2) meeting or exceeding global REDD+ goals; and (3) achieving an immediate reduction in forest clearing. Green ratings are assigned to areas that meet condition (2); yellow to areas that meet (1) only; and red to countries that fail to meet either condition. We have developed fCPR at the Center for Global Development (CGD), using monthly forest clearing indicators from CGD's FORMA (Forest Monitoring for Action). This first release rates the quarterly conservation performance of 27 countries currently tracked by FORMA, as well as 242 of their states and provinces that contain tropical forests. The 27 countries accounted for 94 percent of tropical forest clearing during the period 2000–2005. Future releases will include additional countries as FORMA begins tracking them.
Topic:: Climate Change, Democratization, Development, Economics, Environment, and Natural Resources

418. Energizing Rio+20: How the United States Can Promote Sustainable Energy for All at the 2012 Earth Summit

Author:: Nigel Purvis and Abigail Jones
Publication Date:: 04-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: Worldwide, about 1.3 billion people lack access to electricity (one in five people), while unreliable electricity networks serve another 1 billion people. Roughly 2.7 billion—about 40 percent of the global population—lack access to clean cooking fuels. Instead, dirty, sometimes scarce and expensive fuels such as kerosene, candles, wood, animal waste, and crop residues power the lives of the energy poor, who pay disproportionately high costs and receive very poor quality in return. More than 95 percent of the energy poor are either in sub-Saharan Africa or developing Asia, while 84 percent are in rural areas—the same regions that are the most vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Economics, Energy Policy, Environment, and Poverty
Political Geography:: Africa, United States, and Asia

419. A greener shade of grey: A special report on renewable energy in China

Publication Date:: 05-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Economist Intelligence Unit
Abstract:: Fossil fuels will continue to dominate China's energy mix, although renewable energy will carve out a bigger role. The large market for clean technology that this provides will give succour to firms in the sector—those, that is, that are able to survive their present difficulties.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, International Trade and Finance, Oil, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:: China

420. Tankers on the horizon: Australia's coming LNG boom

Publication Date:: 08-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Economist Intelligence Unit
Abstract:: The International Energy Agency speculates that we could be entering a “golden age of gas.” If that is the case Australia is set to be a key contributor to it. While much attention has been paid to the shale gas boom in North America and prospects for the spread of the “shale gas revolution” elsewhere, Australia has been positioning itself to emerge as a leading player in the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market by the end of this decade.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, International Trade and Finance, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:: Australia, Australia/Pacific, and North America

421. The Arctic policies of Canada and the United States: domestic motives and international context

Author:: Kristofer Bergh
Publication Date:: 07-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:: The Arctic ice is melting. If current trends continue, there will be dramatic changes in the region, with far-reaching implications. At the same time, the receding ice opens the region to economic development, including through the exploitation of previously inaccessible hydrocarbons and minerals. In September 2011, both the Northern Sea Route (along Russia's north coast, formerly known as the Northeast Passage) and the Northwest Passage (along the northern coasts of Alaska and Canada) were open for some time, potentially creating shorter shipping routes between Asia, Europe and North America. Increased human activity in the sparsely populated and in hospitable Arctic requires new initiatives to achieve safety and security for the region's environment and its inhabitants and visitors.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Climate Change, Diplomacy, Political Economy, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:: Russia, Europe, Canada, Asia, and North America

422. Military capabilities in the Arctic

Author:: Siemon T. Wezeman
Publication Date:: 03-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:: In recent years the forecast of far-reaching climate change in the Arctic has led to fears of future conflict in the region. Such fears have been expressed in official documents, including defence policy documents, of the five Arctic littoral states—Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and the United States. Three of them—Canada, Denmark and Russia—have recently adopted foreign and defence policies that have put a special emphasis on the Arctic. They have strengthened their military presence in the Arctic or increased military capabilities for Arctic use and have presented plans for additional military strengthening. Meanwhile, Norway has moved a substantial part of its operational forces to the north of the country. Of the five littoral states, only the USA has placed less focus on Arctic security.
Topic:: Conflict Prevention, Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Climate Change, Natural Resources, and Territorial Disputes
Political Geography:: Russia, United States, Canada, Norway, and Denmark

423. Assessing the Quality of Aid for Agriculture

Author:: Kimberly Elliott and Edward Collins
Publication Date:: 08-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: New international initiatives signal strong commitment to agriculture and food security in the face of growing demand and climate-change challenges. But aid to agriculture still represents just five percent of total official development assistance. With donor budgets under intense pressure, making aid effective is more important than ever, but we still know relatively little about the quality of aid in general and of agricultural aid in particular.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Climate Change, Development, Foreign Aid, and Food

424. Raising Awareness Together: How Can the EU Engage with Civil Society to Promote Sustainable Lifestyles?

Author:: Ekaterina Vladimirova
Publication Date:: 06-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:: Individual behaviour plays a key role in resolving the climate change problem. The main obstacle for such behavioural change is often poor public knowledge about the ethical dimension of climate change and about the practical solutions available to individuals in order to make informed choices. Promoting sustainable lifestyles should top the political agenda in Europe. In this light, this paper suggests how the EU could engage with civil society to promote sustainable lifestyles through joint media campaigns, by establishing local sustainability centres and by working together to change educational standards. This collaboration would benefit from knowledge and expertise exchange, lower transaction costs and, most importantly, it would increase public trust in the quest for sustainability.
Topic:: Civil Society, Climate Change, Education, Environment, and Mass Media
Political Geography:: Europe

425. CARMA Revisited: An Updated Database of Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Power Plants Worldwide

Author:: Kevin Ummel
Publication Date:: 08-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: The Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA) database provides information about the carbon dioxide emissions, electricity production, corporate ownership, and location of more than 60,000 power plants in over 200 countries. Originally launched in 2007, CARMA is provided freely to the public at www.carma. org and remains the only comprehensive data source of its kind. This paper documents the methodology underpinning CARMA v3.0, released in July, 2012. Comparison of CARMA model output with reported data highlights the general difficulty of precisely predicting annual electricity generation for a given plant and year. Estimating the rate at which a plant emits CO2 (per unit of electricity generated) generally faces fewer obstacles. Ultimately, greater disclosure of plant-specific data is needed to overcome these limitations, particularly in major emitting countries like China, Russia, and Japan. For any given plant in CARMA v3.0, it is estimated that the reported value is within 20 percent of the actual value in 85 percent of cases for CO2 intensity, 75 percent for annual CO2 emissions, and 45 percent for annual electricity generation. CARMA's prediction models are shown to offer significantly better estimates than more naïve approaches to estimating plant-specific performance.
Topic:: Climate Change, Environment, Health, and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:: Russia, Japan, and China

426. Energy+ Country Performance Ratings, 2001–2010

Author:: David Wheeler
Publication Date:: 07-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: This paper introduces ƐCPR, country performance ratings that support Norway's Energy+ initiative by monitoring the progress of 153 countries in reducing the CO2 emissions intensity of energy consumption. It develops annual ƐCPR ratings for the period from 2001 to 2010.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Energy Policy, and Foreign Aid

427. Understanding institutional change: A review of selected literature for the Climate Change and Rural Institutions Research Programme

Author:: Mikkel Funder, Ian Christoplos, Ida Peters, Adam Pain, and Esbern Friis-Hansen
Publication Date:: 09-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: This literature review summarises selected theories of institutional change, with a particular emphasis on issues relevant to the Climate Change and Rural Institutions (CCRI) research programme. The review focuses on concepts that can be applied in understanding how and why meso level institutions operating at district and provincial levels respond or fail to respond when faced with climate change related upheavals. The review examines the concepts of path dependency, gradual institutional change and institutional bricolage, and how these tools might be used to understand processes of change in meso level institutions when faced by catastrophic environmental change.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Energy Policy, and Governance

428. Policy Priorities for Advancing the U.S. Electric Vehicle Market

Author:: Deborah Gordon, Daniel Sperling, and David Livingston
Publication Date:: 09-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:: The U.S. electric-vehicle industry has posted impressive growth over the last decade, with hundreds of companies now advancing the plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) market. But there is still much to do to further the transition to electric-drive vehicles. It will take a sophisticated set of policy tools and local action to spur manufacturers, utilities, localities, and states to fully commercialize PEVs.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:: United States

429. Extreme Weather, Extreme Prices: The costs of feeding a warming world

Publication Date:: 09-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Climate change is making extreme weather – like droughts, floods and heat waves – much more likely. As the 2012 drought in the US shows, extreme weather means extreme food prices. Our failure to slash greenhouse gas emissions presents a future of greater food price volatility, with severe consequences for the precarious lives and livelihoods of people in poverty.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Climate Change, Economics, and Food
Political Geography:: United States

430. Climate Change Risks and Supply Chain Responsibility: How should companies respond when extreme weather affects small-scale producers in their supply chain?

Author:: Jodie Thorpe and Shelly Fennell
Publication Date:: 06-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: What role can companies play in strengthening the capacity of small-scale producers in developing countries to adapt to climate change, and in doing so, make their global value chains more resilient? While some leading companies have made progress in taking greater responsibility for what happens throughout their supply chains, there has been little discussion about the threat that climate change poses to the livelihoods of small-scale producers. Through interviews with three companies: Starbucks, Marks Spencer, and The Body Shop, the paper examines how smallholders involved in coffee production in Colombia, sesame in Nicaragua, and cotton in Pakistan have been affected by climate change and what it means for the companies' businesses . From this research, Oxfam identifies key actions for companies to begin to address the challenges to small-scale producers, and raises questions for further discussion.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Economics, Environment, International Trade and Finance, and Markets
Political Geography:: Pakistan and Colombia

431. The Gender and Climate Debate: More of the Same or New Pathways of Thinking and Doing?

Author:: Bernadette P. Resurreccion
Publication Date:: 01-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:: Feminist and development advocates have recently taken international agreement framers to task for the paucity of gender perspectives when defining climate change agendas, a gap which has led to the emergence of 'gender and climate change' discourses. This paper aims to contribute to this growing concern with gender and climate change adaptation by: (i) briefly reviewing international agreements and advocacy literature in order to understand the conceptual antecedents underlying gender and climate change discourses and their respective deficits; and (ii) engaging with past and current theorisations on gender, adaptation and resilience which are relevant to a better understanding of the linkages among gender, climate change adaptation and human security. This paper argues that 'gender' and 'vulnerability' have to be viewed as complex social and human security processes that defy current simplifications based on fixed and essentialised traits and properties of women that characterised the earlier women, environment and development (WED) discourse. Current gender and climate change discussions often build on this earlier strand. An understanding of the complex linkages and processes of gendering and vulnerability is applied to recent climate change adaptation studies in Cambodia and Vietnam.
Topic:: Climate Change, Environment, and Gender Issues
Political Geography:: Vietnam and Cambodia

432. Climate Change Investment through the Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience in Tajikistan

Publication Date:: 01-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Tajikistan is a poor country with limited industry, significant energy production from hydropower, and a low carbon footprint. Poverty in Tajikistan is predominantly found in rural areas, and is increasingly feminized as significant numbers of men migrate to other countries for work. This mountainous terrain of Tajikistan leaves many of its population reliant on marginal land for their livelihoods and thus vulnerable to climate change.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, and Poverty
Political Geography:: Central Asia and Tajikistan

433. "Getting Beyond Taiwan? Chinese Foreign Policy and PLA Modernization"

Author:: Michael A. Glosny
Publication Date:: 01-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Academy of Political Science
Abstract:: Since the mid-1990s, China's military modernization has focused on deterring Taiwan independence and preparing for a military response if deterrence fails. Given China's assumption of U.S. intervention in a Taiwan conflict, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has been developing military capabilities to deter, delay, and disrupt U.S. military support operations. The 2008 election of Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou, however, has contributed to improved cross-strait economic and political cooperation and dramatically reduced the threat of Taiwan independence and war across the Taiwan Strait. Cooperation has included full restoration of direct shipping, flights, and mail across the strait, Taiwan's participation in the World Health Assembly, regularized cross-strait negotiation mechanisms that have already reached several agreements, and the recent signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Climate Change, Diplomacy, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:: China, Israel, Taiwan, and Asia

434. Risk and Resilience in Three Southeast Asian Cross-Border Areas: The Greater Mekong Subregion, the Heart of Borneo and the Coral Triangle

Author:: Fitrian Ardiansyah and Desak Putu Adhityani Putri
Publication Date:: 02-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:: This paper investigates the security impacts of climate change in three Southeast Asian cross-border areas– the Greater Mekong Subregion, the Heart of Borneo and the Coral Triangle – through an examination of the ways in which climate change results in human insecurity and possibly social unrest, tension and conflict. The three cross-border areas are significant in that they host unique but threatened large-scale freshwater, terrestrial forest, coastal and marine ecosystems. In addition, they are home to more than 400 million people and provide important ecosystem goods and services to many countries in the region. This paper explores and evaluates regional agreements and actions in each of the three areas, with an emphasis on the mainstreaming of climate adaptation as well as mitigation in the development agenda. The analysis also points to the importance of reaching out to other actors beyond state and intergovernmental ones if adaptation and mitigation efforts were to succeed. There is a need to identify other actors, such as the business sector, local communities and the public, with the aim of getting them involved in these important issues.
Topic:: Conflict Prevention, Political Violence, Climate Change, Territorial Disputes, and Water
Political Geography:: Asia

435. Quantifying Vulnerability to Climate Change: Implications for Adaptation Assistance

Author:: David Wheeler
Publication Date:: 01-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: This paper attempts a comprehensive accounting of climate change vulnerability for 233 states, ranging in size from China to Tokelau. Using the most recent evidence, it develops risk indicators for three critical problems: increasing weather-related disasters, sea-level rise, and loss of agricultural productivity. The paper embeds these indicators in a methodology for cost-effective allocation of adaptation assistance. The methodology can be applied easily and consistently to all 233 states and all three problems, or to any subset that may be of interest to particular donors. Institutional perspectives and priorities differ; the paper develops resource allocation formulas for three cases: (1) potential climate impacts alone, as measured by the three indicators; (2) case 1 adjusted for differential country vulnerability, which is affected by economic development and governance; and (3) case 2 adjusted for donor concerns related to project economics: intercountry differences in project unit costs and probabilities of project success. The paper is accompanied by an Excel database with complete data for all 233 countries. It provides two illustrative applications of the database and methodology: assistance for adaptation to sea level rise by the 20 island states that are both small and poor and general assistance to all low-income countries for adaptation to extreme weather changes, sea-level rise, and agricultural productivity loss.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Poverty, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: China

436. Linking an EU emission reduction target beyond 20 % to energy security in Central and Eastern Europe

Author:: Anna Korppoo, Thomas Spencer, Kai-Olaf Lang, and Martin Kremer
Publication Date:: 03-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: The Central and Eastern European Member States are expected to play a key role in the debate around future EU climate policy, including the potential move beyond a 20% greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target by 2020. Hungary and Poland hold the rotating EU Presidency in 2011, and energy security has been placed as a priority issue on both Presidency agendas. At the same time, energy security is a key issue in climate policy, particularly for the Central and Eastern European (CEE) Member States. Hungary's ambassador for Energy Security, Mihaly Bayer, made the link explicit, saying “if we can settle energy security then we can deal with climate change more calmly”. It is important to gain an understanding of the actual underpinnings of the energy security debate in CEE, and of the impact of a more stringent 2020 reduction target for this region.
Topic:: Climate Change and Energy Policy
Political Geography:: Europe, Poland, and Hungary

437. A Green Venture Fund to Finance Clean Technology for Developing Countries

Author:: David Wheeler and Darius Nassiry
Publication Date:: 03-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: Climate negotiators in Cancún reached agreement that long-term climate finance will include a commitment by developed countries to mobilize US$ 100 billion per year to help developing countries combat climate change. However, that level of investment will require substantial capital from private investors, particularly for innovation and commercialization. We propose a public-private green venture fund (GVF) to promote development and deployment of low-carbon technologies for developing countries. The GVF will use a fund of funds model backed by public "cornerstone" equity. In this paper, we propose a structure for the GVF and explain the design rationale, operating principles and key parameters for two funds of funds for technology innovation and deployment. We also highlight some key issues to be considered, including differential treatment of public and private investors and possible approaches to setting technology priorities.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, and Environment

438. Andean-U.S. Dialogue Forum: Toward a Common Agenda for the Andean Countries and the United States

Publication Date:: 02-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Carter Center
Abstract:: An opening product of the Andean-U.S. Dialogue Forum, this report is intended to spur conversations on more effective cooperation by identifying convergences and divergences in priorities among the countries and the citizens of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia and the United States. It seeks to open the door to a better understanding of the internal dynamics in each country and to reduce stereotypes that impede cooperation to resolve mutual challenges. This report highlights the transnational issues of energy, climate change, trade, and illegal drugs, recognizing that beneficial progress will demand a collective response from all.
Topic:: Climate Change, International Trade and Finance, Regional Cooperation, and War on Drugs
Political Geography:: United States, Colombia, Latin America, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia

439. Climate Insecurities: Exploring the Strategic Implications for Asia-Pacific Armed Forces

Author:: Evan A. Laksmana
Publication Date:: 04-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:: This paper seeks to explore and assess the implications of climate insecurities for the armed forces of the Asia-Pacific region, and in particular Southeast Asia. It identifies key issues and trends related to climate insecurities – in the areas of mass migration, diseases, natural disasters and the scarcity of water, food and other resources. It then details the implications for armed forces in the region with reference to the strategic, institutional and operational realms, and contends that climate change will become both a burden multiplier and a threat multiplier in the decades to come.
Topic:: Climate Change, Health, and Migration
Political Geography:: Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific

440. Climate change negotiations and their implications for international development cooperation

Author:: Lars Engberg-Pedersen
Publication Date:: 04-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: This report discusses possible implications of the international attempts to address climate change for the organisation of development cooperation. The paper concentrates This report discusses possible implications of the international attempts to address climate change for the organisation of development cooperation. The paper concentrates on questions related to institutions and resources and pays less attention to potential consequences for the objectives and contents of development cooperation. The institutional question is limited to the norms, practices and organisations that emerge primarily at the international level in response to climate change. The resource question deals with the capital that needs to be mobilised to mitigate climate change and to finance the costs of adaptation to climate change in developing countries.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Energy Policy, and International Cooperation

441. Local and National Ownership in Post-Conflict Liberia Foreign and Domestic Inside Out?

Author:: Niels Nagelhus Schia and Benjamin de Carvalho
Publication Date:: 04-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: The paper takes as its starting point the difficulties encountered in implementing policies aimed at fostering local and national ownership in peacekeeping activities. Especially important in this respect are training programmes aimed at sensitizing people working in peacekeeping operations to the inherent difficulties of local ownership in post-conflict environments. The account offered here is an ethnography of local ownership in a specific context. Through such accounts, we argue, training programmes can go beyond emphasizing the difficulties relating to local ownership, and instead emphasize how these can be solved in different contexts, on a case-bycase basis. By offering an ethnographical account of practices of local ownership in Liberian ministries, problematizing the role played by international embedded experts, we argue that where you stand may actually depend on where you sit. In a difficult post-conflict environment, local ownership in the initial phases may not be possible without borrowing capacity from the outside. In the end, the important question may be not who does the work, but whose perspectives underlie the policies that are adopted and implemented.
Topic:: Climate Change and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:: Liberia

442. Climate change: Beyond coping. Women smallholder farmers in Tajikistan

Publication Date:: 06-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Evidence from scientific research and from previous qualitative research into the experiences of farmers in Tajikistan makes it clear that climate change is already impacting the country and the lives of people from rural Tajikistan.
Topic:: Agriculture, Climate Change, Environment, and Food
Political Geography:: Central Asia and Tajikistan

443. Improving Food Security for Vulnerable Communities in Nepal

Author:: Kate Kilpatrick
Publication Date:: 05-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Nepal is one of the world's poorest nations, with 31 per cent of its 28 million-population living below the poverty line. Chronic food insecurity and hunger are part of daily life for millions of Nepalis. For families living in Nepal's remote mountain regions in particular, getting access to sufficient food is a daily struggle. Climate change is making the situation worse.
Topic:: Security, Climate Change, and Food
Political Geography:: South Asia, Asia, and Nepal

444. Minding the Money: Governance of climate change adaptation finance in Nepal

Author:: Katie Wiseman and Raju Pandit Chhetri
Publication Date:: 05-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Climate change is an urgent concern in Nepal. In recent years, the country has faced more than its fair share of extreme weather patterns. Increases in temperature extremes, more intense rainfall, drier winters and delays in summer monsoons have become quite common and are expected to get worse. In fact, a recent Climate Change Vulnerability Index, calculating susceptibility to impacts of climate change over the next 30 years, places Nepal 4th out of 170 countries. This report examines the national situation of climate change adaptation policy and programming, highlighting key areas of progress, weakness and challenges. The report notes that current initiatives have yet to deliver benefit to the marginalized and vulnerable communities in the country - the very groups that need it most. Based on the findings, the report presents a set of recommendations for the Government, donor community and civil society.
Topic:: Civil Society, Climate Change, Environment, Poverty, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Asia and Nepal

445. The Future of Development Finance

Author:: Nemat Shafik
Publication Date:: 05-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: Development finance is at a turning point. There is talk about a "triple revolution of goals, actors and tools." As much of Asia grows its way out of poverty, aid will increasingly be focused on Africa and on countries plagued by instability, or with governments unable to meet the basic needs of their populations. A growing share of development finance will be directed to tackling global public goods-like climate change, conflict prevention, and public health. Responsibility for addressing global challenges will increasingly be borne by coalitions that cut across states, the private sector, and civil society. These networks to address poverty and global issues will become a feature of the international architecture in a multipolar world. The rules of the game and the tools of development assistance need to evolve to focus on transparency, results, accountability, a market-driven division of labor and flexible partnerships for the future development finance system to become an effective tool of global problem solving.
Topic:: Conflict Prevention, Climate Change, Development, Environment, and Health

446. Find Me the Money: Financing Climate and Other Global Public Goods

Author:: Nancy Birdsall and Benjamin Leo
Publication Date:: 04-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: The global community faces a number of critical challenges ranging from climate change to crossborder health risks to natural-resource scarcities. Many of these so-called global commons problems carry grave risks to economic growth in the developing world and to the livelihoods and welfare of their people. Climate change is the classic example. Despite the risks involved, donor governments have funded programs addressing global challenges such as climate change at far lower levels than traditional programs of country-based development assistance. The prospects for dealing with such global challenges will depend at least in part on new collective financing mechanisms.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Health, Humanitarian Aid, and Foreign Aid

447. The Future of the G20 and Its Place in Global Governance

Author:: Paul Heinbecker
Publication Date:: 04-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: This paper examines the Group of 20 (the G20) from a perspective of global governance, reviewing the G20's history to date and seeking to answer two sets of questions: Is the G20 succeeding, and what does the future likely hold for it? Is it still necessary for the G20 to meet at the leaders' level, or should the enterprise be returned to finance ministers? Presuming that it endures at the leaders' level, will the G20 stick to a largely economic and financial agenda, or should it address other pressing issues? Will it complement or conflict with the Group of Eight (G8), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations (UN) and other global institutions with economic and security vocations?
Topic:: Security, Climate Change, Economics, Emerging Markets, International Cooperation, Global Recession, Food, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:: United Nations

448. Green growth as necessity and liability: The political economy of a low-carbon energy systems transformation in the European Union

Author:: Mark Huberty
Publication Date:: 05-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy
Abstract:: In the last decade, energy systems transformation has become the new and unheralded frontier of European deepening. Starting in 1996, the European Union mandated the liberalization and integration of national energy systems, put a price on greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation, established binding targets for renewable energy adoption, mandated the breakup of state energy monopolies, and sponsored the creation of EU-level regulatory and standards-setting bodies for energy infrastructure and markets. Most recently, the Europe 2020 program has established enforceable goals for the integration, liberalization, and decarbonization of the European electricity supply system, and ambitious but aspirational targets in energy efficiency.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Markets, and Infrastructure
Political Geography:: Europe

449. Venture Capital and Clean Technology: Opportunities and Difficulties

Author:: Martin Kenney and Andrew Hargadon
Publication Date:: 04-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy
Abstract:: In the last half - century, venture capitalists have financed many of the most important new U.S. technology-based firms and industries. Most recently, venture capital has been touted as a key investor and driver of a new clean technology future. This paper examines the characteristics of successful venture capital investing and the structure and dynamics of clean technology markets to predict whether venture capital is the best model for financing a clean technology transition. We identify the following three key characteristics of technologies and markets in which venture capital can be successfully invested. First, the firm's markets must be large and rapidly growing. Second, the firm's solutions must be scalable, with the particular characteristic that a firm's growth in revenue (and valuation) significantly outpaces the capital cost of achieving that growth. Third, there must be the potential for large and rapid payoff, as either a public stock offering or acquisition by another firm. In the U.S. clean technology market, with the exception of energy being a large market, in nearly all cases these characteristics do not hold. For these reasons, a venture capital model for funding clean technology innovation is unlikely to be successful and the imposition of venture capital goals on clean technology firms may even be harmful to their survival. The current Obama Administration's strategy of providing enormous loan guarantees to a few chosen venture capital ‐ financed firms is misguided because it is likely to truncate the chaotic business model search that characterizes the formation of new industries.
Topic:: Climate Change, Economics, Energy Policy, International Trade and Finance, and Markets

450. Climate Insecurities in Indonesia: Implications and Challenges for Defence Transformation

Author:: Evan A. Laksmana
Publication Date:: 07-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:: This paper seeks to identify and assess key climate insecurities in Indonesia and further explore how they could potentially influence the process of defence reform that has been ongoing in Indonesia since Suharto's downfall in 1998. Key climate insecurities in Indonesia are related to energy and food security, large-scale disasters, drought, changing climate patterns and rising sea levels. Furthermore, this paper argues that given these security implications, the Indonesian National Defence Forces (TNI) has yet to seriously assess and incorporate climate change into its force development plans. Finally, this paper outlines some of the key challenges and prospects for TNI's defence reform process, as it relates to climate change.
Topic:: Security, Defense Policy, Climate Change, and Food
Political Geography:: South Asia and Indonesia

451. Fair Shares: Crediting Poor Countries for Carbon Mitigation

Author:: David Wheeler
Publication Date:: 07-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: This paper computes national carbon mitigation costs using two simple principles: (1) Incremental costs for low-carbon energy investments are calculated using the cost of coal-fired power as the benchmark. (2) All low-carbon energy sources are counted, because reducing carbon emissions cannot be separated from other concerns: reducing local air pollution from fossil-fuel combustion; diversifying energy sources to reduce political and economic risks; and building competitive advantage in emerging clean-energy markets. The paper estimates energy growth and incremental costs for biomass, solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, and nuclear in 174 countries from 1990 to 2008. Then it compares national mitigation burdens using per-capita mitigation expenditures as shares of per-capita incomes. The results undermine the conventional view of North-South conflict that has dominated global climate negotiations, because they show that developing countries, whether by intention or not, have been critical participants in carbon mitigation all along. Furthermore, they suggest that developing countries have borne their fair share of global mitigation expenditures. But they also show that expenditures for both developed and developing countries have been so modest that low-carbon energy growth could accelerate greatly without undue strain.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Economics, and Energy Policy

452. Global Matrix: A conceptual and organisational framework for researching the future of global governance

Author:: Daniel Gros, Richard Youngs, Michael Emerson, Christian Egenhofer, Nathalie Tocci, Giovanni Grevi, and Jean-Pierre Cassarino
Publication Date:: 07-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:: Conceptually, Global Matrix advances in a systematic and structured inter-disciplinary (matrix) framework a research agenda for examining the stance of major world actors on the key policy dimensions to world politics (political ideologies, economics, migration, climate change, security and world view); drawing out evidence of cross-cutting linkages (between sectors and among major actors); and evaluating the evolution and adequacy of existing multilateral institutions in relation to the emerging multi-polarity, and formulating recommendations.
Topic:: Security, Climate Change, Economics, Globalization, International Cooperation, International Organization, and Governance
Political Geography:: Japan, South Africa, Brazil, and Korea

453. Distributional Consequences of Climate Change Impacts on the Power Sector: Who gains and who loses?

Author:: Dirk Rübbelke and Stefan Vögele
Publication Date:: 05-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:: Climate change tends to negatively affect the power sector, inter alia, by causing cooling problems in power plants and impairing the water supply required for hydro-power generation. In future, when global warming is expected to increase, autonomous adaptation to climate change via international electricity markets inducing reallocations of power generation may not be sufficient to prevent supply disruptions. Furthermore, the consequent changes of supply patterns and electricity prices might cause an undesirable redistribution of wealth both between individual power suppliers and between suppliers and consumers. This study ascertains changes in European power supply patterns and electricity prices caused by ongoing global warming as well as related redistribution of wealth for different climate change scenarios. Our results confirm that autonomous adaptation in the power sector should be complemented by planned public adaptation in order to preserve energy security and to prevent undesired distributional effects.
Topic:: Climate Change, Economics, Energy Policy, and Markets
Political Geography:: Europe

454. Climate Change Adaptation and Conflict in Nigeria

Author:: Aaron Sayne
Publication Date:: 06-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:: Nigeria's climate is likely to see growing shifts in temperature, rainfall, storms, and sea levels throughout the twenty-first century. Poor adaptive responses to these shifts could help fuel violent conflict in some areas of the country. A basic causal mechanism links climate change with violence in Nigeria. Under it, poor responses to climatic shifts create shortages of resources such as land and water. Shortages are followed by negative secondary impacts, such as more sickness, hunger, and joblessness. Poor responses to these, in turn, open the door to conflict. Drawing lines of causation between climate change and conflict in specific areas of Nigeria calls for caution, however, particularly as the scientific, social, economic, and political implications of the country's changing climate are still poorly understood. President Goodluck Jonathan's government needs to initiate a serious program of research and policy discussion before taking major adaptive steps. Government and private actors also need to ensure that particular adaptive responses do not themselves fuel violence but actively help build peace. Successful adaptation measures will be crosscutting in design and impact, based on inclusive planning and implementation, steer clear of political patronage traps, and confront political and scientific uncertainty. Solid engagement on the part of the Nigerian federal government is key to achieving the best outcomes, even if most adaptation is done privately. Thus far, official responses have been weak. Along with better information and discussion, Nigeria needs a main federal oversight body to coordinate research and policy, larger roles for sister agencies, and an implementation plan. The country also needs and deserves the help of more developed nations in the form of both adaptation funding and technical assistance.
Topic:: Climate Change, Corruption, Environment, Poverty, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:: Nigeria

455. Who Drives Change? Comparing the Evolution of Domestic Climate Governance in India and South Africa

Author:: Babette Never
Publication Date:: 08-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: This paper compares and contrasts the nature and scope of change in the domestic climate governance of India and South Africa between 2007 and 2010. It uses an actor-centered approach to analyze the drivers of change. An exploratory test of fit shows that the concept of "communities of practice" captures the trends and actor relations well for the South African case, while more simple networks could be identified in India. Using data from an expert survey and from semi-structured interviews, this paper finds that both countries have generally not yet surpassed the level of second-order change, or double-loop learning. Differences exist for more specific parts of climate governance. Three resulting hypotheses give conditions for the development of either communities of practice or of networks, as conceptualized in formal network analysis. They target (1) the number of participating actors, (2) the size of the scientific landscape and the degree of competition among scientists, and (3) the centrality of a governmental actor with a certain knowledge and attitude within a network.
Topic:: Climate Change, Environment, Science and Technology, and Governance
Political Geography:: Africa, South Asia, India, and South Africa

456. The Green Growth Economies Project Country Cases: An Analytical Overview

Publication Date:: 06-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy
Abstract:: This set of seven green growth cases explores the variety of green growth strategies countries and states are putting into practice: how they define success; what obstacles they face; and what kinds of policy outcomes they produce. In essence, what is the political and economic logic underpinning different strategies and their success?
Topic:: Climate Change, Diplomacy, Energy Policy, Industrial Policy, and Natural Resources

457. Minorities and Green Political Thought: Normative challenges to an ideal ethics?

Author:: Tove H. Malloy
Publication Date:: 09-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: European Centre for Minority Issues
Abstract:: What does Green minority action do to our traditional views of minorities as conflict-prone, rights claiming entities that defy definition and pose constant tension in normative political theory? Normally concerned with justification of such issues as the right to existence, the right of self-determination, the protection of culture and language, and steeped in discourses of politics and struggles for recognition as well as of identity and difference, and multiculturalism versus egalitarianism, political theory has confined itself to addressing minority issues in terms of normative accommodation. The arrival on the scene of Green political thought has not c hanged this (as yet) but the empirical facts may force normative political theorists to engage with Green theory as well as impel Green political thought to address normative minority accommodation. It is the possibility of the latter that I will explore in this paper.
Topic:: Climate Change, Environment, and Minorities
Political Geography:: Europe, Germany, Denmark, Latin America, North America, and Mexico

458. After the Disaster: Rebuilding Communities

Author:: Megan Scribner and Lauren Herzer
Publication Date:: 04-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Wilson Center
Abstract:: What is the relationship between a community's resilience and its ability to cope with a disaster? How can one identify the strengths of a community? How can technology give voice to communities, fostering engagement and resilience in daily life and in responses to a disaster? These are just a few of the provocative questions discussed at the Retrieving the Wisdom of Those in Need: Community Engagement and Healing in Times of Disaster seminar held April 4-5, 2011, at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. This gathering was the last of three remarkable seminars brought about through a partnership of the Wilson Center and the Fetzer Institute to look at the issues that hinder and support efforts to revitalize community within and across boundaries.
Topic:: Climate Change, Science and Technology, Natural Disasters, and Governance
Political Geography:: Washington

459. Climate Change and Women Farmers in Burkina Faso: Impact and adaptation policies and practices

Author:: Ana Mª Romero González, Adama Belemvire, and Saya Saulière
Publication Date:: 07-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Burkina Faso's geographical situation makes it particularly vulnerable to climate change. As a country in the Sahel in the heart of western Africa, Burkina Faso suffers an extreme, variable climate: the same area can be affected by both flooding and drought within only a few months. The economy of this largely rural country is essentially based on agriculture and stockbreeding. According to various predictions, climate change will have an impact on agricultural production and food security, and will therefore affect inhabitants of rural areas, especially those who are most vulnerable, such as women.
Topic:: Agriculture, Climate Change, Development, and Gender Issues
Political Geography:: Africa

460. Ethics and the Economist: What Climate Change Demands of Us

Author:: J. A. Nelson
Publication Date:: 05-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University
Abstract:: Climate change is changing not only our physical world, but also our intellectual, social, and moral worlds. We are realizing that our situation is profoundly unsafe, interdependent, and uncertain. What, then, does climate change demand of us, as human beings and as economists? A discipline of economics based on Enlightenment notions of mechanism and disembodied rationality is not suited to present problems. This essay suggests three major requirements: first, that we take action; second, that we work together; and third, that we focus on avoiding the worst, rather than obtaining the optimal. The essay concludes with suggestions of specific steps that economists can take as researchers, teachers, and in our other roles.
Topic:: Climate Change, Economics, Energy Policy, and Political Theory

461. China—Leader or Laggard on the Path to a Secure, Low-Carbon Energy Future?

Author:: Sarah O. Ladislaw and Jane Nakano
Publication Date:: 09-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:: There has been a great deal of talk about whether and how China will manage its need to provide enough energy to ensure continued economic growth while avoiding the local and global environmental impacts of its energy production and use. To listen to the political discourse, China is either a global leader on clean energy technologies and transformation or the largest source of emissions with serious, systemic local environmental degradation. How can it at once be a low-carbon leader and a laggard?
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, and Energy Policy
Political Geography:: China

462. Perspectives on security in the Arctic area

Author:: Annika Bergman Rosamond
Publication Date:: 09-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: This report provides multiple perspectives on security in the Arctic area. A key objective is to demonstrate that, although the Arctic is the site of competing natural resources and land claims, which are emerging from such phenomena as melting ice and new sea routes, there are also many signs of fruitful regional cooperation and sound neighbourly relations. This thesis is supported by the high level of Arctic institutionalisation that has evolved since the end of the Cold War. Despite this, some media outlets have routinely portrayed the Arctic as a possible site of inter-state conflict. Such accounts do not take sufficient account of the collaborative initiatives that take place within the Arctic Council, the Nordic Council of Ministers and the European Union, to mention a few. The Arctic is situated within a complex web of multilateral and bilateral networks, ranging from states to regional institutions. What is more, there is a great deal of emphasis on the involvement of indigenous and local communities in key decision-making processes. This is not to argue that there are no challenges to security and prosperity in the Arctic area, but rather that we need to investigate these against the backdrop of the ongoing institutionalisation of the High North.
Topic:: Conflict Prevention, Security, Climate Change, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:: Europe

463. Governing Climate Funds: What will work for women?

Author:: Sonia Lowman and Elizabeth Arend
Publication Date:: 09-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: As the international community mobilizes in response to global climatic changes, climate funds must ensure the equitable and effective allocation of funds for the world's most vulnerable populations. Women and girls, disproportionately vulnerable to negative climate change impacts in developing countries, have largely been excluded from climate change finance policies and programmes. This report examines four funds -climate funds and non-climate funds, to draw out the lessons for gender integration in global finance mechanisms. Women and girls must not only be included in adaptive and mitigative activities, but also recognized as agents of change who are essential to the success of climate change interventions.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Gender Issues, and Health

464. Proposed Liability Framework for Geological Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide

Author:: Wendy B. Jacobs
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: Harvard Law School's Emmett Environmental Law and Policy Clinic* supports immediate large-scale carbon capture and sequestration ("CCS") demonstration projects as part of a larger national and global effort to address climate change. Large-scale CCS projects (those that sequester at least 1.5 million tons of captured carbon dioxide ("CO2") annually) must be demonstrated soon to confirm CCS as a viable strategy to combat climate change and to show the commitment of the United States to achieving meaningful reductions in domestic CO2 emissions.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:: United States

465. Breaking new ground: A special report on global shale gas developments

Publication Date:: 11-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Economist Intelligence Unit
Abstract:: Worries about climate change are deepening in many countries. Proponents of gas, which burns cleaner than coal, suggest that it could be part of the answer—but preferably indigenous gas, for the sake of energy security. At the same time, even as energy demand surges ahead, the giants of the oil industry are finding it harder than ever to tap new reserves, which is forcing them to look to previously neglected, harder-to-reach hydrocarbons. Among these, hitherto disregarded shale gas reserves are generating the most enthusiasm.
Topic:: Security, Climate Change, Energy Policy, and Natural Resources

466. Who Should Bear the Cost of China's Carbon Emissions Embodied in Goods for Exports?

Author:: ZhongXiang Zhang
Publication Date:: 11-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: East-West Center
Abstract:: China's capital-intensive, export-oriented, spectacular economic growth since launching its open-door policy and economic reforms in late 1978 not only has created jobs and has lifted millions of the Chinese people out of poverty, but also has given rise to unprecedented environmental pollution and CO2 emissions. While estimates of the embedded CO2 emissions in China's trade differ, both single country studies for China and global studies show a hefty chunk of China's CO2 emissions embedded in trade. This portion of CO2 emissions had helped to turn China into the world's largest carbon emitter, and is further widening its gap with the second largest emitter. This raises the issue of who should be responsible for this portion of emissions and bearing the carbon cost of exports. China certainly wants importers to cover some, if not all, of that costs. While China's stance is understandable, this paper has argued from a broad and balanced perspective that if this is pushed too far, it will not help to find solutions to this issue. On the contrary it can be to China's disadvantage for a number of reasons. However, aligning this responsibility with China does not necessarily suggest the sole reliance on domestic actions. In that context, the paper recommends specific actions that need to be taken internationally as well as domestically in order to effectively control the embedded CO2 emissions in China's trade.
Topic:: Climate Change, Economics, Industrial Policy, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: China

467. Review of Climate Change Adaptation Practices in South Asia

Author:: Charlotte L. Sterrett
Publication Date:: 11-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Despite all its progress over the last quarter century, South Asia remains home to four out of every 10 of the world's poor ; 600 million of South Asia's 1.5 billion people live on less than $1.25 per day. Almost half the children below five are underweight, accounting for more than half of the world's undernourished children. Imbalances in economic growth, inequality among castes, classes, between genders, and a region beset by disasters, have added to the suffering of the poor and those most vulnerable and marginalised.
Topic:: Agriculture, Climate Change, Environment, and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:: South Asia

468. Preparing for the Future? Understanding the influence of development interventions on adaptive capacity at local level in Ethiopia

Author:: Simon Levine, Eva Ludi, and Kindie Tesfaye
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Ethiopia is currently ranked 11th of 233 countries and other political jurisdictions in terms of its vulnerability to physical climate impacts, and 9th in terms of overall vulnerability, which is physical impacts adjusted for coping ability (CGD, 2011). Yet little is known about its people's adaptive capacity at individual and community level, or how existing interventions influence a community's ability to adapt.
Topic:: Agriculture, Climate Change, Development, and Governance
Political Geography:: Africa and Ethiopia

469. Preparing for the Future? Understanding the influence of development interventions on adaptive capacity at the local level in Uganda

Author:: Lindsey Jones, Frederik Ayorekire, Margaret Barihaihi, Anthony Kagoro, and Doreen Ruta
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: Uganda faces the challenge of responding to rapidly changing climate and development pressures. At the local level, many communities do not have the tools, resources or capacity to adapt alone, and will require assistance and support from government and other development actors. Though most development interventions do not seek directly to address issues of climate change, the impacts of project support are likely to influence the ability of people and communities to respond and adapt to changing climate and development pressures. Yet, few development actors have considered how their interventions are influencing communities' adaptive capacity, and what can be done to further enhance it.
Topic:: Agriculture, Climate Change, Development, Government, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:: Africa

470. Corruption in the Land Sector

Publication Date:: 04-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Transparency International
Abstract:: Unprecedented pressures on land have been created as new areas are cultivated, taken over by expanding urban centres or are abandoned due to degradation, climate change and conflict. These developments have strained the rules, processes and institutions that determine which land resources are used, by whom, for how long and under what conditions.
Topic:: Climate Change, Corruption, Environment, Natural Resources, and Governance

471. Delivering on US Climate Finance Commitments

Author:: Trevor Houser and Jason Selfe
Publication Date:: 11-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:: At the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen in 2009 and Cancun in 2010, the United States joined other developed countries in pledging to mobilize $100 billion in public and private sector funding to help developing countries reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to a warmer world. With a challenging US fiscal outlook and the failure of cap-and-trade legislation in the US Congress, America's ability to meet this pledge is increasingly in doubt. This paper identifies, quantifies, and assesses the politics of a range of potential US sources of climate finance. It finds that raising new public funds for climate finance will be extremely challenging in the current fiscal environment and that many of the politically attractive alternatives are not realistically available absent a domestic cap-and-trade program or other regime for pricing carbon. Washington's best hope is to use limited public funds to leverage private sector investment through bilateral credit agencies and multilateral development banks.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Economics, Energy Policy, Politics, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:: United States, America, Washington, and United Nations

472. Standards Regulations for the Geologic Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Waste

Author:: Rodney C. Ewing
Publication Date:: 03-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), Stanford University
Abstract:: This paper draws on my experience as a reviewer of the scientific programs and performance assessments of the geological repository for transuranic waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico and the proposed repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. In addition, I have served on numerous committees of the National Research Council that have addressed many aspects of nuclear waste management. These comments and recommendations focus on standards and regulations for licensing a geological repository for SNF and HLW; however, I have added a brief annex on the classification of nuclear wastes. The initial classification of the waste determines the disposal strategy: deep geological disposal vs. near surface disposal.
Topic:: Climate Change, Environment, Science and Technology, and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:: Mexico

473. Making Rio 2012 work: Setting the stage for global economic, social and ecological renewal

Author:: Alex Evans and David Steven
Publication Date:: 06-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center on International Cooperation
Abstract:: The Rio 2012 summit on sustainable development is now one year away. Over two decades since the 1992 'Earth Summit', sustainable development has not materialized: as global GDP has risen, so have greenhouse gas emissions, species loss and environmental degradation.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Economics, Environment, Foreign Aid, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:: Latin America

474. Changing Currents: Turbulence for the Electricity Industry?

Author:: Phil Sharp
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Aspen Institute
Abstract:: The question is never whether the United States has an energy policy. It has dozens. They come with various decision-makers at overlapping levels of authority, ample numbers of stakeholders, and generally lots of confusing and often contradictory signals.
Topic:: Climate Change, Economics, Energy Policy, and Environment
Political Geography:: United States

475. Global Energy Markets in a Time of Political Change

Author:: Bill White
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Aspen Institute
Abstract:: A shift in relative energy consumption among regions and the development of new, unconventional supplies will be the most significant changes over the next twenty years. The dominant fuels in the world energy market until 2030 will continue to be hydrocarbons — oil, coal, and natural gas. Major shifts will occur, however, among the three fuels, among regions and in their supply. Globally, oil will continue to be the most widely used fuel as it supplies more than 90 percent of the energy for transportation. Coal, now the dominant fuel used for electric power generation, will lose ground to natural gas, a less carbon-intensive hydrocarbon. Natural gas will become the second largest overall supplier and well positioned to replace coal as the leading supplier for electric power. Developing countries will lead the way in overall energy growth, with Chinese and Indian energy demand growing fastest. Energy demand in developed countries will remain flat. For the United States, growth in gas shale and oil shale are likely to be “game changers,” altering the supply picture dramatically.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Markets, Political Economy, and Natural Resources
Political Geography:: United States, China, and India

476. Financing the answer to climate change: challenging but feasible

Author:: Clémentine d'Oultremont
Publication Date:: 10-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
Abstract:: An agreement on climate finance is crucial to ensure an equitable approach between developed and developing countries in the fight against climate change. Given their economic capabilities and their historical responsibility for global warming, developed countries are expected to bear the majority of the costs associated with global climate action. The Cancun Agreements formalise a commitment by developed countries to jointly provide USD 30 billion for the period between 2010 and 2012 and USD 100 billion annually by 2020 for developing countries. This funding will be balanced between adaptation and mitigation and is destined primarily for the most vulnerable developing countries. The objective is to help developing countries adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change and to undertake mitigation actions so as to bring them towards a low-carbon economy.
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Economics, Emerging Markets, Industrial Policy, and Treaties and Agreements

477. After Copenhagen Climate Governance and the Road Ahead

Author:: Joshua W. Busby
Publication Date:: 08-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:: Climate change is the most difficult collective action problem the world has ever faced. The activities responsible for greenhouse-gas emissions are central to our modern way of life, and the uncertain effects of climate change will disproportionately fall on future generations that have no say in current decision-making processes. Climate change is also a difficult challenge because it cannot be ad- dressed by governments alone—it depends on coordination with private actors and nongovernmental organizations.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Globalization, and Treaties and Agreements

478. 'Human Securitising' the Climate Security Debate

Author:: Lorraine Elliott
Publication Date:: 03-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:: Efforts to understand the connection between climate change and national, regional and international security have fuelled something of a climate security industry, evidenced in a range of reports from governments, international organisations, and non-governmental organisations. In much of this, particularly those works produced by defence agencies and individual governments, the focus has been on threats to national security through civil unrest and violence that derive from competition for resources, access to environmental services, and the unregulated movement of people in the face of ecosystem collapse. This paper reinstates a human security approach.
Topic:: International Relations, Security, Political Violence, and Climate Change
Political Geography:: Global Focus

479. Comprehensive Food Security: An Approach to Sustainably Address Food Insecurity

Author:: Pau Khan Khup Hangzo
Publication Date:: 11-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:: Food security has become one of this century's key global challenges. Given current population and consumption trends, as well as the factors of climate change and resource scarcity, the situation is set to worsen—unless drastic actions are taken. The multi-dimensional nature of the food problem requires a comprehensive approach, one that not only addresses food production and availability but also deals with access issues. Only then can sustainable food security be achieved.
Topic:: Security, Climate Change, Development, and Food
Political Geography:: Global Focus

480. The Development of a Gulf Carbon Platform: Mapping out the Gulf Cooperation Council Carbon Exchange

Author:: Justin Dargin
Publication Date:: 05-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have some of the highest greenhouse gas emissions rates per capita in the world. This paper argues that in spite of the extremely high greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions rates, GCC members will benefit economically, environmentally and geopolitically by constructing a harmonized pan-GCC carbon trading platform that will allow them to make cost-efficient decisions about greenhouse gas abatement. A thorough analysis is undertaken to determine which GHG abatement mechanism would be the best suited for the GCC, with maximum cost and environmental benefits. Based on the unique characteristics of the GCC members, a pan-GCC cap-and-trade framework is suggested. Optimally, policy makers would institute it in a phased, voluntary introduction, to be gradually replaced by a mandatory scheme. If the GCC countries implement such a system, they would be able to rationalize their energy usage for domestic power production, and conserve their oil and gas production for future generations.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, and Oil
Political Geography:: Middle East and Arabia

481. Providing Energy Services in a Changing Industry

Author:: James E. Rogers
Publication Date:: 10-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Aspen Institute
Abstract:: July 1, 2010. Anyone following the path of an electron today could be excused for thinking he or she was in the wrong millennium. “Dinosaurs” still rule the world. Large, central power stations produce the vast majority of electricity. Coal, natural gas, some oil, or uranium enters on one end. Electrons and various other byproducts—some innocuous, most not—leave on the other, pushed over long distances across aging transmission lines. Many get lost along the way.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Globalization, Oil, and Law

482. The New World of Natural Gas

Author:: John M. Deutch
Publication Date:: 10-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Aspen Institute
Abstract:: The development of natural gas from shale is providing new possibilities for gas use in the United States and throughout the world. The largest conventional natural gas deposits are concentrated in the Middle East and Russia, but unconventional natural gas, including shale, is spread throughout the world, potentially permitting development in many different countries.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, and Globalization
Political Geography:: Russia, United States, and Middle East

483. An Electricity Grid for the 21st Century

Author:: Linda Stuntz and Susan Tomasky
Publication Date:: 10-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Aspen Institute
Abstract:: For many years, electricity transmission has been designed to provide enough interconnection to provide affordable, reliable supplies of electricity. Recent developments in market mechanisms, technologies and policy goals have begun to pose different requirements on the existing grid system. To meet the needs of all beneficiaries of transmission enhancements, new planning, siting and cost allocation strategies must be implemented.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, and Industrial Policy

484. Energy Innovation: Driving Technology Competition and Cooperation Among the U.S., China, India, and Brazil

Author:: Adam Segal, Elizabeth C. Economy, Michael A. Levi, and Shannon K. O'Neil
Publication Date:: 11-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:: If governments are to respond effectively to the challenge of climate change, they will need to ramp up their support for innovation in low-carbon technologies and make sure that the resulting developments are diffused and adopted quickly. Yet for the United States, there is a tension inherent in these goals: the country's interests in encouraging the spread of technology can clash with its efforts to strengthen its own economy of particular importance is the spread of low-carbon technologies from the United States to the major emerging economies—China, India, and Brazil. Washington's strategy to promote the spread of low-carbon technologies to these countries must combine efforts to grow and open markets for low-carbon technologies with active support for accelerating the innovation and diffusion of these technologies. Its strategy will also need to reflect the unique challenges presented by each of the three countries.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, International Cooperation, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:: United States, China, Washington, and Brazil

485. A Role for the G-20 in Addressing Climate Change?

Author:: Trevor Houser
Publication Date:: 10-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:: Following the chaotic Copenhagen conference of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), policymakers and pundits have discussed the G-20 as an alternative forum for advancing climate change diplomacy. This paper assesses the risks and rewards of tackling climate change in the G-20 and finds that despite its seeming attractiveness, the G-20, as structured, is not a suitable replacement for the UN-led process and has limited ability, at present, to advance climate change negotiations. There is much, however, that the G-20 can do to contribute to the goals of the climate negotiations outside of wading into the negotiations themselves. Building on its existing agenda the G-20 has the power to significantly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, accelerate the deployment of clean energy technology, and help vulnerable countries adapt to a warmer world through the mobilization of public and private finance. Following through on the existing G-20 pledge to phase out and rationalize inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, establishing new green guidelines for multilateral development banks, coordinating green stimulus exit strategies, promoting open markets for environmental goods and services, and rebalancing global economic growth all fall well within the G-20's mandate and help meet the climate challenge.
Topic:: Climate Change, Diplomacy, Environment, and International Organization
Political Geography:: United Nations

486. The Economics of Climate Change in Southeast Asia

Author:: Juzhong Zhuang, Suphachol Suphachalasai, and Jindra Nuella Samson
Publication Date:: 12-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Abstract:: CSoutheast Asia is one of the world's most vulnerable regions to climate change due to its long coastlines, high concentration of population and economic activity in coastal areas, and heavy reliance on agriculture, natural resources and forestry. Climate change is already affecting the region, as shown by the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts, floods and tropical cyclones in recent decades.
Topic:: Climate Change and Development
Political Geography:: Asia and Southeast Asia

487. Global Prospects for Utility-Scale Solar Power: Toward Spatially Explicit Modeling of Renewable Energy Systems

Author:: Kevin Ummel
Publication Date:: 12-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: This paper provides high-resolution estimates of the global potential and cost of utility-scale photovoltaic and concentrating solar power technologies and uses a spatially explicit model to identify deployment patterns that minimize the cost of greenhouse gas abatement. A global simulation is run with the goal of providing 2,000 TWh of solar power (-7% of total consumption) in 2030, taking into account least-cost siting of facilities and transmission lines and the effect of diurnal variation on project profitability and required subsidies. The American southwest, Tibetan Plateau, Sahel, and Middle East are identified as major supply areas. Solar power consumption concentrates in the United States over the next decade, diversifying to Europe and India by the early 2020's, and focusing in China in the second half of the decade—often relying upon long-distance, highvoltage transmission lines. Cost estimates suggest deployment on this scale is likely to be competitive with other prominent abatement options in the energy sector. Further development of spatially explicit energy models could help guide infrastructure planning and financing strategies both nationally and globally, elucidating a range of important questions related to renewable energy policy.
Topic:: International Relations, Climate Change, Energy Policy, Globalization, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:: United States, China, Middle East, and Sahel

488. Confronting the American Divide on Carbon Emissions Regulation

Author:: David Wheeler
Publication Date:: 12-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: The failure of carbon regulation in the U.S. Congress has undermined international negotiations to reduce carbon emissions. The global stalemate has, in turn, increased the likelihood that vulnerable developing countries will be severely damaged by climate change. This paper asks why the tragic American impasse has occurred, while the EU has succeeded in implementing carbon regulation. Both cases have involved negotiations between relatively rich “Green” regions and relatively poor “Brown” (carbon-intensive) regions, with success contingent on two factors: the interregional disparity in carbon intensity, which proxies the extra mitigation cost burden for the Brown region, and the compensating incentives provided by the Green region. The European negotiation has succeeded because the interregional disparity in carbon intensity is relatively small, and the compensating incentive (EU membership for the Brown region) has been huge. In contrast, the U.S. negotiation has repeatedly failed because the interregional disparity in carbon intensity is huge, and the compensating incentives have been modest at best. The unsettling implication is that an EU-style arrangement is infeasible in the United States, so the Green states will have to find another path to serious carbon mitigation. One option is mitigation within their own boundaries, through clean technology subsidies or emissions regulation. The Green states have undertaken such measures, but potential free-riding by the Brown states and international competitors seems likely to limit this approach, and it would address only the modest Green-state portion of U.S. carbon emissions in any case. The second option is mobilization of the Green states' enormous market power through a carbon added tax (CAT). Rather than taxing carbon emissions at their points of production, a CAT taxes the carbon embodied in products at their points of consumption. For Green states, a CAT has four major advantages: It can be implemented unilaterally, state-by-state; it encourages clean production everywhere, by taxing carbon from all sources equally; it creates a market advantage for local producers, by taxing transport-related carbon emissions; and it offers fiscal flexibility, since it can either offset existing taxes or raise additional revenue.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, and Politics
Political Geography:: United States and Europe

489. A Research Strategy for the Pacific Climate Information System

Author:: Melissa L. Finucane, John Marra, and James C. Weyman
Publication Date:: 12-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: East-West Center
Abstract:: Based on a selective review of the outcomes of previous meetings, conferences, workshops, and papers highlighting climate variability and change research needs in the Pacific region, this paper presents a research strategy for increasing understanding of climate-society linkages in Pacific Island settings. The strategy provides a synopsis of emerging research goals and illustrative activities that users can rank according to their priorities. Grounded in the framework of the Pacific Climate Information System, the strategy is comprised of three key research elements: (1) research to enhance understanding of regional climate risks and consequences; (2) research to improve decision support and risk communication; and (3) research to improve climate adaptation capacity. We envision the strategy will contribute to enhanced understanding of scientific and societal knowledge of climate processes and their impacts and stakeholder capacity for building sustainable island communities for future generations.
Topic:: Climate Change, Environment, International Cooperation, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:: Asia and Australia/Pacific

490. The Economics of Population Policy for Carbon Emissions Reduction in Developing Countries

Author:: David Wheeler and Dan Hammer
Publication Date:: 11-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: Female education and family planning are both critical for sustainable development, and they obviously merit expanded support without any appeal to global climate considerations. However, even relatively optimistic projections suggest that family planning and female education will suffer from financing deficits that will leave millions of women unserved in the coming decades. Since both activities affect fertility, population growth, and carbon emissions, they may also provide sufficient climate-related benefits to warrant additional financing from resources devoted to carbon emissions abatement. This paper considers the economic case for such support. Using recent data on emissions, program effectiveness and program costs, we estimate the cost of carbon emissions abatement via family planning and female education. We compare our estimates with the costs of numerous technical abatement options that have been estimated by Nauclér and Enkvist in a major study for McKinsey and Company (2009). We find that the population policy options are much less costly than almost all of the options Nauclér and Enkvist provide for low-carbon energy development, including solar, wind, and nuclear power, second-generation biofuels, and carbon capture and storage. They are also cost-competitive with forest conservation and other improvements in forestry and agricultural practices. We conclude that female education and family planning should be viewed as viable potential candidates for financial support from global climate funds. The case for female education is also strengthened by its documented contribution to resilience in the face of the climate change that has already become inevitable.
Topic:: Agriculture, Climate Change, Development, Gender Issues, and Third World
Political Geography:: Africa

491. CO2 Highways for Europe: Modelling a Carbon Capture, Transport and Storage Infrastructure for Europe

Author:: Johannes Herold, Roman Mendelevitch, Pao-Yu Oei, and Andreas Tissen
Publication Date:: 11-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:: We present a mixed integer, multi-period, cost-minimising model for a carbon capture, transport and storage (CCTS) network in Europe. The model incorpor ates endogenous decisions about carbon capture, pipeline and storage investments. The capture, flow and injection quantities are based on given costs, certificate prices, storage capacities and point source emissions. The results indicate that CCTS can theoretically contribute to the decarbonisation of Europe's energy and industrial sectors. This requires a CO2 certificate price rising to €55 per tCO2 in 2050, and sufficient CO2 storage capacity available for both on- and offshore sites. Yet CCTS deployment is highest in CO2-intensive industries where emissions cannot be avoided by fuel switching or alternative production processes. In all scenarios, the importance of the industrial sector as a first-mover to induce the deployment of CCTS is highlighted. By contrast, a decrease in available storage capacity or a more moderate increase in CO2 prices will significantly reduce the role of CCTS as a CO2 mitigation technology, especially in the energy sector. Furthermore, continued public resistance to onshore CO2 storage can only be overcome by constructing expensive offshore storage. Under this restriction, reaching the same levels of CCTS penetration would require a doubling of CO2 certificate prices.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, Industrial Policy, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:: Europe

492. The Role of Transportation in Driving Climate Disruption

Author:: Deborah Gordon
Publication Date:: 12-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:: The Earth's rapidly warming temperatures over the past several decades cannot be explained by natural processes alone. The science is conclusive: both man-made and natural factors contribute to climate change. Human activities—fossil-fuel combustion in transportation and other sectors, urbanization, and deforestation—are increasing the amount of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere. These record levels of greenhouse gases are shifting the Earth's climate equilibrium.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, and Environment

493. Climate Change Adaptation in the Middle East and North Africa

Author:: Jeannie Sowers
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: The impacts of human-induced climate change are often considered a future prospect, yet in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), indications of a changing climate are clearly evident. Most of the predicted outcomes associated with international climate models are already occurring in the region, compounding existing problems of water scarcity, water pollution, desertification, salinization, and sea-level rise. Since most of the MENA region is arid and hyperarid, small changes in water availability and arable land have significant consequences for human security. Thus, “if mitigation is about energy, adaptation is about water” (Clausen and Berg 2010). Particularly through effects on the variability and quality of scarce and degraded water resources, human-induced climate change exacerbates already existing problems affecting urban and rural development, human health, and economic productivity in MENA.
Topic:: Climate Change, Energy Policy, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:: Africa, Middle East, and North Africa

494. Can the EU budget support climate policy in Central and Eastern Europe?

Author:: Anna Korppoo, Thomas Spencer, and Agata Hinc
Publication Date:: 11-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: In October 2010 the Commission released the long-awaited review of the EU budget, setting out the parameters of the debate around the next financial perspective, 2014-2020. The Budget Re view outlined a rather conservative programme for reform of the Cohesion and Common Agricultural Policy, largely envisaging the preservation of existing objectives and instruments. However, policymakers have also called for a stronger integration of EU climate policy with EU fiscal policy, particularly with regard to the Central and Eastern European (CEE) Member States; the budget has also been proposed as a mechanism to compensate for the potential loss of surplus Assigned Amount Units under the Kyoto Protocol. Likewise, the 20/20/20 climate and energy targets were placed at the heart of the EU 2020 strategy. The question therefore arises: What role should the EU budget play in supporting climate policy in CEE Member States?
Topic:: Climate Change and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:: Europe

495. Juggling the New Triad--Energy, Environment and Security: A Case Study of the Canadian Oil Sands

Author:: Hendrik Spruyt
Publication Date:: 10-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for International Peace and Security Studies
Abstract:: The desire to acquire reliable and cheap sources of energy has long been linked to security objectives. When the British fleet transferred from coal to oil, First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill saw to it that the British government acquired a controlling interest in the Anglo-Persian oil company (the forerunner of today's BP). In more recent years President Nixon argued for energy independence in the face of the Arab oil embargo and skyrocketing oil prices that increased twenty fold in less than a decade. And if the U.S. Department of Defense today were considered as an independent energy consumer similar to sovereign states it would outrank more than 100 countries, including such states as Sweden. Among the great powers, China in particular has linked geostrategic calculations with acquiring secure and affordable energy sources. Acquiring such sources is thus for most states a desirable objective which enhances a state's autonomy and security. Similarly, further development of such supplies is expected to correlate with enhanced security. Both objectives, however, stand in uneasy tension with new environmental concerns. Pending dramatic advances in renewable energy production, fossil fuels, such as oil and natural gas, remain key sources of energy. Indeed, in the United States 95% of the energy used in the transportation sector derives from oil. Consequently, the desire to become more energy independent or acquire reliable supplies of such energy will for the foreseeable future lead to the continued use and even further exploitation of fossil fuels. Yet, the consumption and production of fossil fuels has been one of the key sources of greenhouse gases.And if, environmental degradation in turn leads to conflict, as, for example, the work of Homer Dixon has suggested, then environmental concerns must also enter into the agenda that is usually reserved for traditional security calculations (Homer Dixon 1999).
Topic:: Security, Climate Change, Energy Policy, and Environment
Political Geography:: United States, Canada, Arabia, Sweden, and Persia

496. From Religion to Reality: Energy systems transformation for sustainable prosperity

Author:: John Zysman and Mark Huberty
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy
Abstract:: There are compelling and varied arguments for moving to low-carbon, high-efficiency energy systems. Reducing emissions to limit or avoid climate change leads the public debate, but reduced dependence on imported energy, avoidance of conflicts over energy resources, and the rising price of fossil fuels also motivate action. Nevertheless, the potential cost and difficulty of making the transition to a new energy system have generated substantial opposition from entrenched economic interests and consumers alike.
Topic:: Climate Change, Economics, Energy Policy, and Markets

497. Reaching Tipping Point? Climate change and poverty in Tajikistan

Publication Date:: 02-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The people of Tajikistan, a small, mountainous country in Central Asia, are experiencing the impacts of climate change. More frequent droughts and heightened extreme weather conditions are hitting poor communities, eroding their resilience. The country's glaciers are melting, bringing the danger, in the future, of greater water shortages and even disputes in the wider region. Last summer's unusually good rains and consequent harvest brought some relief to rural communities across Tajikistan but the long-term trends are clear – and ominous.
Topic:: Climate Change and Environment
Political Geography:: Central Asia and Tajikistan

498. The Impact of the Global Economic Crisis on the Pacific Region

Author:: Simon Feeny
Publication Date:: 02-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: At a macroeconomic level, the Global Economic Crisis (GEC) has had less impact on many Pacific countries than on most other developing countries across the world. However, this does not imply that Pacific country economies are performing well. Economic growth rates for most countries in the Pacific region are expected to be low for 2009 and 2010 and the majority of economies are likely to contract on a per capita basis in these years.
Topic:: Climate Change, Economics, Poverty, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:: Australia/Pacific

499. Regional Power Shift s and Climate Knowledge Systems: South Africa as a Climate Power?

Author:: Babette Never
Publication Date:: 03-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: In the international system, there has been a power shift towards regional powers, which can be illustrated by recent developments in climate governance. I argue that some of these regional powers are also climate powers, which benefit from an issue-specific power shift. The behavior and strategies of those climate powers are central for global climate governance. To analyze their strategies, a multi-level approach is required that captures the link between domestic climate governance and climate foreign policy. I develop such a concept of climate knowledge systems. It is based on Emanuel Adler's theory of cognitive evolution and communities of practice. A pragmatist philosophy such as this that allows for mixed methods research is most suitable for analyzing the proposed connection between knowledge, practices and change. It also presents the key to an extended regional powers framework, leaving the somewhat artificial boundaries of international relations in climate governance behind. The concept of climate knowledge systems is empirically applied to South Africa with some early tentative results of an online expert survey, as well as the analysis of data of the Carbon Disclosure Project.
Topic:: Climate Change and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:: South Africa

500. The Economics of Adaptation to Extreme Weather Events in Developing Countries

Author:: David Wheeler, Susmita Dasgupta, Benoit Laplante, and Brian Blankespoor
Publication Date:: 01-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: Without international assistance, developing countries will adapt to climate change as best they can. Part of the cost will be absorbed by households and part by the public sector. Adaptation costs will themselves be affected by socioeconomic development, which will also be affected by climate change. Without a better understanding of these interactions, it will be difficult for climate negotiators and donor institutions to determine the appropriate levels and modes of adaptation assistance. This paper contributes by assessing the economics of adaptation to extreme weather events. We address several questions that are relevant for the international discussion: How will climate change alter the incidence of these events, and how will their impact be distributed geographically? How will future socioeconomic development, notably an increased focus on education and empowerment for women and girls, affect the vulnerability of affected communities? And, of primary interest to negotiators and donors, how much would it cost to neutralize the threat of additional losses in this context?
Topic:: Climate Change, Development, Third World, and Foreign Aid

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