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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 4, NUMBER 6, JUNE 1991

REPORTS...
GENERAL INTEREST AND POLICY

Item #d91jun56

Global Warming in an Unequal World: A Case of Environmental Colonialism, A. Agarwal, S. Narain, 36 pp., Jan. 1991. Available from Centre for Sci. & Environ. (CSE), 807 Vishal Bhawan, 95 Nehru Pl., New Delhi 110019, India (tel: 6433394); US$4 + $2 bank collection charge.

Presents an alternative analysis of data on national emissions of CO₂ and methane found in a recent WRI report (see News, this Global Climate Change Digest issue--June 1991), finding that India and China cannot be blamed for rising levels of greenhouse gases if their populations are taken into account. Also questions WRI's determination of much of the data itself, arguing that tropical forest destruction in Third World countries is probably less than estimated, and questioning the estimates of methane production by animals. The report proposes a system of tradable emission allowances and concludes with a discussion of the role of Western mass media in promoting the WRI report, the need for farsighted political leadership in the Third World, and the need to combat global warming on the local level in India.

Item #d91jun57

Project 88--Round II. Incentives for Action: Designing Market-Based Environmental Strategies, R. Stavins (Kennedy Sch. Govt., Harvard Univ.), Proj. Dir., 95 pp., May 1991. Available from Sen. Timothy Wirth, 380 Russell Sen. Off Bldg., Washington DC 20510 (202-224-5852).

Sponsored by Senators Timothy Wirth and John Heinz, as a follow-up to the first phase of Project 88 (Global Climate Change Digest, Reports/Aimed at the New Administration, Feb. 1989), this involved over 100 specialists from various sectors. It focuses on climate change, solid and hazardous waste management and natural resource management. For climate change it concludes that (1) international trading among nations of greenhouse gas source/sink permits should be established; (2) revenue-neutral CO₂ charges can be a practical mechanism for reaching domestic emissions targets; (3) comprehensive least-cost utility bidding and planning can be used to reduce CO₂ emissions, even in the absence of international agreements.

Item #d91jun58

Climate Change: World Leaders' Viewpoints (WMO No. 748), 48 pp., Mar. 1991. World Meteorological Organization, CP 2300, CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switz. Contains interviews with several key participants in recent world meetings on climate change: the presidents of Brazil, France, Switzerland and Zimbabwe, the king of Jordan, and the prime minister of Malta.

Item #d91jun59

Unprecedented Risks: The Effects of Global Climate Change on U.S. Wildlife Resources, L. Marshall-Forbes, 40 pp., Mar. 1991. Izaak Walton League of America, 1401 Wilson Blvd., Level B, Arlington VA 22209 (703-528-1818); $5.

Expected climatic change poses serious questions for wildlife that must be addressed now to ensure their protection. Types of species particularly vulnerable include those isolated in parks and refuges that may not be able to migrate, and those with little genetic diversity. While we buy time by stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions, policymakers and wildlife managers can take steps such as tailoring existing programs to offer protection to climatic change, setting up a clearinghouse for data and other information, and expanding wildlife research and monitoring.

Item #d91jun60

Global Environmental Change Regional Reports is a series produced by the publishers of Global Environmental Change Report (Cutter Info. Corp., 37 Broadway, Arlington MA 02174-5539; 617-641-5125, fax: 617-648-8707). Priced at $200-$550, each report summarizes recent policy developments and major scientific research programs in the subject country, examines implications for industries, and includes lists of key contacts and copies of important documents. Topics emphasized are climate change, regional air pollutants, ozone depletion and energy policy. Reports exist for Germany, Argentina and Chile, Australia and New Zealand and Canada; next to be completed is India.

Item #d91jun61

Global Climate Change: Potential Impacts and Policy Recommendations, 1991. Calif. State Energy Comm. (916-324-3015); no charge.

This draft staff report, required by legislative mandate, concludes that the most significant negative effect of potential climate change on California will be on agricultural production. Electricity demand would rise and air quality deteriorate. Recommendations are made for reducing CO₂ emissions from the largest single source, transportation. Because some climate change is likely, appropriate responses are suggested.

Item #d91jun62

Sequestering Carbon in Soils: A Workshop to Explore the Potential for Mitigating Global Climate Change (EPA/600/3-91/031), 1991. Copies available from Mark Johnson, US EPA, Environ. Res. Lab., 200 S.W. 35th St., Corvallis OR 97333 (503-757-4696).

Synthesizes (for policymakers and scientists) a February 1990 workshop sponsored by EPA involving scientists from universities, industry and government agencies. Examines the potential for managing soils to reduce their release of carbon and increasing processes which sequester carbon. Specific research recommendations are made for quantifying the processes involved.

Item #d91jun63

Transforming Technology: An Agenda for Environmentally Sustainable Growth in the 21st Century, G. Heaton, R. Repetto, R. Sobin, 50 pp., 1991. WRI Public., POB 4852, Hampden Sta., Baltimore MD 21211; $12.50 + $3 handling. A four-page summary is given in the April 1991 WRI Publications Brief (World Resour. Inst., 1709 New York Ave. NW, Washington DC 20006; 202-638-6300).

With rising world population and standards of living, pollution prevention is essential. Needed are environmental regulations that promote long-term innovation and pollution prevention, economic incentives for clean technologies, incorporation of environmental costs in measures of productivity, and mechanisms for transferring clean technologies to developing countries.