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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 8, NUMBER 11, NOVEMBER 1995

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
POLICY

Item #d95nov6

"Analysing the Conflicting Requirements of the Framework Convention on Climate Change," I.G. Enting (Div. Atmos. Res., CSIRO, P.B. 1, Mordialloc, Vic. 3195, Australia), Clim. Change, 31(1), 5-18, Sep. 1995.

The climate convention attempts to minimize atmospheric concentrations of CO₂, but economic interests require that this goal be achieved by minimizing emission restrictions. This study takes a new approach to relating future emissions and future CO₂ concentrations, by optimizing over all possible future emission profiles, subject to relevant constraints on both emissions and concentrations. Presents calculations as a "proof of concept."

Item #d95nov7

"Market-Based Mechanisms for Controlling Global Emissions of Greenhouse Gases—Possible Reference Bases for International Agreements," F. Neto (Dept. for Econ. & Social Info. & Policy Anal., United Nations), Natural Resour. Forum, 19(3), 179-191, Aug. 1995.

Discusses the advantages of market-based mechanisms over regulation and the main obstacles to their implementation. Recommends limiting a global permit system to CO₂ emissions from industrial processes, and combining this approach with regulation of certain environmentally unsound activities, and with other market-based mechanisms for other economic sectors, such as automobile emissions.

Item #d95nov8

"Impact of Climate Change," Nature, 377(6594), 472, Oct. 12, 1995.

Correspondence from IPCC members responding to an earlier article about a controversial IPCC working group report which assigns monetary values to human lives.

Item #d95nov9

"Greenhouse Gas Models and Abatement Costs for Developing Nations: A Critical Assessment," P.R. Shukla (Indian Inst. Mgmt., Ahemdabad, India 380015), Energy Policy, 23(8), 677-687, Aug. 1995.

Most greenhouse gas policy studies use demand-driven, "bottom-up" models, but results vary widely for different developing countries and have limited utility. More uniform application and better data are needed. The few "top-down" studies performed so far have tended to ignore the strong non-market dynamics of developing nations. Makes specific recommendations for improving both types of analysis for application to developing countries.

Item #d95nov10

"Climate Change Policies in Europe: National Plans, EU Policies, and the International Context," M. Grubb (Energy & Environ. Prog., Royal Inst. Intl. Affairs, 10 St. James's Sq., London SW1Y 4LE, UK), Intl. J. Environ. & Pollut., 5(2/3), 164-179, 1995.

Climate change policies in Europe can be characterized by two broad, though not universal, consensuses. The first is that climate change is a serious problem; the second is that we should not do anything serious about it. This paper examines these two ideas, and explores where the obvious tension that is embodied in them may lead. Discusses scientific developments since 1990; the international processes that influence national positions; national plans submitted under the climate treaty and their implications; and the role of the European Union and prospects for Europe-wide policies. Europe mirrors, on a smaller and more manageable scale, the global problem, and its response may prove the essential test of whether, and if so how, humanity can respond to the political challenge posed by the threat of climate change.

Item #d95nov11

"European Climate Change Policy in a Global Context," M. Grubb (address ibid.), Green Globe Yearbook 1995, pp. 41-50, 1995 (Oxford Univ. Press).

Analyzes the evolution and state of policy towards climate change in the European Union (EU), assesses prospects for the EU meeting its CO₂ emission target, and considers future options for EU climate policy and their international implications. With the effective collapse of the carbon/energy tax and drastic weakening of the SAVE (Specific Actions for Vigorous Energy Efficiency) program, Europe does not have a strategy to achieve its CO₂ target. Yet there are substantial pressures to find a strategy, and perhaps during the period of the sequential German, French and Spanish EU presidencies, political realities may force member states to launch negotiations on binding targets, tradable national emission quotas, or longer-term emission constraints.

Item #d95nov12

"External Competence and the European Community," M. Hession (Environ. Change Unit, Univ. Oxford, Oxford, U.K.), Global Environ. Change, 5(2), 155-156, May 1995.

Discusses an important legal and political theme in international environmental management: the degree to which a collection of nations (in this case the European Community) will submit to a collective legal authority.

Item #d95nov13

"New Directions for Financing Global Environmental Change," D. Pearce (CSERGE, Univ. College, Gower St., London WC1E 6BT, UK), ibid., 5(1), 27-40, Mar. 1995.

The developed countries of the Northern Hemisphere have committed perhaps $2 billion over the next three years toward the climate and biodiversity conventions, but against the scale of the problems this is an inadequate sum. However, there are opportunities for tapping into other sources of funds, and for using official transfers as a lever for yet other funds. Enormous scope also exists for reducing global environmental problems through the adoption of more sensible economic policies. There is substantial potential for mutual gain through global trades.