Impacts of climate change are likely to be severe in the Asia-Pacific region but adaptive capacity is weak in most countries and communities. As much of the adaptation is site-specific and has to be developed at the individual and community level, it is crucial to harness local knowledge in designing adaptation strategies. Focus group interviews...
This paper examines the existing voluntary UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UKETS), which represents effectively a rather unusual “policy experiment”?the establishment of a voluntary greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme (with a significant subsidy element that effectively pays the polluter) designed to secure emissions reductions in line with Kyoto...
This paper provides an assessment of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) from a developing country’s perspective with specific reference to activities in India. The CDM has elicited considerable interest from various Indian industries. We analyze here the nature of initial CDM projects in India, sector preferences, scales, and possible...
This paper analyzes the role of some key technological options (i.e., fuel-switching and renewable energy technologies) available under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the power sector of three Asian countries?Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. A long-term electricity planning model is used with...
Continued economic growth in China, which is spurring on demand for and consumption of large amounts of energy, poses a significant challenge to implementing a sustainable development strategy in this country. Whereas the climate change issue may not be given a high priority on the nation’s political agenda, greenhouse gas emission reduction...
According to Japan’s official Climate Change Policy Programme, the government aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 6 percent compared with its 1990 base year emissions, mainly through domestic actions, and then address a projected 1.6 percent shortfall of emission reductions by utilizing the Kyoto Mechanisms. It is pointed out, however...
The strengths and weaknesses of the Kyoto Protocol must be carefully assessed in designing future agreements to tackle climate change. The Kyoto Protocol’s main strength may lay in its emissions trading feature?a key for cost-effectiveness, environmental effectiveness, and equity. Its main weakness may lay in the incapacity of Kyoto-type targets to...