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During the last years, when the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol became dependent on its ratification by Russia, the protocol’s prospects appeared quite uncertain. To a great extent this uncertainty was reinforced by the contradictory declarations of Russian officials?promises of imminent ratification that alternated with critiques of the...

Convincing the United States to mitigate its greenhouse gas emissions is critical to spurring a stronger and more durable international response to climate change. This paper focuses on current US action on climate change and the potential for future US emissions targets in both domestic and international arenas. Five topics are covered: (1) the...

This paper describes the role of the European Community (EC) in negotiating the Kyoto Protocol and then focuses on the progress of the European Union (EU) towards meeting its Kyoto commitments. The EC ratified the Kyoto Protocol on May 31, 2002. It has pledged to meet the implied target of an 8 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions between...

After seven years since the Kyoto meeting, this special issue of IRES surveys the various effects of the Kyoto Protocol at the national, regional and global levels to ascertain the effectiveness of the Kyoto Protocol as well as its major issues and barriers and to offer alternative options for future frameworks. EDITORS NOTE http://enviroscope.iges...

According to an estimation by the United Nations, 15 cities in the Asia Pacific region will become megacities with a total population exceeding 10 million by 2015, and 60 percent of the total population in the region will live in urban areas by 2030 (APFED 2005). Urban environment management in Asia is now one of the most critical subjects. Being...

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...

Industrialized countries have been astonishingly slow in providing incentives for their private sectors to invest in Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects or to buy certified emission reductions (CERs). On the other hand, capacity-building initiatives have been promoted extensively and have used almost 10 percent of the total funds invested in...

It is widely agreed that the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is a useful international instrument that encourages and reinforces the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), and also that it should be further promoted as a way to fill the gap in energy and GHG efficiency between industrialized and developing countries. A number of...

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...