出版物

Despite good intentions to get a solid grasp of various technical issues and put in place policy instruments related to the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, Indonesia’s government still faces tremendous challenges in terms of disseminating information on the progress of climate treaty negotiations and gaining as wide public support as possible...

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...

Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the international community has sought to find a policy framework to address the threat of human-induced climate change. The most significant action to date has been the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol in December 1997. Given Russia’s recent decision to ratify the protocol it is now...

This paper provides an overview of the three Kyoto mechanisms?joint implementation, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and international emissions trading. These mechanisms enable parties to the Kyoto Protocol with emissions limitation commitments for 2008 to 2012 (Annex B parties) to meet those commitments at lower cost. Projects under the CDM...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...