Climate Policies
Climate policies refer to the set of measures and actions implemented by governments and international organizations to address climate change. These policies aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote renewable energy sources, and adapt to the impacts of climate change. They often involve regulations, incentives, and international agreements to mitigate the environmental and social effects of global warming.
8 Key excerpts on "Climate Policies"
eBook - ePub- Hugh Compston, Hugh Compston(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Introduction: political strategies for climate policy Hugh Compston This volume is based on the premise that the principal obstacles to stronger action on climate change are political in nature. The science of climate change is well-established (IPCC 2007a) and there are well-known policy instruments that could significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions without prohibitive economic costs (Stern 2007), yet governments and other political authorities are reluctant to take decisive action even though most appear to be convinced that strong measures are needed. At present the main political strategy seems to be the implementation of measures that target a broad range of emissions sources while not antagonising business groups or electorates. Typical policies include setting emissions targets, encouraging promising technologies, using market mechanisms such as taxes and emissions trading to spur innovation, and urging greater international cooperation on climate policy. So far, however, such measures have failed to reverse the steady rise in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide (IPCC 2007b, p. 4, Tans 2009). Clearly more needs to be done. But how can governments move beyond existing policies without risking serious political damage? The aim of this volume is to contribute to answering this question by analysing the nature of climate politics from a number of different theoretical angles in order to improve our understanding of which political strategies would be likely to help national governments to make deep cuts in GHG emissions while avoiding significant political damage. The rationale for this multi-theoretical approach is that different conceptual and logical schemas (theories) highlight different features of situations. Thus, describing the politics of climate policy in terms of different theories results in different conceptual and logical pictures of this phenomenon...
eBook - ePubEU Climate Diplomacy
Politics, Law and Negotiations
- Stephen Minas, Vassilis Ntousas, Stephen Minas, Vassilis Ntousas(Authors)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...It highlighted the variable efforts not just in terms of ambitious emission reductions but also the degree of actual national climate policy development in the first place. This appreciation of national policy positions on climate change has been an important development, as much of the literature regarding climate change politics had been focused on international bargaining and negotiations, e.g. Kyoto, various COPs and other multi-lateral gatherings such as the G20 (see Vogler 2015). But as Rootes et al. (2012) warned, ‘there is a danger that the focus on the international may consign to a “black box” the politics that exists at levels below the international’ (p. 678). Very little effort has gone into a comparative explanation for this variability, though Harrison and Sundstrom (2010) advanced a useful framework incorporating key factors such as different electoral systems (PR vs. majoritarian), diffusion of authority (federal or unitary) and the effect of policy lock-in by the EU. Variables such as leadership and compliance costs also feature. As the EU’s climate and energy policy developed since 2000, it is the tripartite policy mix of carbon emission reduction, increasing the share of renewable energies, and energy efficiency that has provided a framework for national policies to adapt their own policy goals. Even more ambitious initiatives such as a European Energy Union relate to this three-part policy agenda...
eBook - ePub- Nigel Arnell(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...4 The Politics of Climate Change: The Regulatory Context INTRODUCTION International organisations, national and regional governments, and regulatory agencies have all over the last few years developed policies and procedures to address climate change. Whilst most of these actions have focused on ways of reducing future emissions of greenhouse gases (‘mitigation’), many are also concerned with supporting and encouraging adaptation. This chapter provides an overview of the political and regulatory framework within which organisations will respond to climate change, looking first at international climate policy, then at national and regional legislation, and finally at initiatives developed by regulators and other bodies. This context is important for several reasons. Policy and regulations – and particularly the debates around them – raise awareness of climate change as an issue within an organisation and amongst its stakeholders. Policy and regulations may make organisations do things that they would not otherwise have done, and may either facilitate or constrain actions that organisations take. They allow benchmarking of actions between organisations, for example through reporting requirements. They also provide a context for organisations to enhance their reputations amongst stakeholders – by being seen to ‘do the right thing’ – but also provide a source of reputational risk if organisations are perceived to be not living up to expectations. Finally, the policy and regulatory framework is evolving, and uncertainty in how policy and regulations will change in the future represents an additional layer of risk to an organisation – regulatory risk. This regulatory risk may strongly influence how an organisation deals with the risks of climate change outlined in Chapters 2 and 3...
eBook - ePub- Neil Carter, Conor Little, Diarmuid Torney, Neil Carter, Connor Little, Diarmuid Torney(Authors)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...INTRODUCTION Climate politics in small European states Neil Carter i D, Conor Little i D and Diarmuid Torney i D The national level has become increasingly important in the study and practice of climate politics. In its move towards a more bottom-up architecture, the Paris Agreement has ushered in a new focus on domestic policy through nationally determined contributions. Scholarly attention has seen a similar shift. Once principally the domain of international relations scholars, the study of climate change politics has paid increasing attention to the determinants of national action (Harrison and Sundstrom 2010, Steinberg and Vandeveer 2012, Cao et al. 2014). Starting from the premise that domestic politics and national governments have a key role to play in climate policymaking, this literature has focused on the politics of national climate legislation (Carter and Jacobs 2014, Lorenzoni and Benson 2014, Fankhauser et al. 2015a, 2015b, Torney 2017, Averchenkova et al. 2018, Wagner and Ylä-Anttila 2018), carbon taxation (Harrison 2010, 2012), and on broader sets of climate policy outputs and outcomes (Christoff and Eckersley 2011, Jensen and Spoon 2011, Compston and Bailey 2012, Bernauer and Böhmelt 2013, Boasson 2013, Lachapelle and Paterson 2013, Tobin 2017). Although much has been written about the politics of climate change at European and global levels, and with respect to some larger countries such as Germany, the UK, France, the United States, and China, fewer scholarly contributions have focused on small states. Smallness could be defined according to a range of criteria, such as geography or economy, but we define small states in relational terms, that is to say, on the basis of some meaningful criterion in a particular context (Thorhallsson and Wivel 2006). In the context of climate politics and policy, we consider a country’s contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) to be a relevant selection criterion...
eBook - ePubClimate Change and Social Movements
Civil Society and the Development of National Climate Change Policy
- Eugene Nulman(Author)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Palgrave Macmillan(Publisher)
...Instead, emissions increased by over 30 percent. Had domestic policy been successful in curbing emissions, Canada’s international position may have been different. Second, the success of other countries’ domestic emissions reduction policies may influence a country’s calculus for international negotiations. The failures of major emitting countries to curb emissions domestically have made it easier for countries such as Japan and Russia to remove themselves from further commitments past the 2012 period. Legislation that demonstrates a country’s commitment to mitigate climate change reduces the risks of other countries addressing climate change because the fear of costly unilateral action is reduced. Third, in addition to influencing international negotiations, success at the national level in advancing climate change policies can incentivize others to do the same even outside of international negotiations. For example, UK’s Climate Change Act 2008 has become a model for many countries’ own domestic climate change policies. Fourth, in an anarchic world system, national-level climate change policies may be the only suitable means for real-world emissions reductions. Due to the ease of withdrawing from international commitments, which partially explained the watering-down of the Kyoto Protocol, the strength of international treaties is unlikely to directly result in high levels of actual emissions reduction without additional national mitigation policies. In addition, national policies have the potential to reduce the price of renewable energy or increase the price of carbon-intensive energy worldwide, and it can help national policymaking institutions internalize the importance of climate change and simultaneously increase the public opinion and issue salience of the problem. All in all, national policies to mitigate climate change are an important component in a global response to a global problem...
eBook - ePubCulture, Politics and Climate Change
How Information Shapes our Common Future
- Deserai A. Crow, Maxwell T. Boykoff, Deserai A. Crow, Maxwell T. Boykoff(Authors)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Such policies can be justified with hybrid judgments that combine scientific and political considerations, and which remain defensible even if aspects of mainstream climate science turn out to be somewhat mistaken. Generally speaking, better climate policy does not require better climate science. Nor does it necessarily depend on better public understanding of climate science (even if that may be desirable for its own sake). Indeed, recent studies suggest that as people have come to better understand climate change, their expressed concern about it has actually decreased (Kellstedt et al., 2008). And despite the 30 percent of Americans who either reject or don’t know about climate change, a recent survey found that 77 percent say global warming should be a ‘very high,’ ‘high,’ or ‘medium’ priority for the president and Congress. And 92 percent say that developing sources of clean energy is a ‘very high,’ ‘high,’ or ‘medium’ priority (Leiserowitz et al., 2012). In other policy areas, democratic governments have adopted policies with far less scientific certainty than we have today about climate change. With regard to stratospheric ozone depletion, for example, the US Congress took steps to reduce it long before scientists had achieved consensus on the details of the science. Indeed, during the early years of research on the ozone hole, scientific uncertainties actually increased rather than decreased. But that did not deter policymakers from taking action (Pielke, 2010, pp. 25–28). With regard to climate, the economic and political stakes are much higher, and the resistance to action therefore much greater. But it is doubtful that such resistance can be overcome by harping on the science (Prins et al., 2010, p. 18). Conclusion The preceding discussion suggests that climate science rejection is not only an ideological tool for defending economic interests, a psychological defense mechanism, or a cowardly abandonment of reason and rationality. It may be all those things...
eBook - ePubClimate Policy Integration into EU Energy Policy
Progress and prospects
- Claire Dupont(Author)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...However, the EU had difficulty in bringing its rhetoric on the international stage in line with its internal policies. In the early 2000s, the EU finally made headway on agreeing internal Climate Policies, such as the Emissions Trading System, and policies that aimed to respond to the climate challenge, such as in the RE and energy efficiency realms. This helped demonstrate that the EU was serious about taking action on climate change, although the policies of the early 2000s were not yet ambitious enough to make a significant impact. Internal policy development was linked very clearly to the international negotiations on climate change, with the policy measures adopted in the early 2000s being part of the EU’s response to its commitments under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce GHG emissions by 8 per cent between 2008 and 2012, compared to 1990 levels (European Commission, 2000a). This was a period in which the EU expressed its desire to provide international leadership on climate change. The early 2000s was a period of symbolic, rather than concrete or credible, EU political commitment to combating climate change generally, which can be measured as medium levels of political commitment. The level of political commitment of the EU to combating climate change evolved over the course of the 2000s. From about 2007 onwards, the EU demonstrated particularly high levels of political commitment to the climate issue generally. The European Council (the highest political level of the EU) came out in March 2007 in favour of a binding target to reduce GHG emissions by 20 per cent by 2020, compared to 1990 levels, combined with a binding target to increase the share of RE in the EU to 20 per cent by 2020 and a non-binding target to improve energy efficiency by 20 per cent by 2020 (European Council, 2007)...
eBook - ePubEnvironmental Policy and Public Health
Air Pollution, Global Climate Change, and Wilderness
- William N. Rom(Author)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- Jossey-Bass(Publisher)
...Chapter 12 Climate Change Policy Options Learning Objectives Become familiar with international efforts to combat global warming Understand the role of state and local governments in addressing climate change Comprehend the interactions among the different branches of the federal government in addressing climate change Understand what needs to be done to escape the harmful effects of global warming Become familiar with the current efforts to establish climate change legislation To achieve a “cap and trade” national program to control CO 2 emissions we will need a consensus of public opinion. 1 A cap and trade program is government driven, with a maximal limit on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that progressively decline over time. In order to meet these limits, sources of pollution that are regulated need to have permits authorizing limits on their GHG pollution. Since these permit amounts decline over time, the polluter needs to plan to meet reduced GHG emissions, for example, closing an older plant, building in pollution controls, and so on. The mandate allows the polluter to choose the controls and technologies harnessing the private market system. Public opinion in favor of carbon controls is helpful for congressional action, although executive regulatory action can take place according to an administration's goals...
