Global Climate Change And Environmental Policy

Global climate change threatens human existence through its potential impact on agriculture and the environment. Agriculture is climate-sensitive, and climate variability and climate change have net negative impact on it. Additionally, the agricultural landscape is affected by monoculture and agro-biodiversity loss, soil fertility depletion and soil loss, competition from biofuel production, crop yield plateaus and invasive species. Nevertheless, the global agricultural production system has to meet the food demands from the growing human population, which is set to exceed 10 billion by 2050. This book discusses the impacts of climate change on agriculture, animal husbandry and rural livelihoods. Further, since agriculture, forestry and other land-use sectors contribute about 10–12 gigatonnes of CO2-equivalent per year, it argues that agricultural policy must dovetail adaptation and mitigation strategies to reduce greenhouse gases emissions. This calls for a reformative and disruptive agricultural strategy like climate-smart agriculture, which can operate at all spatio-temporal scales with few modifications. The book also redefines sustainable agriculture through the lens of climate-smart agriculture in the context of the sustainability of Earth's life- support system and inter- and intra-generational equity. The climate-smart agriculture approach is gaining currency thanks to its inherent positive potential, and its goal to establish an agricultural system which includes "climate-smart food systems", "climate-proof farms", and "climate-smart soils". Climate-smart agriculture provides a pathway to achieve sustainable development goals which focus on poverty reduction, food security, and environmental health.

The Handbook of Global Climate and Environment Policy presents an authoritative and comprehensive overview of global policy on climate and the environment. It combines the strengths of an interdisciplinary team of experts from around the world to explore current debates and the latest thinking in the search for global environmental solutions. Explores the environmental challenges we currently face, and the concepts and approaches to solving these Questions the role of global actors, institutions and processes, and considers the links between global climate and environment policy, and that of the global economy Highlights the connections between social science research and global policy Brings together authoritative coverage of recent research by internationally-renowned experts from around the world, including from North America, Europe, and Asia Provides an essential resource guide for students and researchers from across a wide range of related disciplines – from politics and international relations, to environmental sciences and sociology – and for global policy practitioners

Environmental policy is often practiced reactively with each crisis addressed as an isolated event. Focusing on development of proactive policies, Global Environment Policy: Concepts, Principles, and Practice provides the essential scientific and socioeconomic framework for formulating pragmatic and comprehensive environmental policies. It discusses topics of interest to American and international audiences. Beginning with basic concepts, the book proceeds successively on to more advanced principles, theories, and practices for developing and implementing comprehensive environmental policy solutions. Topics are introduced in a logical, yet connected, user-friendly manner. Using practical case studies and examples, the book illustrates both the power and limitations of theoretical approaches. It defines the scope and nature of the environmental policy problem, outlining its origins and evolution, and introduces the policy frameworks of the United Nations, European Union, and the United States. Each chapter begins with a case study and ends with a problem set; the questions are designed to elicit practical and critical thinking. The book ends with two capstone problems that exemplify nearly every major topic and aspect presented in this book. Upon completion, students should possess the competency required to examine a real world problem, evaluate it in terms of the concepts, principles, and tools described throughout the book, and develop a practical policy solution for resolving that problem.

Drawing on practices and theories of environmental justice, 'China's responsibility for climate change' describes China's contribution to global warming and analyzes its policy responses. Contributors critically examine China's practical and ethical responsibilities to climate change from a variety of perspectives. They explore policies that could mitigate China's environmental impact while promoting its own interests and meeting the international community's expectations. The book is accessible to a wide readership, including academics, policy makers and activists. All royalties from sales of this book will be donated to Friends of the Earth.

This book is likely to become the definitive study on European global climate change politics. Its focus on the formulation, ratification, and implementation of the Kyoto Protocol within Europe make it essential reading for all who wish to understand how domestic foreign policy influenced the European Union s decision to ratify the Kyoto Protocol despite the United States decision to abandon the agreement. The book provides important historical background, case studies of the most influential European countries to shape the Kyoto Protocol, and an assessment of what enlargement means for the implementation of the agreement. It also examines how Europe s policies have shaped and been shaped by participation in the Kyoto negotiation and implementation processes. It will be an important item for the libraries of any institution or scholar with an interest in the role of Europe in addressing climate change. Miranda Schreurs, University of Maryland, US The core objective of this book is to better understand the role of foreign policy the crossovers and interactions between domestic and international politics and policies in efforts to preserve the environment and natural resources. Underlying this objective is the belief that it is not enough to analyze domestic or international political actors, institutions and processes by themselves. We need to understand the interactions among them, something that explicit thought about foreign policy can help us do. The eclectic group of contributors explore European and EU responses to global climate change, and provide insights into issues on environmental protection, sustainable development, international affairs and foreign policy.

As the Kyoto conference of the parties on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change once again underscored, man-made climate change has become one of the major challenges to our generation and many generations to come. Since scientific evidence on climate change can be seen as increasingly reliable, the focus of our attention has to turn more and more to the question of foreseeable damages and to possibilities to prevent and mitigate climate change. In other words, we need to analyse the economic aspects of man marle climate change and the policy options to prevent its most severe impacts. This book reports on the findings of an international workshop on these aspects of global climate change. It was organised by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim, Germany on March 6th and 7th 1997. In the light of the ongoing international policy-making process on climate change, we decided to publish the report after the Kyoto conference from December Ist to 10th, 1997, to include the results of the conference, which emphasise the importance of economic aspects and economic policy options when it comes to addressing the problern of man-made climate change. Thus, this book went to press in February 1998 the moment we received the official version of the Kyoto Protocol, which is reproduced in the annex.

An updated and accessible account of what science knows about climate change, incorporating the latest scientific findings and policy initiatives. Most of us are familiar with the term climate change but few of us understand the science behind it. We don't fully comprehend how climate change will affect us, and for that reason we might not consider it as pressing a concern as, say, housing prices or unemployment. This book explains the scientific knowledge about global climate change clearly and concisely in engaging, nontechnical language, describes how it will affect all of us, and suggests how government, business, and citizens can take action against it. This completely revised and updated edition incorporates the latest scientific research and policy initiatives on climate change. It describes recent major legislative actions, analyzes alternative regulatory tools including new uses of taxes and markets, offers increased coverage of China and other developing nations, discusses the role of social media in communicating about climate change, and provides updated assessments of the effects of climate change. The book first explains the basic scientific facts about climate change and its global impact. It discusses the nature of scientific consensus and the strong consensus of mainstream science on climate change. It then explores policy responses and corporate actions in the United States and the rest of the world, discusses how the communication of climate change information by journalists and others can be improved, and addresses issues of environmental justice—how climate change affects the most vulnerable populations and regions. We can better tackle climate change, this book shows us, if we understand it.

This volume presents a critical analysis of transatlantic relations in the field of environmental governance and climate change. The work focuses on understanding the possible trends in the evolution of global environmental governance and the prospects for breaking the current impasse on climate action. Drawing on research involving experts from eleven different universities and institutes, the authors provide innovative analyses on policy measures taken by the EU and the US, the world’s largest economic and commercial blocs, in a number of fields, ranging from general attitudes on environmental leadership with regard to climate change, to energy policies, new technologies for hydrocarbons extraction and carbon capture, as well as the effects of extreme weather events on climate-related political attitudes. The book examines the way in which the current attitudes of the EU and the US with regard to climate change will affect international cooperation and the building of consensus on possible climate policies, and looks to the future for international environmental governance, arguably one of the most pressing concerns of civilisation today. This book, which is based on research carried out in the context of the EU-financed FP7 research project TRANSWORLD, will appeal to academics, policy makers and practitioners seeking a deeper understanding of the challenges resulting from climate change.