Low-Carbon Technologies in the Post-Bali Period: Accelerating their Development and Deployment. CEPS ECP Report No. 4, 4 December 2007

This report analyses the very broad issue of technology development, demonstration and diffusion with a view to identifying the key elements of a complementary global technology track in the post-2012 framework. It identifies a number of immediate and concrete steps that can be taken to provide content and a structure for such a track. The report features three sections dealing with innovation and technology, investment in developing countries and investment and finance, followed by an analysis of the various initiatives being taken on technology both within and outside the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). A final section presents ideas for the way forward followed by brief concluding remarks

Australia and climate change negotiations: at the table, or on the menu?

Howard Bamsey and Kath Rowley argue that any failure to pay proper, high-level attention to the current international climate change negotiations raises several risks to the national interest. Strong, constructive engagement in those negotiations by Australia would serve climate change, economic and other national goals. Key findings The UN climate negotiations are of real consequence, and should be in the very top category of the government’s international priorities. Australia’s distinctive national circumstances mean it has to work harder than others to advance its interests. Ministerial leadership, a strong negotiating team, and active support for preparations for the Paris conference in December would return much-needed momentum to Australia’s negotiating effort

Coalition climate policy and the national climate interest

This paper outlines the results of an analysis of both the Government’s legislated policies and a range of approaches the Coalition could take to implement its policy platform.The Coalition is yet to announce details of key elements of its policy. To capture a range of possible policy options a number of scenarios were evaluated, including weakening or strengthening the Renewable Energy Target, changing the way large emitters are penalised for exceeding emission baselines, or giving firms access to international markets to achieve emission reductions. The modelling is based on a number of conservative assumptions about how the policy will work in practise and will therefore likely overestimate the emission reductions that can be achieved under the Coalition’s policy.This policy brief was developed by Erwin Jackson with key inputs from Corey Watts, Olivia Kember and John Connor

Improving access to climate financing for the Pacific Islands

Executive summary The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) commits developed countries to provide assistance to ‘developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change in meeting the costs of adaptation.’ Although recent commitments of ‘fast-start’ climate funding from partners like Australia, Japan and the European Union are welcome, Pacific Island countries face wider obstacles in accessing appropriate and timely levels of funding for adaptation and mitigation to manage the adverse effects that environmental challenges have on core areas for economic, social and human development. The experience of Solomon Islands, the first Pacific country to obtain funding from the Kyoto Protocol Adaptation Fund for a project on food security and agricultural production, offers some important lessons for the region. Access to climate financing could be improved through seeking special access for small island states in financial mechanisms, establishing programs and structures that improve donor coordination and build the capacity of national institutions, developing national climate trust funds and a Pacific Regional Climate Change fund and, most importantly, implementing more targeted action on the ground to assist the most vulnerable communities with concrete adaptation programs

Lima Climate Summit: striding or shuffling to Paris?

This paper argues that Australia should restate its commitment to participate in a new post-2020 framework that is consistent with the national interest of avoiding 2C of global warming. Overview In Lima Climate Summit: Striding or Shuffling to Paris? The Climate  Institute lays out the process for the year ahead of the Paris climate summit, when the new international climate framework will be agreed, suggests possible scenarios for Lima, and considers an appropriate role for Australia.  The report finds that as nations head into the Lima climate change negotiations later this month, Australia should restate its commitment to participate in a new post-2020 framework that is consistent with the national interest of avoiding 2C of global warming, should lay out a transparent process for defining our initial post-2020 target, and boost short-term domestic actions. The report concluded that the government needs to catch up with the growing global coalition of climate action recognising the economic threats of climate change and make clear that it will join efforts to keep global warming below 2C. The past few weeks have seen major emitters and the world’s largest economies, from the US, China and Europe, put forth initial post 2020 targets. We also saw important announcements from G20 countries around climate financing for poor countries to bolster their climate resilience and accelerate low carbon development

Calling All Funders: The Role of Philanthropy in Fighting Climate Change

This is the fourth in a series of CEGN briefing papers providing an overview of key Canadian environmental issues, intended to provide background information on the issue and serve as a starting point for discussion on strategic approaches and collaboration on environmental grantmaking

Seeing 'REDD'?: Forests, Climate Change Mitigation and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Examines proposals for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) and their failure to protect indigenous peoples' rights or to address forest governance problems. Calls for talks to include civil society and indigenous peoples

Making the most of the G8+5 Climate Change Process: Accelerating Structural Change and Technology Diffusion on a Global Scale. CEPS Task Force Reports, 5 June 2008

Under the chairmanship of Gunnar Still, Senior Vice President and Head of Environment Division at ThyssenKrupp, CEPS organized a Task Force to explore possible initiatives within the context of the G8+5 dialogue on tackling climate change. This report identifies a number of concrete measures that could reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while at the same time stimulating structural change and technology development and diffusion. It calls for supporting action-based approaches, which are essential to achieve the necessary reductions in GHG emissions, inform the post-2012 negotiations and address the most urgent issues such as surging energy demand and the need for clean energy technologies in emerging economies. An action-based approach can be regarded as a way of integrating targets and timetables, as they are agreed, with consistent and comparable policies and measures. With a view to a long-term climate strategy, this report attempts to present a portfolio of actions that can be implemented and accelerated on a global scale – especially in the G8+5 countries and the EU, and could become a basis on which developed and developing countries can cooperate

Economic and Environmental Effectiveness of a Technology-based Climate Protocol

The present stalemate in climate negotiations between the US and the other Annex I countries has led policy analysts and economists to explore the possible emergence of alternative climate regimes that may be applied after 2012. This paper explores the idea of replacing international cooperation on greenhouse gas emission control with international cooperation on climate-related technological innovation and diffusion. This idea – recently proposed among others by Barrett (2001) and Benedick (2001) – is based on the insight that incentives to free ride are much smaller in the case of technological cooperation than in the case of cooperation on emission control. This paper provides a first applied game theory analysis of a technology-based climate protocol by assessing: (i) the selfenforcingness (namely, the absence of incentives to free ride) of the coalition that would form when countries negotiate on climate-related technological cooperation; (ii) the environmental effectiveness of a technology-based climate protocol. The analysis is carried out by using a model in which endogenous and induced technical change are explicitly modelled. The results of our analysis partly support Barrett’s and Benedick’s conjecture. On the one hand, a self-enforcing agreement is more likely to emerge when countries cooperate on environmental technological innovation and diffusion than when they cooperate on emission abatement. However, technological cooperation – without any commitment to emission control – may not lead to a sufficient abatement of greenhouse gas concentrations.Agreements, Climate, Incentives, Negotiations, Policy

Economic and Environmental Effectiveness of a Technology-based Climate Protocol

The present stalemate in climate negotiations has led policy analysts and economists to explore the possible emergence of alternative climate regimes. This paper explores the idea of replacing international cooperation on greenhouse gas emission control with international cooperation on climate-related technological innovation and diffusion. This idea – recently proposed among others by Barrett (2001) and Benedick (2001) – is based on the insight that incentives to free-ride are much smaller in the case of technological cooperation than in the case of cooperation on emission control. This paper provides a first applied game theory analysis of a technology-based climate protocol by assessing: (i) the self-enforcingness (namely, the absence of incentives to free ride) of the coalition that would form when countries negotiate on climate-related technological cooperation; (ii) the environmental effectiveness of a technology-based climate protocol. The analysis is carried out by using a model in which endogenous and induced technical change are explicitly modelled and in which international technological spillovers are also quantified. The results of our analysis partly support Barrett’s and Benedick’s conjecture. On the one hand, a self-enforcing agreement is more likely to emerge when countries cooperate on environmental technological innovation and diffusion than when they cooperate on emission abatement. However, technological cooperation – without any commitment to emission control – may not lead to a sufficient abatement of greenhouse gas concentrations.Agreements, Climate, Incentives, Technological change, Policy