Greenhouse gas benefits of fighting obesity

Obesity has become a serious public health problem in both industrialized and rapidly industrializing countries. It increases greenhouse gas emissions through higher fuel needs for transportation of heavier people, lifecycle emissions from additional food production and methane emissions from higher amounts of organic waste. A reduction of average weight by 5 kg could reduce OECD transport CO2 emissions by more than 10 million t, while a reduction of consumption of energy-rich food to 1990 levels would lead to life-cycle emissions savings of more than 100 million t CO2 equivalent and by more than 2 million t through reduction of associated food waste. Due to the intimate behavioural nature of the obesity problem, policies to reduce obesity such as food taxation, subsidization of human-powered transport, incentives to reduce sedentary leisure and regulation of fat in foodstuffs have not yet been implemented to any extent. The emissions benefits of fiscal and regulatory measures to reduce obesity could accelerate the tipping point where a majority of voters feels that the problem warrants policy action. --public health,food production,transport,waste management,greenhouse gas emissions

Analysis of Possible New Market Mechanisms Pilot Activities beyond the PMR

This report analyses activities developed outside of the Partnership for Market Readiness (PMR) that could evolve to become possible NMM pilot activities. It assesses a number of initiatives that can provide lessons for the design of market mechanisms, ranging from the Japanese Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) to the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) of the World Bank. This assessment is done on the basis of a set of criteria covering the mitigation contribution, MRV ability and practicality. The study concludes that NMM pilot activities could take many sizes and shapes, and should ideally cover Least Developed Countries (LDCs) as well as large emerging economies. The majority of the initiatives assessed did not envisage to generate credits, but aimed to provide credible proof of achieved greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions. Open questions include how to safeguard environmental integrity through conservative and credible baselines and post-NMM emission level determination methodologies and how to ensure that incentives reach the entities that can mobilize mitigation. Still, a number of such activities can provide valuable lessons for mechanisms that have the primary aim of generating Carbon credits

Methodology for CDM eligibility criteria definition

This study analyses different issues related to defining approaches to limit CDM eligibility in the context of the evolving future climate regime. This is based on the notion that in the future climate regime all countries will need to contribute to global mitigation efforts. It is highly likely that a more differentiated spectrum of national contributions by developing countries will also result in a more strongly differentiated eligibility of CDM project types and host countries. Therefore, the study develops a set of criteria for limiting CDM eligibility. After a thorough assessment and discussion, four scenarios for limiting Certified Emission Reduction (CER) supply for imports into domestic emission trading schemes (ETS) are determined. Based on the indicator sets and the chosen scenarios representing different choices of eligibility criteria, the respective credit quantities, geographic distribution and project type distribution are modelled quantitatively in order to arrive at an estimation of the global impact on CER supply of each scenario. The study also assesses ways to reinforce the mitigation impact of the CDM by discounting of CERs. Options exist to set strong incentives that strengthen the positive developments in the CDM, and to further align the mechanism with the political objectives of the UNFCCC process

Greenhouse gas benefits of fighting obesity

Given the lack of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) activities in least developed countries (LDCs), subsidies for CDM projects have been suggested as a remedy. To date, subsidies spent in the CDM context have been limited to capacity building. Donor agencies have provided close to EUR45 million for awareness raising, institutional capacity building and project development in Africa and LDCs over the last 10 years, which equals about 8% of the total CDM revenues in these countries. Per registered project, the implicit subsidy reaches almost EUR1 million. This article assesses these CDM subsidies with regard to their effectiveness in mobilizing institutional set-up and project development. Targeted capacity building programmes, such as those focused on establishing a Designated National Authority, have been successful, but project development support did not mobilize significant numbers of CDM projects in most LDCs. Donor assistance was more effective when it assisted the whole process of CDM project development and not just a part of it. Overall, capacity building subsidies are a necessary but not a sufficient condition for mobilizing CDM projects. They cannot stand in for the lack of domestic capital required to set up projects

Greenhouse gas benefits of fighting obesity

Obesity has become a serious public health problem in both industrialized and rapidly industrializing countries. It increases greenhouse gas emissions through higher fuel needs for transportation of heavier people, lifecycle emissions from additional food production and methane emissions from higher amounts of organic waste. A reduction of average weight by 5 kg could reduce OECD transport CO2 emissions by more than 10 million t. While the shift from beef to other forms of meat in industrialized and countries in transition has lead to lifecycle emissions savings of 20 million t CO2 equivalent between 1990 and 2005, emissions due to obesity-promoting foodstuffs have increased by more than 400 million t in advanced developing countries. Emissions in OECD countries could be reduced by more than 4 million t through reduction of associated food waste. Due to the intimate behavioural nature of the obesity problem, policies to reduce obesity such as food taxation, subsidization of human-powered transport, incentives to reduce sedentary leisure and regulation of fat in foodstuffs have not yet been implemented to any extent. The emissions benefits of fiscal and regulatory measures to reduce obesity could accelerate the tipping point where a majority of voters feels that the problem warrants policy action.

Developing sectoral mechanisms in the transition period towards a new climate treaty

Ziel dieses Forschungsvorhabens ist die Untersuchung von sektoralen Ansätzen in einem internationalen Regime der Klimapolitik, mit Fokus darauf eine Brücke zwischen existierenden und zukünftigen Mechanismen und Instrumenten zu schlagen. Hierfür analysieren wir zunächst die Diskussionen und Entwicklungen zu sektoralen Ansätzen in bestehenden und zukünftigen UNFCCC-Mechanismen. Das Vorhaben untersucht, welche sektoralen Ansätze unter NMM oder NAMAs angewendet werden könnten. Die Analyse basiert auf einem breiten Set von Untersuchungsindikatoren. Dazu werden die von Vertragsstaaten bei der UNFCCC eingereichten Vorschläge ausgewertet und eine quantitative Analyse der CDM-, PoA- und NAMA-Pipeline vorgenommen. Die Analyse wird gestützt von Interviews mit UNFCCC-Verhandlungsteilnehmern, Vertretern der Wissenschaft und Kohlenstoffmarktakteuren. Eine Betrachtung von potenziellen Barrieren für die Einführung sektoraler Ansätze und die Entwicklung entsprechender Lösungsvorschläge, sowie abschließende Empfehlungen runden die Studie ab. This study analyses how sectoral approaches are evolving in existing and future mitigation mechanisms, and how they can help shaping the transition period to a new climate regime most effectively. The analysis is based on an evaluation of recent UNFCCC submissions, a desk review of the relevant literature and databases, as well as a set of semistructured expert interviews. The desk review is complemented by an analysis of a set of indicators regarding the potential of the identified sectoral elements standardized base-lines, programme of activities, sectoral crediting and trading, as well as domestic policy instruments for NMM/FVA and NAMAs, by differentiating and structuring the analysis according to various institutional, technical and political aspects. A reflection of relevant barriers for adoption of sectoral approaches, as well as opportunities to overcome them is provided together with a set of recommendations for political decision makers

Development cooperation and climate change: political-economic determinants of adaptation aid

The 2009 Copenhagen Accord includes a collective pledge by industrialised countries to provide ‘new and additional resources, including forestry and investments through international institutions, approaching $30 billion for the period 2010-2012. The allocation of these new resources is to be balanced between adaptation and mitigation’ (UNFCCC, 2009). These resources are commonly called ‘fast-start finance’ (FSF). As fast-start finance is seen as a testing ground for longer-term arrangements for climate finance, it is important to explore how this funding has been used to date and what lessons should be drawn for the future. This Background Note looks at how FSF promises have been implemented in practice. We begin by providing an overview of the knowledge on FSF as of June 2011, roughly halfway through the 2010-2012 period. We analyse funding volumes, the mitigation-adaptation balance, the grant-loan share and the proportion of multilateral and bilateral channels. We then go on to focus on governance, transparency, and sources of finance