For billions of people, mountain meltwater is essential for drinking water and sanitation, food and energy security, and the integrity of the environment. But today, as the world warms, glaciers are melting faster than ever, making the water cycle more unpredictable and extreme. And because of glacial retreat, floods, droughts, …
Global warming represents a major threat for food security, especially in tropical countries. It is expected that global warming will worsen the drought and the irregularity of rainfall in many countries. Mitigating the emissions of greenhouse gases is therefore an important challenge that can significantly contribute to improving food security. …
The passing of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 is a landmark towards cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions must be reduced to 1990 levels by 2020. California's leadership in combating global warming is in line with its trendsetting role, which inspired the US government to enact the Clean …
Renewable energy contributed 7% of India's electricity generation in 2006, with about 9.1 GW of capacity. Nearly two-thirds of this contribution was from wind sources, 1.8 GW from small hydro, and 1 GW from biomass derived energy. The total generation potential from renewables is estimated at 172 GW. Meanwhile, the …
At the Oscars, apart from Martin Scorsese, among those most feted was Al Gore for his documentary feature titled An Inconvenient Truth that focussed on the dangers of global warming. Deservedly so and no one would grudge Gore if he uses the adulation to take another shot at the US …
The Human Development Report 2007/2008 shows that climate change is not just a future scenario. Increased exposure to droughts, floods and storms is already destroying opportunity and reinforcing inequality. Meanwhile, there is now overwhelming scientific evidence that the world is moving towards the point at which irreversible ecological catastrophe becomes …
The purpose of this document is to propose the outlines of a broadly acceptable framework that addresses the following issues: differentiated targets and timetables; forests as carbon sinks; market-based mechanisms; adaptation; research, development and deployment; technology cooperation; and finance.
Study focusing on organic agriculture and mitigation and adaptation to predictable and unpredictable impacts of climate change - looks at the general contribution of agriculture to climate change; discusses the considerable potential of organic agriculture for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, and its contribution to sequestration of CO2 in the …
This volume provides a comprehensive, state-of-the-art and worldwide overview of scientific knowledge related to the mitigation of climate change. It includes a detailed assessment of costs and potentials of mitigation technologies and practices, implementation barriers, and policy options for the sectors: energy supply, transport, buildings, industry, agriculture, forestry and waste …
This analysis provides us greater insight into an adaptation-led strategy to reduce climate change risk and increasing urban resilience in keeping with India’s development and priorities challenges. This attempts shifts the emphasis away from a largely mitigation and techo-centric response that has come to dominate the climate crisis discourse emanating …
This study aims to stimulate discussion on the elements of appropriate national legal frameworks for bioenergy, particularly in developing countries. It provides legislators and policy-makers with a methodology to assist in identifying areas of law which may affect bioenergy regulation, and in designing key elements of national bioenergy laws.
There is now clear scientific evidence that emissions from economic activity, particularly the burning of fossil fuels for energy, are causing changes to the Earth's climate. A sound understanding of the economics of climate change is needed in order to underpin an effective global response to this challenge. The Stern …
The climate change conference, attended by 189 countries, had two components: the 12th Conference of Parties (cop-12) to the un Framework Convention on Climate Change (unfccc) and the second conference of the parties serving as the meeting of the parties to the Kyoto Protocol (cop/mop-2). Australia and the us are …
Projected anthropogenic warming and increases in CO2 concentration present a twofold threat, both from climate changes and from CO2 directly through increasing the acidity of the oceans. Future climate change may be reduced through mitigation (reductions in greenhouse gas emissions) or through geoengineering. Most geoengineering approaches, however, do not address …
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), statutory organisation, was constituted in September, 1974 under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. Further, CPCB was entrusted with the powers and functions under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981. It serves as a field formation and also …
This article examines Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) as a near-term strategy for reducing CO2 emissions in a typical medium-sized U.S. city. The paper compares the expected CO2 emissions from three scenarios to meet the city's growth in work trips by 2011: a no-build option that relies upon private automobiles and …
This article analyzes the challenges to effective environmental protection in the power sectors of China and India. Its analytical framework consists of identification of environmental policies and regulations affecting electricity generation, assessment of problems faced when implementing these policies and regulations, and finally recommendations for surmounting the barriers encountered.
Since entry into force of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1994, negotiations on controlling future greenhouse gas emissions have turned into one of the largest development issues of our time. In February 2005, the Kyoto Protocol entered into force and 9 months later a historical first …
This article examines the question of how to interpret a relationship between income and carbon emissions in a country (the environmental kuznets curve [EKC] for carbon). A very simple and graphical structural model of an EKC is developed, and the problems of applying the concept to carbon are discussed. A …
It has been suggested that the large scale use of biofuel, that is, fuel derived from biological materials, especially in combination with reforestation of large areas, can lead to a low-cost reduction of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. In this paper, a model of three markets: fuel, wood products, and land …
