This report considers the implications of the Kyoto Protocol on competitiveness and addresses the WTO-compatibility of measures to offset competitive losses. From the outset the Kyoto Protocol and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have had to contend with perceived tension between effective action to slow climate change and maintenance of competitiveness. This report explores the nature of the concerns over competitiveness, trying to dissect them in a meaningful way and assess the need for concern.

This paper discusses the possibilities and constraints for adaptation to climate change in urban areas in low and middle-income nations. These contain a third of the world's population and a large proportion of the people and economic activities most at risk from sea-level rise and from the heatwaves, storms and floods whose frequency and/or intensity climate change is likely to increase.

This study looks at trends in GHG emissions in different regions across the world, and analyses the major drivers. It provides an overview of the policies, strategies and measures being adopted and planned worldwide to combat climate change. It compares the different approaches adopted in different regions and the reasons for differences in emphasis. It assesses the measures in terms of their expected impacts on the key WEC objectives of energy accessibility, availability and acceptability.