The current biofuel policies of rich countries are neither a solution to the climate crisis nor the oil crisis, and instead are contributing to a third: the food crisis. In poor countries, biofuels may offer some genuine development opportunities, but the potential economic, social, and environmental costs are severe, and decision makers should proceed with caution.
The international climate negotiations have seen endless struggles between countries from South and North for almost 17 years, ever since the initiation of negotiations by the International Negotiation Committee for the UNFCCC.
Changes in extreme weather and climate events have significant impacts and are among the most serious challenges to society in coping with a changing climate. This report provides current assessments of climate change science to inform public debate, policy, and operational decisions.
The defining feature of global energy markets remains high and volatile prices, reflecting a tight balance of supply and demand. This has put issues such as energy security, energy trade and fossil alternative energies at the forefront of the political agenda worldwide. The BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2008 provides quantitative data on the major fundamentals of the energy market.
The Garnaut Climate Change Review was required to examine the impacts of climate change on the Australian economy, and to recommend medium- to long-term policies and policy frameworks to improve the prospects of sustainable prosperity. This draft report describes the methodology that the Review is applying to the: evaluation of the costs and benefits of climate change mitigation; application of the science of climate change to Australia; international context of Australian mitigation, and Australian mitigation policy.
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are a popular tourist destination in India. This has meant a slew of proposals to expand and intensify tourism, huge investment in infrastructure, improved connectivity and relaxation on Leave Travel Concession (LTC) for domestic tourists. However, these plans are not based on how tourism impacts the Islands.
This report offers a comprehensive analysis of a suite of climate policy initiatives associated with a cap and trade program with the goal of identifying those empirical and design issues that most influence the economic consequences of their enactment. Empirically, present-value policy costs heavily depend on the actual outcomes of household consumption-saving and labor-leisure decisions, the magnitudes of and any induced changes in sectoral demand elasticities and technological trends, and the resulting time paths of permit prices and market interest rates.
This report traces Beijing's 60-year transformation from relative water abundance to water crisis, and the main policy responses to keep water flowing to China's capital. Official data indicates that Beijing's population growth, industrial development, and its expansion of irrigated farmland have driven huge increases in water consumption since 1949. The report also argues that drought and rapid demand growth aren't the only factors behind the water crisis. Short-sighted policies since 1949 have degraded Beijing's watershed and promoted the over-use of limited water resources.
While occurrences of water bodies (rivers and canals;reservoirs, tanks and ponds; beels, oxbow lakes and derelict water; and brackish water) across the country depend upon physiographic settings and rainfall conditions, the recharging of the water
