South Asia

4 Items

Australian PM John Howard opened the Asia-Pacific climate meeting, Jan.12, 2006, in Sydney, Australia. Ministers from Australia, the U.S., China, India, Korea, and Japan met to discuss the Asia-Pacific climate pact.

AP Photo

Journal Article - Climate Policy

Sectoral Approaches for a Post-2012 Climate Regime: A Taxonomy

| 2009

Sectoral approaches have been gaining currency in the international climate debate as a possible remedy to the shortfalls of the Kyoto Protocol. Proponents argue that a sector-based architecture can more easily invite the participation of developing countries, address competitiveness issues, and enable immediate emissions reductions. However, given the numerous proposals, much confusion remains as to what sectoral approaches actually are. This article provides a simple, yet comprehensive, taxonomy of the various proposals for sectoral approaches.

Visitors look at a piece of insulated glass installed on a model house during an energy-saving exhibition in Xiamen, SE China's Fujian province, June 6, 2009.

AP Photo

Journal Article - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Sharing Global CO2 Emission Reductions Among One Billion High Emitters

    Authors:
  • Shoibal Chakravarty
  • Heleen de Coninck
  • Stephen Pacala
  • Robert Socolow
  • Massimo Tavoni
| July 6, 2009

The 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) created a 2-tier world. It called upon the developed ("Annex I") countries to "take the lead" in reducing carbon emissions, and, under the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities," established no time frame for developing countries to follow. However, a consensus is now emerging in favor of low stabilization targets. These targets cannot be achieved without the participation of developing countries, which today emit about half of global CO2 emissions and whose future emissions increase faster than the emissions of industrialized countries under "business as usual" scenarios.