Climate Policy Options Post-2012: European Strategy, Technology and Adaptation After Kyoto

Description

This special issue of the Climate Policy journal addresses the following key questions: * What long-term range of policies for climate change adaptation and mitigation should Europe pursue to adequately enhance sustainability on a global level? * What are the implications of long-term European climate strategy for the design of a global post-2012 climate regime? * What are the key concerns of different stakeholders and how will these concerns impact on long-term climate policy? These questions were discussed during two workshops, commissioned by the European Forum on Integrated Environmental Assessment (EFIEA) and jointly organized by the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), The Netherlands and the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, UK. Selected papers from these workshops were adapted and peer-reviewed for publication. International experts offer detailed policy analysis and review the links between policy and economics, sustainable development, technology and adaptation. Also included are introductory and concluding remarks from the guest editors, highlighting key points and offering an expert synthesis of the workshop discussions. This will be invaluable reading for professionals, researchers and academics interested in climate change and climate policy, policy makers, policy analysts, energy consultants, and representatives from industry planning their own long-term energy strategies.

Bert Metz leads the Global Environmental Assessment Division at RIVM, the National Institute for Public Health & the Environment, the Netherlands. He is also co-chairman of IPCC Working Group III (climate change mitigation). Mike Hulme is Exec Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of East Anglia, UK. Editor-in-chief of Climate Policy is Michael Grubb, Visiting Professor at Imperial College London and Associated Director of Policy at the Carbon Trust, UK

"More than 50 mostly European individuals participated in two successive workshops designed to recommend policies that Europe might use to bolster European and global sustainability while examining the views of other post-2012 negotiators. Drawn from agencies, NGOs, industries, and the scientific community, eight authors revised and submitted their post-2012 and longer-term goals. The critical role of developing countries in climate change control rises from their expected exponential increase in greenhouse gas emissions over the next few decades in combination with their limited resources to adapt. A synergistic adaptive capacity framework is proposed to link climate change adaptation and poverty reduction into national priorities. Although the European Commission provided the original funding to provide a coherent European voice for climate control options beyond 2012, the dismal consensus seems to accept that the following decades will include serious climate change impacts. The identification and promotion of innovative synergies combined with a continuation of strict emission controls combined with adaptation may be the only reasonable alternative. Focusing on collaboration that enhances a transition to sustainable development in concert with developing countries may be the fairest and most effective direction. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students through professionals."--R. M. Ferguson, Eastern Connecticut State University in CHOICE