Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The paper reports preliminary findings from a survey of government funding levels for RD&D projects into CO2 capture and storage (CCS) in Europe and North America. Government RD&D is a useful indicator of political commitment to CCS as a climate policy strategy. Norway spends several times as large a share of its GDP as any other government in the regions. North American governments spend larger shares than most of their European counterparts. Reliance on fossil fuels for power supply is not correlated with funding levels, but fossil fuels production and reserves seem to have a strong bearing on them. A case study confirms that the Norway’s outlier status in terms of commitment to CCS is related to its large petroleum industry through a number of pathways, and points to some suggestions for further comparative analysis.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Panel analysis of city level industrial CO2 emissions in Japan from 1985 – 2000 shows significant and negative effects of NGO activity and ISO 14001 certification. These institutional effects are robust when controlling for the usual IPAT variables of population, affluence and technology. Policies in Japan have traditionally flowed downward from the central government after having been shaped by entrenched and densely connected power interests referred to as the iron triangle of growth (construction industries, government bureaucrats and ruling Liberal Democratic Party members). The story of postwar Japanese policy formation has therefore left little room for the agendas of social movements or a civil society sector. However, these empirical results indicate that civil society may be starting to exercise more influence at the local level than has been typically acknowledged. Since the Hanshin earthquake of 1995 Japan has experienced a resurgence of non-governmental organization activity, which is reflected in real environmental consequences such as reduced industrial CO2 emissions.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: CO2 emissions from energy use, automobile transportation, commodity consumption and cement production in cities are the single greatest perturbation to the carbon cycle. This impact could be mitigated if cities chose to follow alternative development paths emphasizing energy efficiency, compact living arrangements and mass transit systems, which is why the focus of the climate change research community is shifting from burdens of proof at the global level to the generation of actionable knowledge at the urban level. In this paper I examine how an active civil society can bridge the oft cited issue of scale that separates local level policy concerns from global level climate dynamics. Through the application of qualitative comparative analysis to a sample of fourteen cases I highlight the pathways that exist to an outcome of reduced emissions in the transportation and industrial sectors. Instead of emphasizing linear additive effects of independent variables on a dependent variable, this approach stresses multiple conjunctural causation in which the presence or absence of conditions combine in unique configurations. This method better fits the realities of urban policymaking in which the presence or absence of a strong civil society will interact differently depending on the presence or absence of other key factors such as a high degree of autonomy or lack of corruption.

Publication Type: Poster Presentation
Abstract: We have developed an innovative, online system called C-Lock (pat.pending) to facilitate the quantification, aggregation and marketing of CO2 emissions offset credits resulting from soil conservation practices as VERs (verified emission reductions). The C-Lock system is designed to optimize currently available modeling technology and geospatial information in combination with field-specific management information provided by the landowner via a paper or electronic interface. C-Lock combines a user-friendly web-based data entry interface with a secure client database, geospatial databases of soil texture and climate data, and a sophisticated numeric model of soil carbon dynamics. The model-driven approach allows us to dynamically determine a field-specific or regional business-as-usual scenario, thereby ensuring environmental additionality. A Monte Carlo-based uncertainty analysis procedure allows us to adjust sequestration estimates for a defined confidence level, which is also used to define an indemnity reserve pool of credits.

CIG funding has been used to implement the technical improvements, legal legwork, outreach and other activities required to complete a pilot sale of VERs, based largely on no-till management of productive croplands in central South Dakota. A series of meetings sponsored by the SD state NRCS office was used for initial recruitment of interested farmers, who registered their land in the C-Lock system. The initial aim of the project was to assemble a proof-of-concept pilot trade of 100,000 tonnes CO2-equivalents to market to industrial or retail VER buyers.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper examines the impact of foreign investment on CO2 emissions from 1980-1995. Three aspects of foreign investment are considered: foreign capital penetration, foreign investment concentration, and foreign corporate subsidiary penetration. Results from a series of cross-national panel regression models of 45 less developed countries indicate that foreign investment concentration and the number of foreign subsidiaries located in the recipient country in 1980 accelerate the growth of CO2 emissions between 1980 and 1995. Author argues that foreign investment accelerates the growth of CO2 emissions in at least four ways. First, foreign investment is concentrated in energy consumptive industries. Second, the global dispersion of production increases the amount of transportation involved in the manufacture and distribution of goods. Third, countries to which production has been transferred have poor infrastructures, and are therefore less energy efficient producers. Finally, these less developed countries are likely to have less stringent environmental controls.