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1 – 10 of 718Masato Kawanishi and Ryo Fujikura
By applying a framework for implementation analysis, the authors aim to examine the evolution of Japan's national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory, assess the extent to which each…
Abstract
Purpose
By applying a framework for implementation analysis, the authors aim to examine the evolution of Japan's national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory, assess the extent to which each condition for effective implementation has been met and identify factors that may contribute to transparency-related capacity building in developing countries.
Design/methodology/approach
The case description was based on interviews and document reviews. The authors coded the collected data into the variables as identified under the framework for implementation analysis, and they evaluated the effectiveness according to the code of assessment.
Findings
First, this study finds that the development of the endogenous research base can contribute to the continuous improvement in GHG inventories. Second, it highlights the boundary-spanning role played by a private-sector actor's facilitation of interactions among relevant actors. Third, the assessment revealed the criticality of the causal linkage, pointing to the importance of a commitment to emission reductions as a strong driver for the quality improvement of GHG inventories. Lastly, this study indicates a lack of data compatibility, which may potentially hinder effective policy implementation, suggesting the importance of integrated development of the national statistics.
Originality/value
The primary contribution of this paper lies in its use of a framework for implementation analysis, creating new possibilities for both practitioners and researchers. The present study pays attention to the fact that the national GHG inventory preparation, although a highly technical task, is crucial to each country's climate change policy implementation, an aspect that has not been focused on by prior studies.
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Pavlina Zdraveva, Teodora Obradovic Grncarovska, Natasa Markovska, Elena Gavrilova, Emilija Poposka and Igor Ristovski
– The purpose of this paper is to highlight the lessons learned and good practices regarding the greenhouse inventory system in the Republic of Macedonia.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the lessons learned and good practices regarding the greenhouse inventory system in the Republic of Macedonia.
Design/methodology/approach
A comparative analysis for the preparation of the three national communications (NCs) to UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Republic of Macedonia.
Findings
The findings reveal the shift from a project approach, based on external consultants, towards a more process-oriented approach, where a multi-disciplinary national team has been established to prepare the inventory. Also, notable results include improvements in the technical capacity of the inventory team, communications with data sources and other stakeholders, quality assurance/quality control procedures, documenting and archiving, regional cooperation, as well as, the reliability of data series for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Practical implications
The study may serve well for countries with similar national circumstances and priorities for preparation of greenhouse inventory systems.
Originality/value
Developing national database (inventory) of GHGs is an essential first step towards managing better climate change policy planning. A complete and transparent national greenhouse inventory is an essential tool for understanding emissions and trends, projecting future emissions and identifying sectors for cost-effective emission reduction opportunities. It is also a core element of national climate change reports to the UNFCCC (NCs). This case study shows the development of a sustainable system for preparation of GHG inventories and it describes the data collection and analysis procedures within that system.
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Edoardo Croci, Sabrina Melandri and Tania Molteni
Urban areas are responsible for significant amounts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but cities can have quite different values of carbon footprints. The purpose of this paper…
Abstract
Purpose
Urban areas are responsible for significant amounts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but cities can have quite different values of carbon footprints. The purpose of this paper is to identify the determinants of urban GHG emissions in order to explain these differences.
Design/methodology/approach
Seven global cities – Bangkok, Chicago, London, Madrid, Mexico City, Milan and New York City – have been included in the paper's sample. These cases have been chosen in order to represent a variety of characteristics and contexts of developed and developing countries and according to data availability. A first level of analysis regards local GHG emission inventories, which attribute emissions to activity sectors. Sectorial emissions are then evaluated to quantify the relevance of several determinants: climate conditions, urban form, economic activities in place, state of technology, mobility and housing infrastructures and costs, and income and life style.
Findings
Determinants show different weights in influencing behaviours at city level, and ultimately depend on economic, technical, social and cultural factors. Beside a significant role of climate conditions, urban density appears as the main determinant in shaping residential emissions from direct fuel consumption, whereas, for electricity, consumption patterns and technological features of power generation play a major role. For ground transport, urban form affecting mobility patterns and technological features of the vehicle stock stand out as the most significant determinants.
Originality/value
The paper provides a deep insight into urban GHG emission values, making use of a comprehensive set of urban data and highlighting several areas which could possibly be targeted in cities' GHG reduction policies. An enhanced and widened set of data could improve the paper's results in a significant way.
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Sara M. Cleaves, Brett Pasinella, Jennifer Andrews and Cameron Wake
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the recent history of climate action planning at the University of New Hampshire (UNH), a public university with a long history of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the recent history of climate action planning at the University of New Hampshire (UNH), a public university with a long history of sustainability action and commitment. Items discussed include a partnership with Clean Air‐Cool Planet (CA‐CP) to produce a greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory tool that adapted national and international inventory methodologies to the unique scale and character of a university community; involvement of administrators, faculty, staff and students in climate action planning, including to meet the requirements of the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC); and the role of climate action planning within a broader institutional goal of integrating sustainability across curricula, operations, research and engagement efforts.
Design/methodology/approach
Background and historical information is shared in terms of best practices and lessons learned.
Findings
Successful climate action planning includes campus‐wide stakeholder involvement, an institution‐wide commitment to sustainability, and careful planning and partnerships that tie into a higher education institution's educational mission and identity and that take into account the culture and sense of place of each institution.
Practical implications
The paper contains lessons learned and best practices from which other institutions of higher education might learn.
Originality/value
UNH, a recognized national leader in sustainability and climate protection, and CA‐CP developed one of the first emissions inventory tools for higher education in the USA. The tool has been adopted by more than 1,000 campuses and was adopted by the ACUPCC as the recommended tool for campuses not already participating in another GHG inventorying program. Instead of recreating the wheel, campuses may be able to learn from UNH and CA‐CP's climate planning experience and history.
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Anca Băndoi, Claudiu George Bocean, Aurelia Florea, Lucian Mandache, Cătălina Soriana Sitnikov and Anca Antoaneta Vărzaru
Global warming is a process that takes place 11,500 years after the end of the last Ice Age. The main identified reason is the increased emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs)…
Abstract
Global warming is a process that takes place 11,500 years after the end of the last Ice Age. The main identified reason is the increased emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Since the nineteenth century, GHG evolution has recorded a quantum leap from the previous linear development. Human is the main factor behind this evolution, through industrialization and the exponential increase of population. Based on these, the chapter’s primary goal was to highlight an original method of predicting the future evolution of GHG emissions in the domains of Energy (including Transportation), Industry Processes and Product Use, Agriculture, and Waste Management. The novelty of the research consisted of testing several variants of functions (power, exponential, inverse trigonometric) to identify, from a group of variants. This optimal function would generate those predictions, which are closest to the real values. The causes that create GHG emissions in each of the four domains were the foundation for the analysis. This chapter focuses on two main subjects: first, the identification of a smooth function to predict the evolution of GHG emissions, and second, the function’s use to estimate the projections of GHG emissions in the coming years for the four domains: Energy (including Transportation), Industry Processes and Product Use, Agriculture, and Waste Management. An observation was that the weights of these four domains remain relatively the same despite the reductions in the total GHG emissions.
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Delphine Gibassier and Stefan Schaltegger
The purpose of this paper is to focus on carbon accounting as one aspect of accounting for impacts on the environmental capital and to detail the “convergence” process between two…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on carbon accounting as one aspect of accounting for impacts on the environmental capital and to detail the “convergence” process between two emergent corporate carbon management accounting approaches within a multinational company. In contrast to the reporting stakeholder and regulatory focus, company-internal issues of carbon accounting have so far rarely been investigated in depth. Based on a qualitative analysis of this in-depth case study, questions about what could be considered an effective carbon management accounting system are raised.
Design/methodology/approach
The research has been conducted with an in-depth case study, using participant observation (Spradley, 1980). The authors follow a pragmatic research approach, and the proposal of Malmi and Granlund (2009) “to create theories useful for practice is to solve practical problems with practitioners and synthesize the novel solutions to a more general form”.
Findings
This case study demonstrates that it is possible to connect two corporate carbon management accounting approaches focusing on products and the organization into a combined carbon management accounting system. This has potential impact in making carbon management accounting in organizations leaner, and more efficient in terms of performance measurement and external communication.
Research limitations/implications
This research is based on a single case study, and more case studies in different industries could highlight further practical implementation difficulties and approaches to overcome.
Practical implications
This paper unveils that different carbon management accounting approaches can emerge in parallel in the same corporation. The paper discusses possibilities and challenges to converge them in terms of methodology (emission factors for example) and/or in terms of information systems, on which the calculations are based.
Originality/value
This is, to our knowledge, the first case study of an organization explicitly acknowledging the existence of multiple emerged carbon management accounting approaches and trying to make sense of them in a convergence process to create an overarching carbon accounting system.
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Jason N. Rauch and Julie Newman
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the development and implementation of how a greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target at Yale University has resulted in broad and long‐term…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the development and implementation of how a greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target at Yale University has resulted in broad and long‐term institutional commitment.
Design/methodology/approach
Interviews are conducted with key individuals representing those most directly involved in developing and implementing Yale's GHG target.
Findings
The development of an institutional GHG reduction target calls upon a recursive process. A goal starts with a vision, followed by development, endorsement and implementation, and leads to institutional change. With change, comes new perspective to define a new vision. Upfront development of an implementation plan is critical not only for successful goal implementation, but also for endorsement from institutional leadership.
Research limitations/implications
A process for the development of a GHG reduction target is extrapolated from only one case study. Further case examples would be helpful.
Practical implications
This case study relays an experience that may help other institutions to implement their own GHG reduction targets, and other sustainability goals more generally.
Originality/value
This paper highlights the importance of institutional goals in creating sustainable universities. A process by which institutions can follow to achieve GHG emission reductions is suggested.
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Régis Martineau and Jean-Philippe Lafontaine
This paper aims to show that the implementation of carbon accounting systems is problematic because it contributes to the commodification of nature, leading individuals to “forget…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to show that the implementation of carbon accounting systems is problematic because it contributes to the commodification of nature, leading individuals to “forget about nature.”
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use the concept of reification to explore the subjective dimension of the commodification process. They construct an analytical framework that helps to explain how and why nature may ultimately be “forgotten” by individuals during the commodification process. The example of France is used to illustrate this argument.
Findings
The paper presents and discusses three mechanisms (the objectivation of nature, economic reasoning and individuals’ environmental consciousness) that form the basis for the rationale and modus operandi of carbon accounting systems. By comparing these mechanisms with the concept of reification, it highlights three criticisms that could be put to advocates of these systems.
Practical implications
This analysis shows that discussions of carbon accounting systems should focus more on their philosophical principles rather than merely examining the technical problems posed by their implementation.
Social implications
This research provides some answers to explain the inefficiency of policies implemented within the framework of global climate governance.
Originality/value
This study helps to put carbon accounting research into perspective. It goes further than existing work on the commodification of nature by describing the subjective dimension of individuals who are led to disconnect their arguments and practices from their primary and emotional relationship with nature.
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The purpose of this paper is to add to the body of knowledge on the relationship between consumer behavior and environmental quality. The specific purpose is to gauge the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to add to the body of knowledge on the relationship between consumer behavior and environmental quality. The specific purpose is to gauge the predisposition of Hawaii residents to purchase a hybrid auto and their level of agreement to support legislation that improves ands protects environmental quality.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is a case study based on a literature review of relevant Hawaii, national, and international publications and a survey of Hawaii consumers. The survey is an exploratory study using a non‐random sample of 350 Hawaii residents identified as owners of non‐hybrid cars.
Findings
Regardless of age and gender, respondents agreed that they would purchase a hybrid car if the cost was the same as a traditional gas fueled car. There were significant correlations between agreement to purchase a hybrid car and agreement to support legislation that provides tax credits to consumers who purchased a hybrid car and other environmentally safe products, tax credits to companies that produce environmentally safe products, and penalties for government agencies, private organizations, and individuals who pollute the environment.
Originality/value
The paper is based on primary data from a survey of Hawaii consumers. Its content is not only valuable to people in the same field, but generates hypotheses for future research.
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Maris Klavins, Ieva Bruneniece and Valdis Bisters
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the development and character of climate policy in Latvia with a special emphasis on policy instruments.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the development and character of climate policy in Latvia with a special emphasis on policy instruments.
Design/methodology/approach
In order to implement policies and measures effectively and monitor progress in achieving its mitigation targets, Latvia uses a wide mix of policy instruments, including regulations (e.g. environmental impact assessment procedures, environmental permits and standards, restrictions and prohibitions), economic and fiscal instruments (the natural resources tax, the excise tax for energy resources, user's charges), and voluntary agreements, also raising public awareness.
Findings
The combination of the policy instruments with the economic and fiscal instruments support consideration of the needs to support industrial developments and consider national growth interests, but at the same time keeping in line with the leadership in the climate change mitigation and adaptation leadership.
Practical implications
The approaches used in Latvia for climate policy development supports prioritising of climate change issues and put the development of adaptation measures as key issues, at the same time stressing efforts in mitigation.
Originality/value
The character of development of climate policy combining different policy instruments in line with limited availability of resources is analysed.
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