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1 – 10 of 399Annela Anger-Kraavi and Jonathan Köhler
This chapter considers the application of climate mitigation policies to the aviation sector with reference to the inclusion of aviation in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU…
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter considers the application of climate mitigation policies to the aviation sector with reference to the inclusion of aviation in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). Assessments of the possible economic impacts of including aviation in the EU ETS are reviewed and an impact analysis using the macroeconometric E3ME model is conducted.
Originality
The aviation sector is a significant and rapidly increasing source of GHG emissions. Because international policy measures have not been agreed, the EU has incorporated aviation in the EU ETS. It is therefore important to consider the possible economic effects of the ETS on the aviation industry and the wider economy.
Methodology/approach
The paper describes the approach used by the EU to include aviation in the EU ETS. Assessments of economic impacts have been made, but have often been limited in their approach. The paper complements the existing literature by including an economic analysis using the E3ME macroeconometric model of the EU that covers 41 industrial sectors including aviation.
Findings
Microeconomic and macroeconomic assessments show the economic impacts of including the aviation sector in the EU ETS are small. The negative impacts, if any, on EU GDP and the air transport sector’s economic output are less than 0.1% and 1% respectively. Distortions in competition, both between countries and industrial sectors, are therefore likely to be small.
Implications
In the long term (beyond 2020), including aviation in the EU can be seen as a positive move. If and when aviation is fully included in the EU ETS, and when the cost impacts of GHG emissions through permit prices are made evident, it is anticipated that airlines will start monitoring and reducing their GHG emissions by investing in new, less carbon intensive technologies.
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Larry Dwyer, Ray Spurr, Peter Forsyth and Serajul Hoque
This chapter explores the issues in estimating the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the tourism industry and related activities in Australia. A production-based approach is…
Abstract
This chapter explores the issues in estimating the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the tourism industry and related activities in Australia. A production-based approach is employed and its rationale is explained. The scope of tourism consists of the economic activities of tourism-characteristic and tourism-connected sectors as defined in the Australian Tourism Satellite Account (TSA). The GHG emissions have been estimated for 2003–04, the latest year for which detailed industry GHG emissions data are available in a form suitable for this type of estimate. Tourism's GHG emissions are compared with other industries in the Australian economy. The policy implications of the results are discussed. It should be possible to adopt a broadly similar method for any destination with a TSA, enabling tourism stakeholders to play an informed role in assessing appropriate climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies for their destination.
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Martin Freedman, Jin Dong Park and A. J. Stagliano
In February 2010, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an interpretive release clarifying the information that registrants should disclose about climate change…
Abstract
In February 2010, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an interpretive release clarifying the information that registrants should disclose about climate change in their annual filings. Based on the industries the European Union targeted for its cap-and-trade carbon trading mechanism, this study investigates climate change disclosures for Fortune 500 firms operating in these same sectors. Using an equal-weighting scheme for content analysis of Form 10-Ks from 136 firms, we completed a comparative analysis on the extensiveness of climate change disclosures for the pre- and post-periods surrounding the SEC pronouncement. We observed a statistically significant increase in the disclosure of information related to climate change in 2010 compared to 2008, but no similar effect when comparing 2010–2009 reporting. There was a significant disclosure increase in 2009 compared to 2008. We conclude – based on a hypothesized anticipation of the SEC actually mandating climate change information in filings – that firms augmented their disclosures during 2009 in advance of the official guidance being published. This is a rather significant outcome given the historical lack of environmental disclosure subsequent to previous SEC mandates.
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Martin Freedman and Bikki Jaggi
The purpose of this paper is to provide a reflection on our time of creating and editing AEAM. Our planet is and will continue to experience some environmental turmoil in the…
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to provide a reflection on our time of creating and editing AEAM. Our planet is and will continue to experience some environmental turmoil in the future. Accounting educators and the professionals need to determine how they can contribute to abating the environmental consequences of past and present political and economic decisions that have placed the planet in this perilous state. The volumes we produced included articles discussing accounting’s role in assessing and reporting on environmental conditions and some suggest how accounting can contribute to alleviating some of these problems. The reflections we provide are our understandings of the contributions that the works in the first five volumes of the series have made in advancing the discussion in the field of environmental accounting. As editors we have a unique view of these contributions.
Ferhan K. Sengur and Onder Altuntas
Aviation is not only one of the key contributors to the economy and social structure of the world but it is also an industry whose environmental impacts are being closely…
Abstract
Aviation is not only one of the key contributors to the economy and social structure of the world but it is also an industry whose environmental impacts are being closely monitored. Aircraft efficiency and technological advancements have significantly reduced aviation noise and emissions in recent decades. Nevertheless, as the need for passenger and freight transportation grows, the aviation sector is becoming a primary source of environmental issues and a significant driver of global warming. This chapter focusses on environmentally sustainable aviation with a net-zero emission target. It also highlights sustainable aviation policies and collaborative initiatives in the aviation industry to meet the 2050 net-zero emission goal. While the industry's efforts have increased opportunities recently, the industry has also had to face several challenges to achieve the net-zero aviation target.
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Zhipei Chi and Bo Chen
The world is in a cold peace which is peace without being secure. At the heart of the cold peace is the competition between China and the USA. The cold war will not return because…
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The world is in a cold peace which is peace without being secure. At the heart of the cold peace is the competition between China and the USA. The cold war will not return because the old and new great powers simply are not as powerful as the old duellers at the start of the cold war. Other important powers, like the EU, Japan, and Russia, have significant roles in determining the outcome.
However, the intense competition between China and the USA has dire consequences for the future of humanity. It fuels nationalism and xenophobia and makes them less capable of addressing domestic issues, such as inequality, misinformation, ageing, etc. It also dims the hope for meaningfully tackling global issues like global warming, which requires a global innovation and mass production system to change the fundamental calculation of economic development and climate policies.
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Tim Ryley and Lee Chapman
Climate change is recognised as one of the greatest challenges that contemporary global society faces. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Fourth Assessment…
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Climate change is recognised as one of the greatest challenges that contemporary global society faces. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Fourth Assessment Report (2007) states that it is ‘very likely’ that anthropogenic global warming will result in a temperature rise of between 1.8°C and 4°C by the end of the 21st century. Temperatures at the upper end of this range are considered ‘dangerous’, and the international community is focused on attempting to limit the increase to within 2°C (Meinshausen et al., 2009). Increasing global temperatures are just one consequence. The world will face an increasing level of unpredictable and extreme weather patterns, each with different, but in many cases, serious consequences for life on earth (IPCC, 2007).
Although the general theory of greenhouse warming has been understood by scientists since the end of the nineteenth century, an international regime to address the problem of…
Abstract
Although the general theory of greenhouse warming has been understood by scientists since the end of the nineteenth century, an international regime to address the problem of climate change began to develop only in the late 1980s.1 In the decade and a half since then, the regime has undergone a remarkable evolution. In 1992, states adopted the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which took effect in 1994 and serves as the “constitution” for the international climate change regime.2 In 1997, the UNFCCC was supplemented by the Kyoto Protocol, which requires industrialized countries to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide and five other gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect (so-called “greenhouse gases” or GHGs for short). And the 2001 Marrakesh Accords further elaborate the Kyoto Protocol's regulatory regime, setting forth detailed rules for how the Kyoto Protocol will operate.
One of the children of Brundtland has been the concept of the triple bottom line – economic, environmental and social – as a means of planning for and measuring performance. This…
Abstract
One of the children of Brundtland has been the concept of the triple bottom line – economic, environmental and social – as a means of planning for and measuring performance. This approach has largely been unquestioningly accepted. Despite this the agenda for socially responsible behaviour has evolved and developed. Now the concern is for the whole supply chain, which transcends the organisational boundary and throws a question over any idea of the triple bottom line. Corporate concern increasingly focuses upon two key issues, which are also of paramount importance to individuals: environmental degradation, particularly climate change, and human rights protection. In addition a lot of concern has been expressed as a result of revelations stemming from the economic and financial crisis, which have exposed significant failures in governance at corporate level and in markets and governments. Environmental degradation, human rights protection and governance operate at many levels from global to corporate. In many ways they parallel the idea of the triple bottom line but are not organisationally bounded. They represent issues of greater concern than merely corporate issues; they have an impact on the global and societal matters also. They are also totally connected to sustainable behaviour. In this chapter we therefore argue that this is the real triple bottom line, and discuss the implications.
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Most corporations consider their stakeholders to be those, who can be defined in a relatively narrow periphery. Customers, workers, investors, authorities, neighbours, suppliers…
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Most corporations consider their stakeholders to be those, who can be defined in a relatively narrow periphery. Customers, workers, investors, authorities, neighbours, suppliers and various interest groups, for instance NGOs. However, during the last decades, phenomena such as the financial crisis, the global warming, the disasters of global consumerism in terms of the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in the fashion industry, are examples of how the stakeholder concept cannot continue to be defined as narrow as corporations usually does. The butterfly effect of globalism has shown to be – yes, global. Even the smallest company, the single consumer and the tiniest decision made by anyone may in the future – perhaps even tomorrow – affect stakeholders, we didn’t know existed. The future generation is also to be considered as stakeholders, which decisions made today may affect. Companies, consumers, everyday people including children already know this even from the first day at school if not before. What we need is not knowledge about these phenomena – it is how to think globally when we decide locally: in companies, in daily households, in education of our future generations.
This chapter discusses how to revise the stakeholder concept according to corporate responsibility, company stakeholding and globalism. It points to shortcomings in various global trade systems such as banking, fashion and IT markets, and through these it suggests and discusses a new way of defining the stakeholder concept in a globalised and future perspective considering using the RESIST-model against ‘business-as-usual’ based on the butterfly effect of the smallest decision.
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