Climate Change

The 2023 state of the climate report: Entering uncharted territory

Background

The Earth faces a climate crisis as human activities increasing the release of harmful greenhouse gases, turning scientists' warnings of extreme conditions into reality. Climate records are breaking, causing widespread suffering. This report examines the global climate crisis, presenting key climate facts and policy recommendations for scientists, policymakers, and the public. It serves as an up-to-date resource on the escalating emergency.

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Forest carbon offsets and carbon emissions trading: Problems of contracting

BACKGROUND:

Monitoring and measuring carbon fluxes in forestry are complex and costly, exacerbated by asymmetric information and inadequate institutions, leading to unstable values in carbon trading. Good governance is essential for effective contracting in the carbon market but often falls short, leading to misaligned incentives and principal-agent problems. These issues frequently delay successful contracting, potentially resulting in corruption and disputes over carbon offset claims.

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The contribution of forest carbon credit projects to addressing the climate change challenge

BACKGROUND:

Historically, forestry projects face significant challenges due to uncertainties around the permanence of carbon storage and the complexities of carbon measurement. These challenges limit their effectiveness and integration into international carbon markets, such as those established under the Kyoto Protocol, which have predominantly favored other types of carbon reduction projects over forestry. The paper focuses on the potential of forest carbon credit projects, particularly in the context of enhanced carbon sequestration accounting standards and their integration into carbon markets.

GOALS AND METHODS:

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The principles of natural climate solutions

BACKGROUND:

Natural Climate Solutions (NCS) were consolidated as a holistic concept in 2017, leveraging human interventions in land management to mitigate climate change by adapting existing conservation knowledge for climate action. Over the past six years, the implementation of NCS has seen a rapid increase in attention, as indicated by a significant rise in social media discussions and funding commitments, though these efforts still fall short of the levels required to meet global climate mitigation goals. The authors use a comprehensive review of scientific literature and best practices to distill foundational and operational 

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The contradiction of the sustainable development goals: Growth versus ecology on a finite planet

Background

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by the United Nations in 2015, promote a holistic vision of development that recognizes the interconnectedness of poverty, underdevelopment, and environmental concerns. Comprising 17 goals and 169 specific targets, the SDGs reflect a shift in development theory, emphasizing that human flourishing depends on addressing ecological degradation. However, the framework reveals a fundamental contradiction. Goals 6, 12, 13, 14, and 15 advocate for environmental protection and “harmony with nature,” while Goal 8 emphasizes the pursuit of continued global economic growth.

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Climate Risk Management

BACKGROUND:

Worldwide efforts are underway to devise and apply strategies to manage these risks effectively. Key challenges in climate risk management include the integration of necessary scientific disciplines, articulating stakeholder values and objectives, and quantifying pivotal uncertainties and trade-offs, all of which are vital for crafting effective management strategies. The paper addresses the intensification of global climate risks driven by accelerating climate change. The authors review these challenges based on existing literature to identify potential avenues to overcome them. 

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Carbon sequestration in Africa: The land tenure problem

Background

Research on afforestation and reforestation projects highlights how tropical forests can store carbon on a large scale. Africa offers vast areas of suitable land for carbon sequestration through these initiatives. However, the author argues that land tenure issues in Africa create an obstacle to achieving this potential.

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The Biodiversity Credit Market needs rigorous baseline, monitoring, and validation practices

BACKGROUND:

The Biodiversity Credit Market (BCM) seeks to enhance funding for biodiversity conservation but faces challenges similar to those in the carbon credit market, such as inaccurate baselines and insufficient monitoring. To address these issues, the paper proposes three key strategies: establishing dynamic baselines with control sites, implementing comprehensive species monitoring, and enforcing a transparent, independent validation process for credit assignment. These measures are essential to ensure the BCM's credibility and effectiveness in contributing to global biodiversity conservation efforts.

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Quantifying Economic Damages from Climate Change

BACKGROUND:

Climate change is acknowledged as a global phenomenon, with local emissions causing damages across the globe and over extended periods. This makes the quantification of the "social cost of carbon" complex but crucial for effective policy-making. The study addresses the inconsistent focus on modeling the physical impacts of climate change relative to understanding its economic consequences.

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Field interventions for climate change mitigation behaviors: A second-order meta-analysis

BACKGROUND:

Climate change poses significant threats, including extreme weather events, biodiversity loss, and adverse impacts on human health. Behavioral change is recognized as a crucial strategy for mitigating these effects, yet a comprehensive synthesis of interventions promoting pro-environmental behaviors in real-world settings is lacking. The findings aim to identify the most impactful strategies, such as financial incentives and social norms, providing actionable insights for future research and practice in climate change mitigation.

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