The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol has been hailed as the grand compromise of the North-South divide over climate change mitigation for its ability to reconcile the economic demands of the North with the developmental needs of the South. Having been primarily analyzed from isolated economic, environmental, or developmental perspectives, the CDM’s efficacy in bridging the North-South divide remains poorly understood. This research evaluates the CDM against three qualitative criteria focused on issues affecting Southern nations’ participation in international agreements. An examination of distributive and procedural issues characterizing the CDM shows that significant trade-offs exist between Northern and Southern interests under the CDM and suggests that the interests of the South are often sacrificed. On this basis, conclusions are drawn which point to the need for increased attention to and accommodation of Southern interests in the CDM specifically, and global climate change efforts more broadly.

The Western Regional Climate Action Initiative (WCI) was signed by the governors of Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington, on February 26, 2007. Upon the release of the September 2008 Design Recommendations for the WCI Regional Cap-and-Trade Program, the WCI also included Montana, Utah, and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec. A WCI goal is to reduce regional greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 15% below 2005 levels by 2020. It has previously been recognized that the region’s forests can be important carbon sinks and sources, and it has been suggested that the carbon-storage capacity of forests may have economic value. Here, connections between forests and the developing WCI cap-and-trade system design are examined. Qualitative comparative analysis is used to examine characteristics of US states participating in the WCI. Content analysis is used to identify what advocacy groups promote what forest-related WCI cap-and-trade rules. A combination of low per capita GHG emissions, and strong environmental politics, is found to be related to regional climate initiative participation by US states, with important exceptions among WCI participants. Forest industry presence alone does not obviously influence participation. Electric utility and industry groups, including the forestry sector, are found to support an extensive WCI carbon offset system. Forest industry groups are also found to support the carbon neutrality of forest biomass combustion, and oppose regulating forest carbon emissions. Several environmental non-governmental organizations are found to oppose extensive carbon offset use, and oppose the unconditional consideration of biomass combustion as carbon neutral. Forest related aspects of the WCI Design Recommendations of September 2008 are found to largely agree with forest industry advocated policies. Some WCI provisions may provide incentives for forest carbon loss, or weaken the GHG emissions cap. Three recommendations are made: consideration should be given to appropriately discounting forest offset projects to address carbon emissions leakage; forest carbon emissions from land conversion should be accounted for; combustion of forest biomass from old-growth forests should not be considered carbon neutral. / Thesis (Master, Environmental Studies) -- Queen's University, 2009-10-29 22:29:48.499

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze climate change initiatives in China, the United States, and California, determine where they fall on a spectrum from climate change leader to climate change laggard, and evaluate the need for more effective collaboration among these entities in order to collectively tackle the global threat of climate change. This thesis supplements existing literature in the field by synthesizing the climate change activities of three important players in the global arena: China, the United States, and California. This thesis is different from other research, however, by underscoring the collaboration between these three entities and specifically recommending cap and trade as a mechanism through which to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In this thesis, I claim that on a spectrum from climate change laggard to climate change leader, the United States settles as a laggard, California emerges as a leader, and contrary to popular belief, I argue that China is transitioning between the two. Moreover, I emphasize the importance of more collaboration – especially more substantive collaboration – between these key players in order to achieve significant global emissions reductions because they will stimulate other partnerships around the world and trigger more collective action on climate change. Finally, I offer cap and trade as a viable option through which these three entities can work together to reduce their contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions.

<p>Global climate change can cause shifts in species distributions, and increases in some of their competitors, predators, and diseases that might even cause their extinction. Species may respond to a warming climate by moving to higher latitudes or elevations. Shifts in geographic ranges are common responses in temperate regions. For the tropics, latitudinal temperature gradients are shallow: the only escape for species may be to move to higher elevations. There are few data to suggest that they do, and our understanding of the process is still very limited. Yet, the greatest loss of species from climate disruption may be for tropical montane species. To better understand the potential process of elevational range shifts in the tropics and their implications we have to: 1) Build theoretical models for the process of range shifting, 2) Evaluate potential constraints that species could face while moving to higher elevations, 3) Obtain empirical evidence confirming the uphill shift of species ranges, 4) Determine the number of extinctions that could arise from elevational range shifts (mountain top extinctions) and 5) Identify vulnerable species and areas, and determine their representation by the Protected Areas Network. The purpose of this dissertation is to address these issues, by applying novel methods and collecting empirical evidence. </p><p>In the second chapter I incorporated temperature gradients and land-cover data from the current ranges of species in a model of range shifts in response to climate change. I tested 4 possible scenarios of amphibian movement on a tropical mountain and estimated the constraints to range shifts imposed by each scenario. Confirming the occurrence of elevational range shifts with empirical data is also essential, but requires historical data as a baseline for comparison. I repeated a historical transect in Peru, sampling birds at the same locations they were sampled 40 years ago, and compared their elevational ranges between sampling occasions to evaluate if they were moving uphill as a response to warming temperatures. Finally, based on the results from this comparison, I estimated the potential extinctions derived from elevational range shifts, using information on the species distribution, the topography and land cover within the ranges and surrounding areas. I evaluated the extent of mountain top extinctions for 172 bird species with restricted ranges in the northern Andes. I also considered how Colombia's protected Area Network represents species and sites that are vulnerable in the face of climate change.</p><p>More than 30% of the range of 21 of 46 amphibian species in the tropical Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is likely to become isolated as climate changes. More than 30% of the range of 13 amphibian species would shift to areas that currently are unlikely to sustain survival and reproduction. Combined, over 70% of the current range of 7 species would become thermally isolated or shift to areas that currently are unlikely to support survival and reproduction. The constraints on species' movements to higher elevations in response to climate change can increase considerably the number of species threatened by climate change in tropical mountains.</p><p>In the comparison of bird distributions in the Cerrros del Sira, in Peru, I found an average upward shift of 49 m for 55 bird species over a 41 year interval. This shift is significantly upward, but also significantly smaller than the 152 m one expects from warming in the region. The range shifts in elevation were similar across different trophic guilds. Endothermy may provide birds with some flexibility to temperature changes and allow them to move less than expected. Instead of being directly dependent on temperature, birds may be responding to gradual changes in the nature of the habitat or availability of food resources, and presence of competitors. If so, this has important implications for estimates of mountaintop extinctions from climate change. </p><p>The estimated number of mountain top extinctions from climate disruption in the northern Andes is low, both the absolute number (5 species) and the relative number (less than 0.5% of Colombian land birds). According to future climate predictions these extinctions will not likely occur in this century. The extent of species loss in the Andes is not predicted by absolute mountaintop extinctions modeled by the kind of processes most other studies use. Rather, it is highly contingent -- the species will survive or not depending on how well we protect their much reduced ranges from the variety of other threats.</p> / Dissertation

Adaptation has increasingly come to be recognised as an urgent and necessary response to climate change. The ability of a system to carryout adaptation is dependent on its adaptive capacity. To date, the majority of research relating to adaptation has focused on the objective and material determinants of a system's capacity to adapt to severe and extreme weather impacts. Whereas the role that subjective factors, such as people's perceptions, beliefs and values play in that same process, has received comparatively less attention. Despite being a global phenomenon, climate change is being experienced and responded to in local places. More than just physical locations, places are often imbued with meaning by the people associated with them. This thesis argues that these meanings have implications for the ways in which people adapt, or fail to adapt, to climate change impacts. It uses the concept 'sense of place', as a means of capturing this place meaning and as a lens for exploring adaptive behaviours in three low-income urban communities in the Dominican Republic. In particular it examines the specific roles of residents' place attachment, dependence and identity in motivating and constraining adaptive behaviours. Based on qualitative research with ethnographic underpinnings, the thesis shows that the urban poor sense of place is shaped by interconnected relationships between residents and; their homes, the physical and social aspects of their communities and a range of non-community actors. These relationships are shaped by physical and social interactions with and within places, but also through the discursive construction of the locations and the inhabitants of them in public opinion. Residents continuously seek out ways to enhance their sense of place, at times as an improvement in the built environment as a means of preventing or ameliorating environmental threats and events. However, often it is enhancement, in an aesthetic sense, which is envisaged as being of equal and sometimes greater importance. Although aesthetic improvements sometimes have the resultant impact of enabling adaptation, this tends to be incidental, rather than purposeful. Despite the importance placed by the urban poor on their sense of place, these subjective determinants and adaptation in the urban environment, remain unrecognised as well as absent from local institutional and policy radars. Overall the research suggests the need for a more comprehensive approach to understanding adaptive capacities. It requires an approach which continues to measure the objective determinants but which also recognises the role of people's relationships to places in converting or failing to convert objective capacity into climate change action and in dictating the type activities that are valued and prioritised by urban poor residents themselves.

The world is urbanizing at an unprecedented rate, and cities are dominantly and increasingly becoming hubs for agglomerations of human population and economic activities, as well as major sources of environmental problems. Accordingly, humanity′s pursuit of global sustainability is becoming increasingly reliant on urban sustainability. Unfortunately, the traditional approaches of urbanization and urban stormwater management are inappropriate from the sustainability standpoint. By removing vegetation and topsoil and creating impervious structures, urbanization destroys natural biodiversity and hydrological processes. As a result, urban societies are disconnected from nature and deprived of ecosystem services including flood control, fresh air, clean water, and natural beauty. Due to disrupted hydrology, an urban landscape transforms most rainwater into stormwater runoff which is conveyed off the site through a system of curb-gutter-pipe, called gray infrastructure. While gray infrastructure efficiently mitigates the problem of flash floods in urban areas, it results in multiple other adverse environmental consequences such as loss of freshwater from urban landscapes, transfer of pollutants to receiving waters, and an increased potential of downstream flooding. Green infrastructure (GI) is regarded as a sound alternative that manages stormwater by revitalizing the natural processes of soil, water, and vegetation, and restoring ecosystem structures and functions. Thus, the approach re–establishes the lost socio–ecological connectivity and regenerates ecosystem services. However, despite being inevitably important for urban sustainability, and despite being the object of unrelenting expert advocacy for more than two decades, the approach is yet to become a mainstream practice. To widely implement GI, cities need to address two critical challenges. First, urban stormwater managers and decision makers should be ensured that the approach can adequately and reliably manage stormwater. In the time when flooding problems are rising due to climate change, this concern has become more prominent. Second, if there exist any other barriers, they should be replaced with strategies that help expedite the use of GI. This multidisciplinary research dealt with these two challenges. The study consisted of two major parts. In the first part, a computer model was developed for a combined sewer system of St. Louis, a city in the US state of Missouri, using U.S. EPA SWMM. Simulations for historical (1971-2000) and future (2041-2070) 50-yr 3-hr rainfall scenarios were then run on the model with and without GI. The simulation results showed a significant impact of increased precipitation on the system, which was considerably reduced after adding select GI measures to the modeled system. The following 4 types of GI were used: bio–retention cell, permeable pavement, green roof, and rain barrel. In the second part, a survey of relevant policies and governance mechanisms of eleven U.S. cities was conducted to identify potential barriers to GI and determine strategies to address them. The study also included the assessment of relevant city, state, and federal policies and governance structures. A total of 29 barriers were identified, which were grouped into 5 categories. Most of the identified barriers stem from cognitive barriers and socio–institutional arrangements. A total of 33 policies, also grouped into 5 groups, were determined to address the barriers. The investigation on governance revealed that current governance is highly technocratic and centralized, and hence has less opportunity for public involvement. Therefore, it is inherently inappropriate for GI, which requires extensive public involvement. This dissertation proposes a two–tier governance model suitable for implementing GI.

This dissertation analyzes the case of organized climate change denial in the United States as a manifestation of the power of the policy planning and opinion shaping networks in the US. It uses a variety of power structure research techniques to put together a topographical study of a fossil fuels network sitting at the core of a wider conservative network which sits at the core of the policy planning and opinion shaping processes. The connections between the core fossil fuels network and wider conservative policy network are examined at length. Using climate change denial as the case allows for the study of how a distinct industry— fossil fuels—can organize a faction which can help set the ideological agenda of the wider corporate and conservative networks. A power elite theoretical approach outlined by Domhoff is used, and the conclusions that may be drawn from this case study support the usefulness of that approach. I also find that the case at hand illustrates how Domhoff’s model may be extended and augmented in light of the strategic and tactical innovations employed by those in the climate change denial faction. Although elites have often tried—with varying levels of success—to employ at least a veneer of populist support in formulating policy, climate change denial employs a new level of sophistication in then fossil fuels’ faction’s long-term strategic planning and investment. This faction’s ability to wrest ideological control of much of the tea party movement and bring that party's policy aims into lie with its own allowed for the addition of a powerful populist element to the climate change denial tactical repertoire. Similarly, new secrecy techniques go far beyond those used by elites in the past, reflecting a new set of needs on the part of the individuals and groups involved in the policy network and necessitating the augmentation of the existing network with specialized entities.

abstract: As climate change becomes a greater challenge in today's society, it is critical to understand young people's perceptions of the phenomenon because they will become the next generation of decision-makers. This study examines knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors among high school students. The subjects of this study include students from high school science classes in Phoenix, Arizona, and Plainfield, Illinois. Using surveys and small group interviews to engage students in two climatically different locations, three questions were answered: 1) What do American students know and believe about climate change? How is knowledge related to beliefs? 2) What types of behaviors are students exhibiting that may affect climate change? How do beliefs relate to behavioral choices? 3) Do climate change knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors vary between geographic locations in the United States? The results of this study begin to highlight the differences between knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors around the United States. First, results showed that students have heard of climate change but often confused aspects of the problem, and they tended to focus on causes and impacts, as opposed to solutions. Related to beliefs, students tended to believe that climate change is caused by both humans and natural trends, and would affect plant and animal species more than themselves and their families. Second, students were most likely to participate in individual behaviors such as turning off lights and electronics, and least likely to take public transportation and eat a vegetarian meal. Individual behaviors seem to be most relevant to this age group, in contrast to policy solutions. Third, students in Illinois felt they would be more likely to experience colder temperatures and more precipitation than those in Arizona, where students were more concerned about rising temperatures. Understanding behaviors, motivations behind beliefs and choices, and barriers to actions can support pro-environmental behavior change. Educational strategies can be employed to more effectively account for the influences on a young person's belief formation and behavior choices. Providing engagement opportunities with location-specific solutions that are more feasible for youth to participate in on their own could also support efforts for behavior change. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Sustainability 2015

abstract: Human migration is not a new phenomenon but present and future human-induced environmental changes pose new questions and challenges. In the coming years, both rapid and slow onset environmental changes will drive many people to migrate in search of improved security and livelihoods. Anthropogenic climate change in particular requires international institutions to determine how to best meet the needs of present and future migrants. I analyzed interviews with experts to identify institutional gaps for managing environmental migration and what potential, if any, the Warsaw International Mechanism for loss and damage associated with climate change impacts (WIM) might contribute to filling these gaps. Using these interviews and literature, I propose a framework to assess the capacity of existing institutions to address the breadth of migrant needs. Then, I identify gaps and challenges in order to illuminate strategies for future solutions. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Sustainability 2015

abstract: For a country like India which is highly vulnerable to climate change, the need to focus on adaptation in tandem with traditional development is immense, as the two are inextricably tied together. As a prominent actor working at the intersection of these two fields, NGOs need to be prepared for the emerging challenges of climate change. While research indicates that investments in learning can be beneficial for this purpose, there are limited studies looking into organizational learning within NGOs working on climate change adaptation. This study uses a multiple case study design to explore learning mechanisms, and trace learning over time within four development NGOs working on climate change adaptation in India. These insights could be useful for development NGOs looking to enhance their learning to meet the challenges of climate change. More broadly, this research adds to the understanding of the role of learning in climate change adaptation. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Sustainability 2017