Exam: Policy and Definitions Flashcards
INDC (NDC)
(Intended) nationally determined contributions (INDCs, NDCs) are (intended) reductions in greenhouse gas emissions under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
All countries that signed the UNFCCC were asked to publish their INDCs at the 2013 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Warsaw, Poland, in November 2013.
The term was intended as a compromise between “quantified emissions limitation and reduction objective” (QUELROs) and “nationally appropriate mitigation actions” (NAMAs) that the Kyoto Protocol used to describe the different legal obligations of developed and developing countries.
Under the Paris Agreement, adopted in December 2015, the INDC will become the first Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) when a country ratifies the agreement unless it decides to submit a new NDC at the same time. Once the Paris Agreement is ratified, the NDC will become the first greenhouse gas targets under the UNFCCC that applied equally to both developed and developing countries.
On 3 August 2016, China and the US ratified the agreement. Together, they both constitute 38% of total global emission, with China alone emitting 20%.[4] India, with 4.1% of emissions, ratified the Paris Agreement on October 2, 2016 by depositing the instrument of ratification with the United Nations.
By 18 April 2016, a total of 190 Parties had communicated an INDC (97% of all Parties to the UNFCCC) with a total CO2 coverage of 94.6%.
Definition of sustainable development according to the Brundtland report.
“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”
Contain:
- The concept of “needs”, in particular the essential needs of the world’s poor, to which overriding priority should be given
- The idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment’s ability to meet present and future needs.”
Brundtland Commission (formerly WCED)
WCED
World Commission on Environment and Development
Dissolved in December 1987 after the report.
The Brundtland Report
Actually called: Our Common Future
Released in: October 1987
Inter-generational justice:
rights-based definitions
“…each generation holds a duty to ensure that the life opportunities of its offspring are no less satisfactory than its own.” Richard Howarth, 1995
“…a sustainable path for the national economy is one that allows every future generation the option of being as well of as its predecessors.” Robert Solow, 1992
“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” WCED 1987 (Brundtland definition)
Determinants of climate targets:
- costs vs. benefits
- today or in the future
Trade off between costs and emission reductions. Most benefits/cost (sweet-spot) is somewhere in the middle.
On the one hand, stopping all emissions of greenhouse gases today would have enormous costs – economic, in human suffering & human lives…
…on the other hand, not reducing greenhouse gas emissions at all would likely have devastating effects on humanity in the future, with enormous costs.
Discounting vs inter-generational justice:
Discounting:
- Impatience
- Future cost and benefit is less important than now, because it is not now.
Inter-generational justice:
- Ethics
- Everyone should have the same rights and the same value. Not just today but always.
(The basic idea of sustainable development)
Reasons to discount the future costs of climate change:
Future consumption should be valued lower…
…simply because it occurs at a future point in time.
…because we do not know if they will be around at all.
…since we expect to be richer in the future, and the richer we are the less welfare we gain from yet another SEK in consumption.
Calculation (equation) for discount rate r :
r = delta + eta * g
delta: Pure rate of time preference
(societal impatience or risk of extinction)
eta: Rate of diminishing marginal utility of income
(Two axis: x, y : Money, Utility)
g: Economic growth rate
- The 10 trillion in the future is not worth so much to people in the future compared to what the 0.7 trillion is worth to people now, when we have a high eta. (Not related to PPP) Like 1 out of 5 is twice as much than 10 out of 100. “Weight of diminishing marginal utility”.
Equation for Net present value of a cost (NPV):
NPV(c)=ce ^(-rt)
( or: x = y(1+r)^t )
NPV(c) : c: cost (to compare with future cost) r: discount rate t: time
How much should we be willing to pay to avoid 1 million SEK in climate damages in 100 years for different discount rates…
Low discount rate:
Willing to pay a lot
(exponentially)
High discount rate:
Not willing to pay much
The Ramsey rule:
underlying values & assumptions
If we aim to maximize utility (welfare) from consumption over time, the ‘Ramsey rule’ tells us that the discount rate, r, should be:
Values: utility maximization
…disregards distribution/justice issues, rights, values other than human utility.
Assumptions: human utility is only dependent on material consumption
…what role is played by other factors in human utility?
Weak vs Strong sustainability:
Weak sustainability:
Definition:
The sum of natural and man-made capital must not decline
Rationale:
Nature does not have a value for itself only in what it can give to us humans. Ok to degrade nature if GDP increase.
(high substitutability)
Strong sustainability:
Definition:
Neither natural, nor man-made capital must decline
Rationale:
Compensation for loss of (some) natural capital is not possible
Man-made value cannot replace the value of nature. Two different kinds of values and we are depending on both separately.
(low substitutability)
- Strong sustainability requires that neither natural, nor man-made capital deteriorate, while weak only requires that the sum of the two does not decline…
- Proponents of these two schools differ in either their views on the intrinsic value of nature or in their belief about the (future) substitutability between environmental and man-made goods and services…
- Substitutability in production is determined by technology, substitutability in consumption by preferences…
- Both technology and preferences are subject to change over time…
4 categories of ecosystem services:
Cultural:
- beauty
- spiritual
- mental
Provisioning:
- food, water
- material
- medical
Regulating:
- Climate
- Air, water
- Pollination
Supporting:
- Photosynthesis
- Soil formation
- Nutrient cycles
Dichotomies:
Problem oriented:
- High vs Low substitutability
- Anthropocentrism vs Ecocentrism
Solution oriented:
- Efficiency vs Sufficiency
- Technical fix vs Value change
- Reform vs Radical change
- Individual vs Politics-structure
