environmental footprints explorer
I have the great honor to be selected to serve on the IPCC as lead author of the fifth assessment report. It has always been my desire to contribute to addressing environmental problems. Climate Science is fascinating – the ways scientists have found to tease out evidence about past climate are
environmental footprints explorer
It was my big day in Brussels: The deputy director of the United Nations Environment Programme, Angela Kropper, and the EU’s Commissioner for the Environment, Janez Potocnik, were there for the launch of our report, The Environmental Impact of Production and Consumption: Priority Products and Materials. It was the
environmental footprints explorer
Recently, the idea of monitoring the carbon footprint of a nation as one option for climate policy has found its way into the legislative process in the UK. A Private Members Bill has been put forward in the House of Lords – the Bill seeks to put in place a consumer
environmental footprints explorer
A recent update of our study on the carbon footprint of nations highlights the role of China, Russia, the USA and the EU. Steven Davis and Ken Caldeira have just published an analysis of the carbon footprint of nations using the GTAP 7 database, allowing for a comparison of the
environmental footprints explorer
The Carbon Footprint of Nations has been recognized as the Top Environmental Policy Paper in 2009 by Environmental Science & Technology (announcement). It is a big honor for us to win that award. ES&T is the most important journal in environmental science and environmental technology, publishing 1500 papers
environmental footprints explorer
The Climate Conference in Copenhagen has ended as expected: with a political declaration instead of a legally binding agreement. Nonetheless, there seems to be wide-spread disappointment among the public. Commentators are busy portioning out blame for the failure of the negotiations, where the U.S., China, and the unwieldy
environmental footprints explorer
The Guardian and industry actors call for considering Carbon Embodied in Trade as part of a climate deal at Copenhagen. On December 7, 2009, 56 newspapers from 20 countries published a joint editorial calling world leaders to use the 14 days of climate negotiations in Copenhagen in order to come
environmental footprints explorer
A new UN report emphasizes the importance of addressing land use, water, and biodiversity impacts of biofuels. The jury is now in on biofuels: Current government mandates in the United States, Europe and other countries to blend biofuels into ordinary car fuels cause substantial environmental damage, do little to reduce
environmental footprints explorer
Economists argue that the carbon market suffices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and attack additional policy tools for increasing mitigation costs. Time to look at how the carbon market works in practice! In my last blog I have pointed to the campaign of a few Norwegian economistsagainst climate policy tools
environmental footprints explorer
Some economists argue that support for renewable electricity leads to more coal power. Their reasoning is curiously flawed and oversees the crucial role of technological learning. A curious discussion about climate policy has arisen in Norway now that the country has agreed with Sweden to join Sweden’s ”green certificate”
environmental footprints explorer
The IPCC says that we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 % by 2050 to achieve the goal of limit global warming to not more than 2°C, agreed to by the EU and the G8. Recent research indicates that the cumulative emissions in the period 2000-
environmental footprints explorer
Many people have asked how a country’s carbon footprint compares to the territorial emissions reported to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)? In hindsight, it was perhaps remiss of us not to include this data in the paper. However, it was not our motivation. Focusing on