Long-Term Climate Treaties with a Refunding Club

We show that an appropriately-designed “Refunding Club” can simultaneously solve both free-riding problems in mitigating climate change—participating in a coalition with an emission reduction target and enduring voluntary compliance with the target once the coalition has been formed. Countries in the Club pay an initial fee into a fund that is invested in assets. In each period, part of the fund is distributed among the Club members in relation to the emission reductions they have achieved, suitably rescaled by a weighting factor. We show that an appropriate refunding scheme can implement any feasible abatement path a Club wants to implement. The contributions to the initial fund can be used to disentangle efficiency and distributional concerns and/or to make a coalition stable. Making the grand coalition stable in the so-called “modesty approach” requires less than 0.5% of World GDP. Finally, we suggest ways to foster initial participation, to incorporate equity concerns with regard to developing countries, and ways to ease the burden to fill the initial fund.

Geographic Setting and Groundwater Table Control Carbon Emission from Indonesian Peatland: A Meta-Analysis

Peat restoration is a key climate mitigation action for achieving Indonesia’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) emission reduction target. The level of carbon reduction resulting from peat restoration is uncertain, owing in part to diverse methodologies and land covers. In this study, a meta-analysis was conducted to assess the impact of rewetting on reduction of total CO2 in soil and heterotrophic emissions at the country level. The tier 2 emission factor associated with the land cover category in Indonesia was also calculated. The analysis included a total of 32 studies with 112 observations (data points) for total CO2 emissions and 31 observations for heterotrophic emissions in Indonesia. The results show that the land cover category is not a significant predictor of heterotrophic and total soil emissions, but the highest observed soil emissions were found in the plantation forest. Using the random-effects model, our results suggest that an increase in the water table depth of 10 cm would result in an increase in total CO2 emissions of 2.7 Mg CO2 ha−1 year−1 and an increase in heterotrophic emissions of 2.3 Mg CO2 ha−1 year−1. Our findings show that managing water table depth in degraded peatlands in various land cover types is important to achieve Indonesia’s emission reduction target by 2030.

Analysis of Factors that Determine Inclusion of LULUCF into Realisation of EU Climate Policy Objectives 2021–2030 in the Non-ETS Sectors

Starting in 2021, Poland's emission reduction target for 2030, in the sectors not covered by the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is −7% compared to the emissions level in the non-ETS sectors in 2005. This is a big change in comparison with the target for the period of 2013–2020, which assumed potential emissions increase relative to the same baseline and was +14% by 2020. In order to cope with the need to make a much greater reduction effort, Poland will likely need to use flexibility mechanisms to support achieving the more ambitious target. One the possible mechanism is the use of removals to cover likely excesses of annual non-ETS emissions through an additional individual limit on the number of removals generated in the land-use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector. However, this possibility is conditional on a range of factors associated with emission inventory and reporting, legal regulations and accounting procedures. The present study addresses these factors in detail and highlights the linkages between them. It provides a comprehensive cross-cutting analysis of the issue and gives an insight into the scattered legal regulations in relation to the discussed subject. In conceivably straightforward ways, there are described the specific concepts and processes depicting the inclusion of removals in accounting to meet the reduction target in the non-ETS. The article points out the potential opportunities for Poland to comply with the obligations imposed by EU regulations.

The Government of Indonesia's Accountability Against Forest Degradation Due to Deforestation Based on the Paris Agreement to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

This study aims to describe and explain the form of Indonesia's responsibility for climate change due to deforestation based on the Paris Agreement. As a form of contribution to climate problems, the Government has adopted the Paris Agreement with the instrument Law Number. 16 of 2016. However, the commitment to contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions has encountered problems in its implementation. On this basis, this study discusses the state's responsibility for climate change due to deforestation. The main emphasis will be on the forestry sector. This problem is the biggest obstacle in Indonesia's commitment to meet the greenhouse gas emission reduction target. This research method uses normative or doctrinal, the data collection process is carried out by reviewing literature that is relevant to the problems written by the author. The result of this research is that regulations on how to overcome the climate crisis in Indonesia are seen as not being able to implement changes in substance with the ultimate goal of reducing emissions as desired. The issue of effectiveness, especially the problem of legal requirements, is still a principle constraint, even some administrative arrangements contain decisions that contradict the declared responsibilities. In line with that, it is proposed the importance of strong guidelines, implementation of the law and balance of responsibilities through the environmental strategy that is carried out.

Net Zero for the International Shipping Sector? An Analysis of the Implementation and Regulatory Challenges of the IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions

In 2018, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) announced the first sector-wide emission reduction target for international shipping. The roadmap to achieve this goal is the Initial IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships, which proposes implementation measures for the short, medium and long term. This article examines three of these measures: National Action Plans (NAPs), market-based mechanisms (MBMs) and alternative fuels. We argue that NAPs can play a key role in directing national action and facilitating implementation within national jurisdictions. In relation to MBMs, we find that a carbon tax might be more efficient than emission trading. Yet, ultimately, the sector’s decarbonisation can only be truly achieved with zero-carbon fuels. Noting the considerable barriers to the development and use of these fuels, we consider how the private sector is beginning to shift resources to this challenge, spurred by the IMO targets and new understandings of climate-related financial risks and opportunities.

Coordination of an Environmentally Responsible Supply Chain with Cost Disturbance under Carbon Price Fluctuations

This paper studies a two-echelon supply chain consisting of a retailer and a manufacturer under carbon emission reduction target and carbon cap-and-trade policy. The unit production cost varies when carbon price fluctuates. We find that carbon price fluctuations affect the original optimal production decision in the supply chain. We also compare how this disturbance affects the supply chain operations under three different power structures with a focus on the profitability and robustness.

Thermodynamic models applied to CO2 absorption modelling

Carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) is considered as the least cost-intensive option towards achieving the emission reduction target by 2050. One of the important technologies to remove CO2 from different gas streams is solvent-based CO2 capture. Modelling and simulation of solvent-based CO2 capture processes have been attracting a lot of attention in recent years. Thermodynamic models play a vital role in these modelling and simulation studies. Hence, this study critically reviews the thermodynamic models applied in the modelling of solvent-based CO2 capture systems over the past years, to provide a guideline for the selection of the optimum models for future studies. These models have wide applications in two main areas: equilibrium modelling [vapour-liquid equilibrium (VLE) (physical) and speciation equilibrium (chemical)], and calculation of some thermodynamic properties. VLE and speciation modelling methods are classified rigorously. VLE modelling methods are classified as homogeneous, heterogeneous, and empirical, and speciation modelling methods are classified as iterative (which could be stoichiometric and non-stoichiometric) and non-iterative. Thermodynamic models are categorised into three key families: activity-coefficient based, equation of state based, and quantum mechanical based. Theory and concepts of different thermodynamic models are presented. Some selected studies that used each family of thermodynamic models are reviewed.