法眼评说碳金融之二:解读温室气体排放权交易

上一篇文章将碳金融界定为在低碳经济背景下,旨在减少温室气体排放从而应对气候变化的市场机制和金融方法的统称,认为其包括银行绿色信贷、低碳项目直接投融资、温室气体排放权及其衍生产品的创制和交易等诸多子类型。其中,温室气体排放权交易又是碳金融区别于传统金融的关键所在。那么,温室气体排放权如     

航空业纳入欧盟碳排放交易体系之合法性分析

欧盟建立航空活动温室气体排放权交易市场的行为虽然引起广泛争议,但该行为的实施有其完善的区域法律及欧盟成员国的国内法基础。鉴于航空活动的特殊性,国际民用航空组织应发挥其协调作用,推动航空业温室气体减排的多边谈判,通过制定多边协议,既能统一管理航空活动应对气候变化问题,又能同时兼顾发达国家和发展中国家的利益,以切实落实"共同而又区别"的责任原则。     

德国温室气体排放许可证交易法律制度研究

温室气体排放许可证交易是德国气候保护法律的重要组成部分,是德国履行减排承诺的重要工具。在欧盟指令下,德国颁布了旨在控制温室气体排放的系列法律法规,从国际法和国内法两个层面,并通过国家间、跨国企业间和国内交易的三种路径对温室气体排放许可证交易的排放许可、排放权利、排放权分配和排放权交易等方面进行规制。德国温室气体排放许可证交易法律规制中的立法思路和技术性操作规范,对我国温室气体排放控制有重要的启示意义。     

论国际航运温室气体排放的法律属性

国际航运温室气体排放的法律属性决定着对其的规制方式以及法律适用,然而关于国际航运所产生的温室气体排放是否属于海洋污染的问题历来备受争议,并在学界以及实务界引发了激烈争论。为减少分歧,辨清国际航运温室气体排放的法律性质尤为重要。根据国际法对于海洋污染的界定,国际航运所产生的温室气体排放在理论上可以被认定为是一种"有条件的"海洋污染。这种理论主张为各国在国际航运温室气体排放的法律问题上采取不同的立法选择提供了极大的空间,且这一问题的讨论对于促进有关国际航运温室气体排放的国际谈判和调整意义重大。     

国际碳排放权交易及其对我国的启示

全球气候变化对各国产生了一系列的影响,碳排放权已成为新兴的交易客体,国际碳排放权的产生与发展,既为我国带来机遇,也使我国面临挑战。我国碳排放权交易市场尚处于起步阶段,建立与完善我国碳排放市场机制显得尤为重要与迫切。因此,我们应当借鉴国际碳排放权交易的经验,从法律、政策、信息透明度、政府职能等方面进行改进。     

论我国排污权的国际交易

2013年年初至今,我国多地区雾霾久久不能散去,这是环境给我们敲响了警钟。从1997年《京都议定书》启动到2012年第一阶段履约期结束,国际社会仍在不断探索削减温室气体排放的机制。排污权交易在我国刚刚试点,政策与法规都比较滞后,交易体系还不完善,导致我国交易市场不规范,很难开展国际合作。     

国际海运温室气体减排法律政策刍议

国际海运温室气体排放正日益引起国际社会的关注。随着全球经济复苏、世界船队规模的扩大,国际海运温室气体排放量已和一些负有减排义务的国家温室气体排放量相当。但由于国际海运未被包括在《京都议定书》中进行温室气体减排的统一管理,目前,国际海运温室气体减排仍仅停留在纸面上。本文从对船舶温室气体减排的形势分析入手,论述了船舶温室气体减排可采取的政策与措施并最终对可实施的减排原则和模式进行了论证。     

论欧盟温室气体控制法律和政策的方法论意义

欧盟关于温室气体排放削减的法律和政策为我国有关温室气体减排的法律和政策的完善提供了很多可资借鉴的东西。从方法论的角度看,值得借鉴的东西主要有:对各种温室气体的统一控制;温室气体减排同经济社会发展相结合;政府管制、市场手段、企业自愿协议和技术开发等方法的互补应用和温室气体排放控制政策制定程序的民主性。     

我国气候变化立法的缺陷及其对策分析

我国气候变化立法存在着一些较为明显的缺陷,这在一定程度上制约着我国温室气体排放控制战略的实施。目前,气候变化问题已经成为威胁人类生存和发展的一大国际环境问题。温室气体的排放控制战略是《气候变化框架公约》所确立的应对气候变化问题的根本举措。我国应当按照《气候变化框架公约》和《京都议定书》的法律要求,健全和完善气候变化立法以进一步控制温室气体的排放量,从而为全球气候变化问题的应对做出更大的贡献。     

从战略到行动:德国低碳发展的法律举措

德国因其经济规模及结构而成为欧盟最大的二氧化碳排放国之一,作为绿色运动的发源地,德国力争成为欧洲气候保护的领跑者。从20世纪80年代中期开始,德国各党派就在降低温室气体排放方面达成了实质性的一致意见。一、提出并实现气候保护战略目标1990年6月,德国联邦政府在内阁会议上提出温室气体减排目标,即到2005年二氧化碳排放量在1987     

Modeling the Impact of Technical Change on Emissions Abatement Investments in Developing Countries

The cost of greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation over time depends on both the rate of technical change in leading-edge technologies and the diffusion of knowledge and capabilities throughout international markets. This paper presents a framework developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and RTI International (RTI) for incorporating technical change in non-CO₂ GHG mitigation projections over time. An engineering (bottom-up) approach is used to model technical change as a set of price and productivity factors that change over time as a function of technology advances and the location of developing countries relative to the technology efficiency frontier. S-shaped diffusion curves are generated, which demonstrate the maturity of the market for a given technology in a given region. The framework is demonstrated for coal mine methane mitigation technologies in the United States and China, but it is applicable for the full range of technology adoption issues.     

Analysis of the governance architecture to regulate GHG emissions from international shipping

Despite the substantial and likely increasing contribution of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international shipping and the related adverse impacts on global climate change, GHG emissions from international shipping are yet neither regulated by the Kyoto Protocol, nor through any other legally binding, internationally accepted regulation. This paper is looking into the governance architecture that is currently in place to regulate GHG emissions from international shipping with a view to analyze whether the institutional degree of fragmentation within this architecture is contributing to the current situation where no legally binding, internationally accepted regulation has been set up yet. Following the hypothesis that the degree and the characteristics of governance fragmentation have a crucial impact on the effectiveness and performance of a governance system, this paper focuses on the current architecture of climate change governance in international shipping and the institutional interplay between its actors. Therefore, the analytical framework builds on approaches from international environmental governance, regime theory, institutional interplay, and fragmentation in international governance architectures.     

Compelling the EPA to Regulate GHG Emissions Under the Act to Prevent Pollution From Ships

Shipping remains the only sector in the world not currently subject to any legally binding greenhouse gas emission (“GHG”) reduction measures. If left unregulated, ships may represent over 20% of GHG emissions by 2050. This article examines the possibility of compelling the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate GHGs from ships under the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (the “APPS”), 33?U.S.C. § 1901, et seq. Unfortunately, until there is an international agreement to reduce GHG emissions from ships, as well as amendments to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships and the APPS, a citizen suit under the APPS will not be effective.     

Climate mitigation policies and actions: access and allocation issues

International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics - As part of the Special Issue on Access and Allocation, this paper explores how reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions...     

The Alchemists: How the Policies of Brazil and the United States Turned Base Commodities into Black Gold,but at What Cost?

As the world attempts to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, new energy alternatives are being explored to replace fossil fuels. One major fuel alternative that is subsidized and now comprises 10–15 percent of the fuel stock used for vehicles is biofuels. Despite lower GHG emissions from biofuels, there is still significant environmental degradation that can result from the production and refinement of biofuels, especially given the insufficiency of the water regulatory regime to manage water depletion and degradation that are occurring in the two largest producers of the feedstock for these fuels—the United States and Brazil.     

China and climate justice: moving beyond statism

China is the largest national source of greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution causing climate change. However, despite some rhetorical progress at the 2011 Durban climate conference, it has consistently rejected calls to take on binding targets to reduce its GHG emissions. The Chinese Government has understandably argued that developed states are responsible for the predominant share of historical GHG emissions, have greater capacity to pay for the cost of mitigation, and indeed have an obligation to do so before China is required to take action. However, due to the explosive growth in its GHG emissions, China is now in a position to single-handedly dash any hope of climate stability if its position does not change. On the diplomatic level, other big polluters, particularly the United States, will not enter into new binding agreements to reduce substantially their own GHG emissions without a credible commitment from China. Challenging the “statist” framing of the climate justice, this article explores the possibility for China to take on a leadership role in climate change diplomacy in a way that allows it to maintain its long-standing principled resistance to binding national emissions targets while making meaningful progress toward combating the problem. Action by China’s rapidly growing affluent classes may hold the key to long-term climate stability.     

A Clean Development Mechanism with global atmospheric benefits for a post-2012 climate regime

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol allows the crediting of emission reductions from greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement projects in developing countries. The CDM is an offsetting mechanism and, in principle, a zero game to the atmosphere: emission reductions achieved from CDM projects allow industrialised countries to increase their emissions, respectively. The article explores how the CDM could be moved beyond a pure offsetting mechanism in a post-2012 climate regime by crediting only a fraction of the emission reductions from CDM projects, thereby providing a net atmospheric benefit. Potential implications on the carbon market are assessed in a qualitative manner and different design options for such a reform to the CDM are discussed. An important conclusion is that the effects on carbon market depend considerably on whether the use of the CDM is limited through caps or not.

碳交易市场中国构建的几点法律思考

《京都议定书》所列出的三种灵活机制,使温室气体减排量成为可以交易的无形商品,为碳交易市场的发展奠定了基础。由于国际法上的不确定性因素以及各国利益诉求的差异,统一的国际碳交易市场尚未形成。中国因“清洁发展机制”项目（CDM）的开发,不可避免地卷入国际碳交易市场中。从发展低碳经济的目标出发,为增强中国在国际碳交易中的竞争能力,笔者建议要适应中国承担的国际义务以及应对气候变化的立场与承诺构建以自愿性减排为主的中国碳交易市场,构建符合中国国情的碳交易法律机制。     

The effectiveness of Kyoto Protocol and the legal institution for international technology transfer

Kyoto Protocol has certain provisions concerning environmentally sound technologies (ESTs) transfer, primarily including the direct provisions, the clean development mechanism and the fund mechanism, which are supposed to favor technology transfer for reducing the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the world. However, mainly due to the flaws of these provisions, ESTs have not been transferred as smoothly as possible to realize the Kyoto Protocol’s objectives. Therefore, the international community shall take the effectiveness of Kyoto Protocol as a fresh impetus to consummate the legal system of international technology transfer, that is, to develop a uniform technology transfer agreement under the WTO with a focus on promoting ESTs transfer, which may make the developing countries to acquire the technologies they need under the fair terms and help them build their capacities for sustainable development. China does not need to perform the obligation of reducing GHG emissions until 2013 according to Kyoto Protocol, but precautions shall be taken to improve its legal systems on technology transfer to make preparations for implementing the policy of scientific development and playing significant roles in related international legislation.     

SB 375: Smart Growth Savior or Just the Beginning?

This article analyzes and dissects SB 375. This bill, which was the result of a unique compromise between environmentalists, local governments, and the building industry, seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by creating incentives for smarter land use and development choices by local governments and developers thereby seeking to reduce vehicle miles traveled. Although proponents and drafters have deemed SB 375 as a bill that will be responsible for reshaping the face of California's communities into more sustainable walkable communities, this article places doubt on these optimistic predictions based on both internal and external constraints that will make achieving its ultimate goal of GHG reduction a demanding task.