This book studies the extent to which nuclear safety issues have contributed towards the stagnation of nuclear power development around the world, and accounts for differences in safety regulations in different countries. In order to understand why nuclear development has not met widespread expectations, this book focusses on six key countries with active nuclear power programmes: the USA, China, France, South Korea, the UK, and Russia. The authors integrate cultural theory and theory of regulation, and examine the links between pressures of cultural bias on regulatory outcomes and political pressures which have led to increased safety requirements and subsequent economic costs. They discover that although nuclear safety is an important upward driver of costs in the nuclear power industry, this is influenced by the inherent need to control potentially dangerous reactions rather than stricter nuclear safety standards. The findings reveal that differences in the strictness of nuclear safety regulations between different countries can be understood by understanding differences in cultural contexts and the changes in this over time. This book will be of great interest to students, scholars, and policymakers working on energy policy and regulation, environmental politics and policy, and environment and sustainability more generally.

Perceptions of Climate Change from North India: An Ethnographic Account explores local perceptions of climate change through ethnographic encounters with the men and women who live at the front line of climate change in the lower Himalayas. From data collected over the course of a year in a small village in an eco-sensitive zone in North India, this book presents an ethnographic account of local responses to climate change, resource management and indigenous environmental knowledge. Aase Kvanneid's observations cast light on the precarious reality of climate change in this region and bring to the fore issues such as access to water, NGO intervention and climate information for farmers. In doing so, she also explores classic topics in the study of rural India including ritual, gender, social hierarchy and political economy. Overall, this book shows how the cause and effect of climate change is perceived by those who have the most to lose and explores how the impact of climate change is being dealt with on a local and global scale. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of the anthropology of climate change, environmental sociology and rural development.

This volume is a comprehensive study of the challenges and opportunities facing the BIMSTEC, The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. BIMSTEC was established to promote economic cooperation among rising economic powers in South and Southeast Asia, but after years of stagnation the need for renewed regional commitment is starker than ever. The book studies the BIMSTEC's present status and highlights the ways in which the organisation can be rejuvenated to forge a stronger Bay of Bengal community. It looks at key themes such as the challenges to regional integration, India's "Look East" and Thailand's "Look West" policies, transport connectivity and tourism within the BIMSTEC and the aspirations of various member countries. It also examines BIMSTEC's approach towards climate change, disaster management and rehabilitation. A timely contribution, this volume will be useful for scholars and researchers of international relations, South Asian studies, foreign policy, diplomacy, Southeast Asian studies, defence and strategic affairs, maritime studies, international trade, regional cooperation and political studies.

This volume is a comprehensive study of the challenges and opportunities facing the BIMSTEC, The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. BIMSTEC was established to promote economic cooperation among rising economic powers in South and Southeast Asia, but after years of stagnation the need for renewed regional commitment is starker than ever. The book studies the BIMSTEC's present status and highlights the ways in which the organisation can be rejuvenated to forge a stronger Bay of Bengal community. It looks at key themes such as the challenges to regional integration, India's "Look East" and Thailand's "Look West" policies, transport connectivity and tourism within the BIMSTEC and the aspirations of various member countries. It also examines BIMSTEC's approach towards climate change, disaster management and rehabilitation. A timely contribution, this volume will be useful for scholars and researchers of international relations, South Asian studies, foreign policy, diplomacy, Southeast Asian studies, defence and strategic affairs, maritime studies, international trade, regional cooperation and political studies.

Our planet faces a systemic threat from climate change, which the world community of nations is ill-prepared to address, and this book argues that a new form of ecologically conscious capitalism is needed in order to tackle this serious and rising threat. While the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015 has finally implemented a global climate policy regime, its modest means belie its ambitious goals. Our institutional financial organizations are not equipped to deal with the problems that any credible commitment to a low-carbon economy will have to confront. We will have to go beyond cap-and-trade schemes and limited carbon taxes to cut greenhouse gas emissions substantially in due time. This book offers a way forward toward that goal, with a conceptual framework that brings environmental preservation back into our macro-economic growth and forecasting models. This framework obliges firms to consider other goals beyond shareholder value maximization, outlining the principal tenets of a climate-friendly finance and introducing a new type of money linked to climate mitigation and adaptation efforts.

The ancient Greeks called it Gaia; the Romans Terra. We know it simply as Earth, the planet we call home. And what a planet it is. Formed around 4.6 billion years ago from the debris of the big bang and long-dead stars, at first it was nothing special, but somehow it evolved to become the most amazing place in the known Universe. The only living planet we know of, it also has a very unusual moon, a remarkably dynamic surface, a complex atmosphere and a deeply mysterious interior. This is Planet Earth is dedicated to the wonders of Planet Earth. Its past is long and dramatic and its future shrouded in mystery. Yet despite centuries of research, only now are we starting to understand Earth's complexity. ABOUT THE SERIES New Scientist Instant Expert books are definitive and accessible entry points to the most important subjects in science; subjects that challenge, attract debate, invite controversy and engage the most enquiring minds. Designed for curious readers who want to know how things work and why, the Instant Expert series explores the topics that really matter and their impact on individuals, society, and the planet, translating the scientific complexities around us into language that's open to everyone, and putting new ideas and discoveries into perspective and context.

Ecosystems are often examined from a ecological perspective because of the importance of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Ecosystems of different types and scales are under increasing pressure due to natural and human induced changes. Climate change and the disasters it causes, are a major driver affecting ecosystems and services. Several studies have provided evidence that a healthy ecosystem helps in reducing the impacts of climate change and disasters. This book makes a case for ecosystem-based adaptation by arguing that ecosystems and its services are critical in the climate change and disaster risk reduction fields. Consequently, the monitoring and regulation of ecosystems need to be linked to a regular governance and institutional mechanism and be reflected in a more action-oriented agenda.

This radical book aims to inject new insight and urgency into the discourse on the retrofitting of commercial and residential buildings in the face of the climate emergency. It is about the why, how and who should take the lead in revolutionising buildings in the face of serious climate and social change. Buildings contribute very significantly to the output of carbon, particularly in developed countries where the stock is old, but it is neither feasible nor desirable to demolish them all and start again! If existing buildings cannot in be replaced in the short-term by new zero carbon stock, retrofitting and adaptation of the existing building stock is critical and urgent. This book explains why and how the improvement of buildings requires a complex, holistic approach that brings all stakeholders together with respect and understanding. Yet to do this against a limited time frame is challenging. The book analyses what must be done, explores how it could be achieved and sets out a manifesto for action by all those engaged: from policy makers, to educationalists, designers, constructors, investors, funders and occupiers. By bringing together authors from across the built environment disciplines, the book stimulates debate within policy, practice and education circles which must lead to action if we are to avoid catastrophe. This is a unique addition to the literature on the sustainability of existing buildings and their retrofitting for the benefit of all.

Ideal for city residents, developers, designers, and officials looking for ways to bring urban environments into harmony with the natural world and make cities more sustainable, Urban Ecology for Citizens and Planners offers a wealth of information and examples that will answer fundamental scientific questions, guide green initiatives, and inform environmental policies and decision-making processes.This book provides an overview of the synergistic relationships between humans and nature that shape the ecology of urban green spaces. It also emphasizes the social and cultural value of nature in cities for human health and well-being. Chapters describe the basic science of natural components and ecosystems in urban areas and explore the idea of biophilic urbanism, the philosophy of building nature into the framework of cities. To illustrate these topics, chapters include projects, case studies, expert insights, and successful citizen science programs from urban areas around the world. Authors Gail Hansen and Joseli Macedo argue that citizens have increasingly important roles to play in the environmental future of the cities they live in. A valuable resource for real-world solutions, this volume encourages citizens and planners to actively engage and collaborate in improving their communities and quality of life.

Written both for general readers and college students, Dialogues on Climate Justice provides an engaging philosophical introduction to climate justice, and should be of interest to anyone wanting to think seriously about the climate crisis. The story follows the life and conversations of Hope, a fictional protagonist whose life is shaped by a terrifyingly real problem: climate change. From the election of Donald Trump in 2016 until the 2060s, the book documents Hope's discussions with a diverse cast of characters. As she ages, her conversations move from establishing the nature of the problem, to engaging with climate skepticism, to exploring her own climate responsibilities, through managing contentious international negotiations, to considering big technological fixes, and finally, as an older woman, to reflecting with her granddaughter on what one generation owes another. Following a philosophical tradition established by Plato more than two thousand years ago, these dialogues are not only philosophically substantive and carefully argued, but also distinctly human. The differing perspectives on display mirror those involved in real-world climate dialogues going on today. Key Features: Written in an engaging dialogue form, which includes characterization, clear exchanges of ideas, and a compelling story arc Clearly organized to allow readers both in-depth consideration and rapid overviews of various topics Memorable examples that enable and encourage discussion inside and outside the classroom An Introduction to the book aimed at instructors, which includes helpful instructions for teaching the book and engaging student assignments

Hardbound. This volume will include scenarios of geophysical and economic impacts from global warming beyond a doubling of greenhouse gases. Analyses will examine geophysical, ecological, and economic impacts, physical and institutional lags, alternative scenarios with and without policy intervention, institutional change, political-economic barriers to effective policy, and prescriptions for change. Perspectives will include those from physical and biological sciences, as well as economics.

How to progress climate science to be policy-relevant and actionable? This book presents a novel framework to give a positive vision and structuring approach to guide research and practice on transformative climate governance, to shift the narrative from apathy and stalemate to action and transformation. Our vision contrasts existing climate governance and associated lock-ins that signify the institutional resistance to change. To effectively address climate change, climate governance itself needs to be transformed to foster sustainability transitions under climate change. The book brings together a collection of case studies to investigate how capacities for transformative climate governance are developing at multiple scales and how they can be strengthened vis-a-vis existing governance regimes. Specifically, it sheds light on the following questions: What are key overarching conditions, actors and activities that facilitate governance for transformation under climate change? Given persistent climate governance lock-ins, what needs to happen in research and policy to build-up the capacities that transform climate governance and ensure effective climate action?

Eco-friendly and comprehensive strategy for policy makers Accomplished guide for academicians and other stakeholders of environments Sustainable development in carbon sequestration in different vegetation landscapes

This edited collection of works by leading climate scientists and philosophers introduces readers to issues in the foundations, evaluation, confirmation, and application of climate models. It engages with important topics directly affecting public policy, including the role of doubt, the use of satellite data, and the robustness of models. Climate Modelling provides an early and significant contribution to the burgeoning Philosophy of Climate Science field that will help to shape our understanding of these topics in both philosophy and the wider scientific context. It offers insight into the reasons we should believe what climate models say about the world but addresses the issues that inform how reliable and well-confirmed these models are. This book will be of interest to students of climate science, philosophy of science, and of particular relevance to policy makers who depend on the models that forecast future states of the climate and ocean in order to make public policy decisions.

This book analyses the role of the BASIC countries - Brazil, South Africa, India and China - in the international climate order. Climate Diplomacy and Emerging Economies explores the collective and individual positions of these countries towards climate diplomacy, focusing in particular on the time period between the 2009 and 2019 climate summits in Copenhagen and Madrid. Dhanasree Jayaram examines the key drivers behind their climate-related policies (both domestic and international) and explores the contributory role of ideational and material factors (and the interaction between them) in shaping the climate diplomacy agenda at multilateral, bilateral and other levels. Digging deeper into the case study of India, Jayaram studies the shifts in its climate diplomacy by looking into the ways in which climate change is framed and analyses the variations in perceptions of the causes of climate change, the solutions to it, the motivations for setting climate action goals, and the methods to achieve the goals. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of climate change, environmental policy and politics and IR more broadly.

The first World Climate Conference, which was sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization in Geneve in 1979, triggered an international dialogue on global warming. From the 1997 United Nations-sponsored conference-during which the Kyoto Protocol was signed-through meetings in Copenhagen, Cancun, Durban, and most recently Doha (2012) and Warsaw (2013), worldwide attention to the issue of global warming and its impact on the world's economy has rapidly increased in intensity. The consensus of these debates and discussions, however, is less than clear. Optimistically, many geoscience researchers and members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have supported CO2 emission reduction pledges while maintaining that a 2 DegreesC limit in increased temperature by the year 2100 is achievable through international coordination. Other observers postulate that established CO2 reduction commitments such as those agreed to at the Copenhagen United Nations Climate Change Conference (2009) are insufficient and cannot hold the global warming increase below 2 DegreesC. As experts theorize on precisely what impact global warming will have, developing nations have become particularly alarmed. The developed world will use energy to mitigate global warming effects, but developing countries are more exposed by geography and poverty to the most dangerous consequences of a global temperature rise and lack the economic means to adapt. The complex dynamics that result from this confluence of science and geopolitics gives rise to even more complicated issues for economists, financial planners, business leaders, and policy-makers. The Oxford Handbook of the Macroeconomics of Global Warming analyzes the economic impact of issues related to and resulting from global warming, specifically the implications of possible preventative measures, various policy changes, and adaptation efforts as well as the different consequences climate change will have on both developing and developed nations. This multi-disciplinary approach, which touches on issues of growth, employment, and development, elucidates for readers state-of-the-art research on the complex and far-reaching problem of global warming.

Dispelling the myth that people in the Global North share similar experiences of climate change, this book reveals how intersecting social dimensions of climate change-people, processes, and institutions-give rise to different experiences of loss, adaptation, and resilience among those living in rural and resource contexts of the Global North. Bringing together leading feminist researchers and practitioners from three countries-Australia, Canada, and Spain-this collection documents gender relations in fossil fuel, mining, and extractive industries, in land-based livelihoods, in approaches for inclusive environmental policy, and in the lived experience of climate hazards. Uniquely, the book brings together the voices, expertise, and experiences of both academic researchers and women whose views have not been prioritized in formal policies-for example, women in agriculture, Indigenous women, immigrant women, and women in male-dominated professions. Their contributions are insightful and compelling, highlighting the significance of gaining diverse perspectives for a fuller understanding of climate change impacts, more equitable processes and strategies for climate change adaptation, and a more welcoming climate future. This book will be vital reading for students and scholars of gender studies, environmental studies, environmental sociology, geography, and sustainability science. It will provide important insights for planners, decision makers, and community advocates to strengthen their understanding of social dimensions of climate change and to develop more inclusive and equitable adaptation policies, plans, and practices.

This book taps into discussions about social vulnerability, empowerment, and resistance in relation to disaster relief and recovery. It disentangles tensions and dilemmas within post-disaster empowerment, through a rich ethnographic narrative of the work of Occupy Sandy in Rockaway, New York City, after Hurricane Sandy in 2012. It details both a remarkable collaborative relief phase, in which marginalized communities were empowered to take active part, as well as a phase of conflict and resistance that came about as relief turned to long-term recovery. This volume particularly aims to understand how community empowerment processes can breach pre-disaster marginalization in the aftermath of disasters. It connects with broader emancipatory literature on dilemmas involved in empowerment 'from the outside'. In a future of potentially harsher climate related disasters and increased social vulnerability for certain communities, this book contributes to a full and nuanced understanding of community empowerment and vulnerability reduction. This book will be of interest to sociologists, anthropologists, geographers, political scientists, and urban studies researchers, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students interested in disaster management, disaster risk reduction, social vulnerability, community empowerment, development studies, local studies, social work, community-based work, and emancipatory theory.

The City is an Ecosystem maps an interdisciplinary, community-engaged response to the great ecological crises of our time-climate change, biodiversity loss, and social inequality-which pose particular challenges for cities, where more than half the world's population currently live. Across more than twenty chapters, the three parts of the book cover historical and scientific perspectives on the city as an ecosystem; human rights to the city in relation to urban sustainability; and the city as a sustainability classroom at all educational levels inside and outside formal classroom spaces. It argues that such efforts must be interdisciplinary and widespread to ensure an informed public and educated new generation are equipped to face an uncertain future, particularly relevant in the post-COVID-19 world. Gathering multiple interdisciplinary and community-engaged perspectives on these environmental crises, with contemporary and historical case study discussions, this timely volume cuts across the humanities and social and health sciences, and will be of interest to policymakers, urban ecologists, activists, built environment professionals, educators, and advanced students concerned with the future of our cities.

The City is an Ecosystem maps an interdisciplinary, community-engaged response to the great ecological crises of our time-climate change, biodiversity loss, and social inequality-which pose particular challenges for cities, where more than half the world's population currently live. Across more than twenty chapters, the three parts of the book cover historical and scientific perspectives on the city as an ecosystem; human rights to the city in relation to urban sustainability; and the city as a sustainability classroom at all educational levels inside and outside formal classroom spaces. It argues that such efforts must be interdisciplinary and widespread to ensure an informed public and educated new generation are equipped to face an uncertain future, particularly relevant in the post-COVID-19 world. Gathering multiple interdisciplinary and community-engaged perspectives on these environmental crises, with contemporary and historical case study discussions, this timely volume cuts across the humanities and social and health sciences, and will be of interest to policymakers, urban ecologists, activists, built environment professionals, educators, and advanced students concerned with the future of our cities.

This book focuses on China's efforts to address climate change on both the strategic and practical levels since the Katowice Climate Change Conference. Featured articles provide readers with both an overview and detailed discussions of topics such as assessment of low-carbon city development, building climate resilience, global climate governance, just transition, climate finance, and others. All the contributors are leading experts in the field from Research Institute for Eco-civilization (formerly Institute of Urban and Environmental Studies), Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and China Meteorological Administration.

Climate Change, Ecological Catastrophe, and the Contemporary Novel responds to the critical need for transdisciplinary research on the relationship between colonialism and catastrophe. It represents the first sustained analysis of the connection between colonial legacy and present-day ecological catastrophe in postcolonial fiction. Analyzing contemporary South Asian and South Pacific novels that grapple with climate change and catastrophe, environmental exploitation and instability, and human-nonhuman relationships in degraded environments, it offers a much-needed corrective to dominant narratives about climate, crisis, and the everyday. Highlighting the contributions of literary fiction from the postcolonial South to the growing field of the environmental humanities, this book reconsiders the novel's relationship with climate change and the contemporary environmental imaginary. Counter to dominant current theoretical discourses, it demonstrates that the novel form is ideally suited to literary and imaginative engagements with climate change and ecological catastrophe. The six case studies it examines connect contemporary ecological vulnerability to colonial legacies, reveal the critical role animals and the environment play in literary imaginations of post-catastrophe recovery, and together constellate a decolonial perspective on ecological catastrophe in the era of climate change. Drawing on the work of Indigenous authors and scholars who write about and against the Anthropocene, this book displaces conventional ways of thinking about the relationship between the mundane and the catastrophic and promotes greater dialogue between the largely siloed fields of postcolonial, Indigenous, and disaster studies.

This book develops a politico-ethical response to climate change that accounts for the novelty and uncertainty that it entails. This volume explores the ethical dimensions of climate change and posits that one must view it as a social construction intimately tied to political issues in order to understand and overcome this environmental challenge. To show how this ethos builds upon the need for new forms of responsiveness, Anfinson analyzes it in terms of four features: commitment, worldly sensitivity, political disposition, and practice. Each of these features is developed by putting four thinkers - Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Schmitt, and Foucault respectively - in conversation with the literature on climate change. In doing so, this book shows how social habits and norms can be transformed through subjective thought and behavior in the context of a global environmental crisis. Presenting a multidisciplinary engagement with the politics, philosophy, and science of climate change, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of climate change, environmental politics, environmental philosophy and environmental humanities.

This book focuses on the linking of the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) with other independent regional ETS. While rich practical and academic research has evolved on the economic and technical side of ETS linking, political drivers and barriers have so far been underrepresented in this debate. Filling this lacuna and based on international relations theory, existing research and qualitative fieldwork, this book introduces the range of political conditions that influence linking, such as political leadership and stakeholder activity. Specifically, it analyzes which of these aspects have played a role in three different linking activities of the EU: (1) a failed linking attempt: EU ETS-California Cap-and-Trade Program; (2) a successful linking treaty: EU ETS-Switzerland Emissions Trading System; and (3) an agreed-upon but not realized link: EU ETS-Australia Carbon Pricing Mechanism. Through an interrogation of these examples, Dr. Unger concludes that it is not only the technical challenges or the overall economic benefit but rather domestic interests, structural aspects, and external international political developments that have jointly dominated linking activities, especially those in which the EU takes part. This book will be of great interest to scholars and policy-makers working in climate policy and EU environmental politics.

Rethinking Wilderness and the Wild: Conflict, Conservation and Co-existence examines the complexities surrounding the concept of wilderness. Contemporary wilderness scholarship has tended to fall into two categories: the so-called 'fortress conservation' and 'co-existence' schools of thought. This book, contending that this polarisation has led to a silencing and concealment of alternative perspectives and lines of enquiry, extends beyond these confines and in particular steers away from the dilemmas of paradise or paradox in order to advance an intellectual and policy agenda of plurality and diversity rather than of prescription and definition. Drawing on case studies from Australia, Aoteoroa/New Zealand, the United States and Iceland, and explorations of embodied experience, creative practice, philosophy, and First Nations land management approaches, the assembled chapters examine wilderness ideals, conflicts and human-nature dualities afresh, and examine co-existence and conservation in the Anthropocene in diverse ontological and multidisciplinary ways. By demonstrating a strong commitment to respecting the knowledge and perspectives of Indigenous peoples, this work delivers a more nuanced, ethical and decolonising approach to issues arising from relationships with wilderness. Such a collection is immediately appropriate given the political challenges and social complexities of our time, and the mounting threats to life across the globe. The abiding and uniting logic of the book is to offer a unique and innovative contribution to engender transformations of wilderness scholarship, activism and conservation policy. This text refutes the inherent privileging and exclusionary tactics of dominant modes of enquiry that too often serve to silence non-human and contrary positions. It reveals a multi-faceted and contingent wilderness alive with agency, diversity and possibility. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of conservation, environmental and natural resource management, Indigenous studies and environmental policy and planning. It will also be of interest to practitioners, policymakers and NGOs involved in conservation, protected environments and environmental governance.