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SUMMARY This is the Climate Change Authority's second review of the Renewable Energy Target (RET). The RET targets reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector and thereby contributes significantly to reducing Australia's overall emissions. In its 2012 review of the RET, the Authority found that the RET was stimulating considerable investment in renewable energy and argued that a stable and predictable policy was essential to sustain this investment. It concluded that no major changes were warranted to the overall RET design, but suggested some minor operational changes. The uncertain future of the Authority until recently has limited the time available to conduct this review. Largely for that reason, the Authority has focused on what, it its view, are the most important issues. The Authority has also drawn on both its 2012 Authority review, and on the review conducted this year by a panel headed by Mr Dick Warburton AO LVO. The RET and Australia's emissions reduction goals In 2010, when the Large-scale Renewable Energy Target (LRET) was set at 41,000 GWh, it was estimated that this contribution, with contributions from the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) and other pre-existing renewables (notably hydro), would together represent at least 20 per cent of Australia's (then) projected total electricity demand in 2020. Given that electricity accounts for approximately one-third of Australia's emissions of greenhouse gases, renewable sources were seen as making a significant contribution to Australia's broader emissions reduction goals. Reducing emissions in the electricity sector plays a pivotal role in climate change policies around the world. Unchecked climate change is widely seen as posing serious risks for the Australian community and its economy. Together with the broader international community, Australia has agreed to a goal of limiting global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. This requires ...

Some people are skeptical about climate change. According to many scientists, this threat to the environment is real. Readers explore the ways in which humans contribute to the problem of climate change, but they also learn how humans can work to stop this environmental crisis. Eye-catching fact boxes, a detailed glossary, and full-color photographs enhance readers' understanding of this important science curriculum topic and how it connects to current events. The age-appropriate tone introduces this serious issue in an accessible way that encourages young readers to think critically about their impact on the natural world.

Cover -- Volume I: Land and Oceans -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- Introduction -- Key People -- Arrhenius, Savante August -- Caldeira, Ken -- Crutzen, Paul Jozef -- Gore, Albert -- Hansen, James E. -- Inhofe, James M. -- Keeling, Charles D. -- Lomborg, Bjorn -- McKibben, Bill -- Revelle, Roger -- Watt-Cloutier, Sheila -- Terrain -- Overview -- Amazon, The -- Australia, Heat and Drought in -- Deforestation -- Desertification -- Land Use -- Pine Beetles -- Tar Sands -- Wildfires -- Flora and Fauna -- Overview -- Adaptation, Animals, Lizards, and Warming Habitats -- Amphibians and Warming -- Animal Life, Antarctic -- Animal Life, Arctic -- Biodiversity -- Extinctions -- Migrations -- Oceans -- Overview -- Coral Reefs -- Fisheries -- Jellyfish -- "Managed Realignment" -- Methane Burp -- Methane Hydrates Today -- Ocean Acidity, North America -- Ocean Acidity, Worldwide -- Ocean Circulation -- Oceans' Absorption of Heat -- Phytoplankton -- Salmon and Trout -- Sea Level Rise -- Sea Level Rise, Bangladesh -- Sea Level Rise, Island Nations -- Sea Level Rise, Italy -- Sea Level Rise, United States -- Thermohaline Circulation -- Volume II: Weather and Global Warming -- TItle Page -- Copyright -- Contents -- Weather -- Overview -- Drought, United States -- Drought, Worldwide -- Drought and Deluge, Scientific Analysis of -- Extreme Weather -- Floods -- Heat Waves, Evidence of -- Heat Waves, Forecasts of -- Hurricanes, Observations of -- Hurricanes, Scientific Debates of -- Hurricanes, Snow -- Monsoons -- Thunderstorms and Tornadoes -- Wildfires, United States -- Wildfires, Worldwide -- Global Warming -- Overview -- Atmospheric Circulation -- Carbon Cycle Feedbacks -- Climate Change, Abrupt Nature of -- Climate Change, Greenland -- Cold Spells -- El Niño and La Niña -- Emissions, Carbon Dioxide, and Peat

"Climate Change is a hot-button topic today and one that requires skill to examine and grasp different viewpoints. This book introduces readers to multiple perspectives on the topic and encourages them to objectively view local, national, and global connections to help them form knowledgeable points of view."--

Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- CONTENTS -- Author's note -- Hot stuff, not cool -- What's the weather doing? -- Know your biomes -- The greenhouse effect -- The carbon cycle -- Fossil fuels -- Global warming -- Other greenhouse gases -- Climate denial -- Natural climate changes -- El Niño -- Daisyworld -- Modelling climate -- Ancient climates -- Rising sea levels -- Acid in the sea -- Tipping points -- Another mass extinction? -- Disease in a warming world -- Hot food -- Human disasters -- Resource wars -- Who's responsible? -- Renewable energy -- Reduce, reuse, recycle -- Technological solutions -- Climate engineering -- Is plan B planet B? -- Happy 2050? -- Pros and cons -- Mind map -- Glossary -- Find Out More -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- K -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- V -- W.

Cover -- Half Title -- Series Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Series Preface -- Introduction -- PART I CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS IMPACTS -- 1 John Houghton (2001), 'The Science of Global Warming', Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 26, pp. 247-57. -- 2 Brent Sohngen and Robert Mendelsohn (1998), 'Valuing the Impact of Large-Scale Ecological Change in a Market: The Effect of Climate Change on U.S. Timber', American Economic Review, 88, pp. 686-710. -- 3 Kenneth D. Frederick and David C. Major (1997), 'Climate Change and Water Resources', Climatic Change, 37, pp. 7-23. -- 4 Gary Yohe and Michael Schlesinger (2002), 'The Economic Geography of the Impacts of Climate Change', Journal of Economic Geography, 2, pp. 311-41. -- 5 Allan D. Brunner (2002), 'El Nino and World Primary Commodity Prices: Warm Water or Hot Air?', Review of Economics and Statistics, 84, pp. 176-83. -- 6 Robert Mendelsohn, William D. Nordhaus and Daigee Shaw (1994), 'The Impact of Global Warming on Agriculture: A Ricardian Analysis', American Economic Review, 84, pp. 753-71. -- 7 John Quiggin and John K. Horowitz (1999), 'The Impact of Global Warming on Agriculture: A Ricardian Analysis: Comment', American Economic Review, 89, pp. 1044-45. -- 8 Robert Mendelsohn and William Nordhaus (1999), 'The Impact of Global Warming on Agriculture: A Ricardian Analysis: Reply', American Economic Review, 89, pp. 1046-48. -- 9 Roy Darwin (1999), 'The Impact of Global Warming on Agriculture: A Ricardian Analysis: Comment', American Economic Review, 89, pp. 1049-52. -- 10 Robert Mendelsohn and William Nordhaus (1999), 'The Impact of Global Warming on Agriculture: A Ricardian Analysis: Reply', American Economic Review, 89, pp. 1053-55. -- PART II EVALUATING THE COSTS AND BENEFITS OF CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION

SUMMARY The Authority is required by legislation to review the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) every three years; this is its first review. The review has benefited from consultations with stakeholders from a range of sectors and the Authority thanks those who contributed. When introduced in 2011, the CFI was designed to complement the carbon pricing mechanism. Accordingly, it focused on sectors not covered by the carbon price, namely: agriculture, waste (in part), and land use, land use change and forestry. CFI projects earned credits that could be sold to entities with liabilities under the carbon pricing mechanism. The carbon price has since been repealed, and the CFI has been expanded to form the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) and now covers all sectors of the economy. The ERF is the central plank of the government's Direct Action Plan to reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions. It has been introduced through amendments to the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011 (Cth), which brings it within the scope of this review. For simplicity's sake, this report refers to the CFI as the scheme as originally configured, and the ERF as the scheme as approved by the parliament in November 2014. Under the ERF, the government will purchase emissions reductions through auctions (and possibly other means). Fixed-price contracts, typically for seven years, will be offered to those who are successful at auction. Other changes to streamline the scheme are also being introduced, and a safeguard mechanism (that will discourage large emitters from increasing their emissions above historical levels) is to commence in July 2016. While these changes are substantial, the ERF retains an essential characteristic of the CFI in that it credits projects for reducing emissions below a defined baseline, and the baseline reflects what would have been expected to occur in the absence of the scheme. The changes to the CFI are important for this review in two ways. First, as the scheme is being expanded to become the central ...

Climate change is a cause for concern both globally and locally. In order for it to be tackled holistically, its governance is an important topic needing scientific and practical consideration. Climate change governance is an emerging area, and one which is closely related to state and public administrative systems and the behaviour of private actors, including the business sector, as well as the civil society and non-governmental organisations. Questions of climate change governance deal both with mitigation and adaptation whilst at the same time trying to devise effective ways of managing the consequences of these measures across the different sectors. Many books have been produced on general matters related to climate change, such as climate modelling, temperature variations, sea level rise, but, to date, very few publications have addressed the political, economic and social elements of climate change and their links with governance. This book will address this gap. Furthermore, a particular feature of this book is that it not only presents different perspectives on climate change governance, but it also introduces theoretical approaches and brings these together with practical examples which show how main principles may be implemented in practice.