Abstract
This chapter explores the potential role of using climate finance and carbon markets to meet the targets of the United Nations (UN) regional agenda on climate change in the Asia-Pacific. This agenda includes obligations under the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming. Climate finance refers to local, national or transnational financing that seeks to support mitigation and adaptation actions to address climate change (UNFCCC 2020a). Carbon markets represent a market-based strategy, whereby a price is placed on greenhouse gas emissions allowing companies and governments to purchase carbon credits or offsets to meet greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. The proposal to employ climate finance and carbon markets is informed by growing economic and environmental challenges in the region that have been further exacerbated by COVID-19. This chapter analyses carbon markets case studies across industry and the public sector in the region. This chapter identifies the opportunity to build climate finance infrastructure post-COVID-19 and makes policy recommendations for governments and corporations.
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Notes
- 1.
Mitigation: “Technological change and substitution that reduce resource inputs and emissions per unit of output. Although several social, economic and technological policies would produce an emission reduction, with respect to climate change, mitigation means implementing policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance sinks” (IPCC 2007).
- 2.
Adaptation: “Initiatives and measures to reduce the vulnerability of natural and human systems against actual or expected climate change effects. Various types of adaptation exist, e.g. anticipatory and reactive, private and public, and autonomous and planned. Examples include raising rivers or coastal dikes, the substitution of more temperature-shock resistant plants for sensitive ones, etc.” (IPCC 2007).
- 3.
Parties of the convention meet at the Conference of Parties annually to make decisions to achieve the goals of the Convention. The first COP was held in 1995 in Berlin.
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Franco, I.B., Abe, M., Nieto, D., Sunol, G., Lamont, S. (2022). Policy Responses to COVID-19- Climate Finance and Carbon Markets. In: Franco, I.B. (eds) Corporate Approaches to Sustainable Development. Science for Sustainable Societies. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-6421-2_2
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