A synthesis of three decades of socio-ecological change in False Bay, South Africa: setting the scene for multidisciplinary research and management

Submitted by Felicity Downes on 16 August 2019

Over the past three decades, marine resource management has shifted conceptually from top-down sectoral approaches towards the more systems-oriented multi-stakeholder frameworks of integrated coastal management and ecosystem-based conservation. However, the successful implementation of such frameworks is commonly hindered by a lack of cross-disciplinary knowledge transfer, especially between natural and social sciences. This review represents a holistic synthesis of three decades of change in the oceanography, biology and human dimension of False Bay, South Africa.

Climate Change, Conservation, Fisheries

Salmon farming vulnerability to climate change in southern Chile: understanding the biophysical, socioeconomic and governance links

Submitted by NENRE Concepcion on 11 June 2019

Here we describe an assessment of climate-change vulnerability for the salmon farming sector in southern Chile using a model that combines semi-quantitative measures of Exposure (risks), Sensitivity (economic and social dependence), and Adaptation Capacity (measures that prevent and mitigate impacts).  The evaluation was carried out in 8 pilot communes representative of salmon production (marine grow-out).

Fisheries

Implications of climate change for semi-arid dualistic agriculture: a case study in Central Chile

Submitted by NENRE Concepcion on 9 June 2019

The nexus between climate change, agriculture, and poverty has become a major topic of concern, especially for dry regions, which represent a large share of the world’s population and ecosystems vulnerable to climate change. In spite of this, to date, few studies have examined the impacts of climate change on agriculture and the adaptation strategies of vulnerable farmers from emerging semi-arid regions with dualist agriculture, in which subsistence farms coexist with commercial farms.

Agriculture, Climate Change, Water

Temperature effects on mortality and household adaptation: Evidence from China

Submitted by Hang Yin on 7 June 2019

This paper examines the effects of extreme temperatures on mortality rates, using random year-to-year variation in temperature based on county-level panel data from China. The analysis finds a robust, U-shaped relationship between temperature and mortality rates, indicating that extremely cold or hot temperatures lead to excess deaths. The heat-related (cold-related) effect is 3.5 times (3.2 times) as large as previous findings that used U.S. data, and it is especially large for the elderly population, mainly due to excess deaths caused by cardiovascular diseases.

Energy, Policy Design

Climate change perceptions and adaptive responses of small-scale coffee farmers in Costa Rica

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on 6 June 2019

Climate change will affect the distribution, productivity and profitability of coffee production in Central America, negatively impacting national economies and small farmer livelihoods.

Agriculture, Climate Change

Carbon Trading Scheme in the People’s Republic of China: Evaluating the Performance of Seven Pilot Projects

Submitted by Hang Yin on 31 August 2018
EfD Authors:

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) launched seven emissions trading scheme (ETS) pilot projects in 2013–2014 to explore a cost-effective approach for low-carbon development. The central government subsequently announced its plans for the full-fledged implementation of ETS in the entire PRC in late 2017. To ensure the success of ETS in the PRC, it is necessary to gain a better understanding of the experiences and lessons learned in the pilot projects.

Climate Change, Carbon Pricing

Heat in the Heartland: Crop Yield and Coverage Response to Climate Change along the Mississippi River

Submitted by Hang Yin on 16 July 2018

Farmers may adapt to climate change by substituting away from the crops most severely affected. In this paper we estimate the substitution caused by a moderate change in climate in the US Midwest. We pair a 10-year panel of satellite-based crop coverage with spatially explicit soil data and a fine-scale weather data set. Combining a proportion type model with local regressions, we simultaneously address the econometric issues of proportion dependent variables and spatial correlation of unobserved factors.

Climate Change

Distributional impacts of climate change on basin communities: an integrated modeling approach.

Submitted by NENRE Concepcion on 25 June 2018

Agriculture is one of the most vulnerable economic sectors to the impacts of climate change, specifically those related with expected changes in water availability.  By using a hydro-economic model, this study assesses the distributional impacts of climate change, considering the geographical location of each farmer’s community and the spatial allocation of water resources at basin scale.  A hydrological model, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool model, describes the basin hydrology, while farmers’ economic responses are represented using a non-linear agricultural supply model.  We simulated

Climate Change, Water

Are renewable energy policies climate friendly? The role of capacity constraints and market power

Submitted by Hang Yin on 23 May 2018
EfD Authors:

This paper studies the impacts of renewable energy support policies on energy prices, fossil
fuel supply and thus carbon emissions from fossil fuels. Such supports are climate friendly if
the renewables are already competitive against fossil fuels. But if the renewables are not yet
competitive, the climate change impacts are often ambiguous and are sensitive to capacity
constraints of renewables production and to the fossil fuel market structure. If the renewables

Climate Change, Energy