Description: The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme ('EU ETS') began on 1 January 2005. The implementation of the EU ETS has raised interest in market-based approaches to achieving environmental and related public policy goals in the EU, particularly those related to promotion of renewable energy and energy efficiency. Indeed, national and regional markets in tradable green certificates ('TGCs') and (to a lesser extent) tradable white certificates ('TWCs') already exist. Green certificate schemes are established or proposed in a number of Member States (e.g., Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK) and form part of a growing portfolio of measures to achieve the renewable targets outlined in Directive 2001/77/EC. White certificate schemes are considerably less widespread, although schemes have been established in Italy and the UK and further activity may be stimulated by the Commission proposal on energy services (COM(2003)739). Both the renewables Directive and the energy services proposal envisage the possible evolution and harmonisation of these instruments into EU-wide certificate schemes. This study has two major objectives: -1. Analyse interactions among EU ETS and green/white certificate markets. The first major objective is to describe the interactions between green and white certificate programmes and the EU ...

Description: This guide describes the various operations and activities of the Global Environment Facility partnership.

Description: In the context of this agenda item discussion took place on the management plan for the AR4 SYR. The Panel agreed that further consideration will be given by the Bureau to aspects of arrangements for management of the AR4 SYR, and progress reported to the Panel.

Description: This report summarizes a workshop which investigated the possible roles that the IPCC could play in developing and assessing new emission scenarios.

Description: Water plays a key role in the development and functioning of society by serving as a basic resource for activities such as irrigation, livestock production, fisheries, aquaculture, and hydroelectric power. Adequate water use in house-holds, businesses and manufacturing is a prerequisite of economic growth. Since many of the world's diseases are waterborne, we need clean water and sanitation for reducing the incidence of these diseases. And, most significantly, water provides habitat and sustenance for a rich diversity of plant and animal species that make up aquatic and riparian ecosystems, providing the basis for many of the goods and services received by society. Society is forcing unprecedented changes on global water resources through worldwide abstraction and pollution of water. Society also has a pervasive indirect impact because anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are causing long-term global changes in weather extremes and climate. Changes in the global water system are difficult to understand with simple cause-effect relationships because of the intense and complex linkages and feedbacks between different parts of the system. These changes and linkages also sometimes lead to abrupt changes in water systems such as the eutrophication of coastal aquatic systems, loss of biodiversity, the exceedance of safe water supply in ...