Citation
Leal Filho, W. (2007), "Editorial", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 18 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/meq.2007.08318eaa.001
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2007, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Editorial
Welcome to another issue of MEQ. In this issue readers will be able to find an interesting set of papers dealing with aspects of environmental conservation and management from different parts of the world.
In this editorial, mention should be made to the new assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which has concluded that the world community could slow and then reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) over the next several decades by exploiting cost-effective policies and current and emerging technologies.
Based on the most up-to-date, peer-reviewed literature on emissions modelling, economics, policies and technologies, the report reveals how governments, industry and the general public could together reduce the energy and carbon intensity of the global economy despite growing incomes and population levels.
According to report, titled Climate Change 2007: Mitigation of Climate Change, without additional action by governments the emissions from the basket of six greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol will rise by 25 to 90 percent by 2030 compared to 2000. (The six gases are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride, PFCs and HFCs.) By adopting stronger climate change policies, however, governments could slow and reverse these emissions trends and ultimately stabilize the level of greenhouse gases remaining in the atmosphere. For example, stabilizing GHG levels at 445-490ppm (parts per million) – the most ambitious target that was assessed – would require global CO2 emissions to peak by 2015 and to fall to 50-85 percent of 2000 levels by 2050. This could limit global mean temperature increases to 2-2.4°C above pre-industrial levels.
It is now up to governments to introduce the mechanisms and incentives to unleash the ingenuity and creativity of the financial and technological markets in order to realize these economic, social and environmental gains.
Enjoy your reading!
Walter Leal Filho