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This article assesses the feasibility of a 50% reduction in CO 2 emissions by 2050 using a large-scale Post Keynesian simulation model of the global energy-environment-economy system. The main policy to achieve the target is a carbon price rising to $100/tCO 2 by 2050, attained through auctioned CO 2 permits for the energy sector, and carbon taxes for the rest of the economy. This policy induces technological change. However, this price is insufficient, and global CO 2 would be only about 15% below 2000 levels by 2050. In order to achieve the target, additional policies have been modelled in a portfolio, with the auction and tax revenues partly recycled to support investment in low-GHG technologies in energy, manufacturing and transportation, and 'no-regrets' options for buildings. This direct support supplements the effects of the increases in carbon prices, so that the accelerated adoption of new technologies leads to lower unit costs. In addition the $100/tCO 2 price is reached earlier, by 2030, strengthening the price signal. In a low-carbon society, as modelled, GDP is slightly above the baseline as a consequence of more rapid development induced by more investment and increased technological change.

After years of discussions and trials, Japan's domestic emissions trading scheme remains purely voluntary. The newly elected Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has taken a firmer stance on climate change, initially intending to establish a nationwide mandatory cap-and-trade as early as 2011. This has promoted several questions regarding the possible designs and feasibility of such a scheme. This article describes the key features of the two trial schemes implemented, thus far, assesses the effectiveness of their implementation and discusses what will be the likely areas of contention should the Japanese government introduce a mandatory cap-and-trade in the future. The analyses indicate that the initial years of 'Japan's Voluntary Emissions Trading Scheme' (JVETS) implementation have shown positive performance, although its scale has remained limited. The 'Trial Implementation of an Integrated Domestic Market for Emissions Trading' emerged as a hybrid scheme, one that incorporated varying interests. Significant institutional developments have taken place in recent years, however the effectiveness of the present trial scheme also seems restricted.

At the recent UN climate negotiations in Bali, most countries sought an agreement to cut industrialized countries' emissions of CO 2 by between 25% and 40% by 2020. The final agreed wording at Bali was that 'deep cuts' in emissions were required, without further quantification. The PAGE2002 probabilistic integrated assessment model is deployed to investigate how deep those deep cuts should be. We calculate optimal CO 2 emissions over time under uncertainty using the same assumptions and assessment model as in the Stern Review, where optimal emissions are those which minimize the mean net present value of the sum of climate change impacts and adaptation and abatement costs. The optimal global CO 2 emissions under these assumptions require much deeper cuts, of 55% by 2020 and 75% by 2060 compared with emissions in 2000. If the Stern Review is to be believed, emissions cuts of 25-40% by 2020 will be insufficient to achieve global climate objectives.

This study analyses energy system development and the associated greenhouse gas emissions in Thailand under a reference case and three different carbon tax scenarios during 2013-2050 using a bottom-up cost-minimizing energy system model based on the Asia-Pacific Integrated Assessment Model (AIM/Enduse) framework. It considers the role of the renewable energy technologies as well as some emerging GHG-mitigating technologies, e.g. carbon capture and storage (CCS) in power generation, and GHG reduction in the country, and found that the power sector will play a major role in CO 2 emission reduction. Under the carbon tax scenarios, most of the CO 2 emission reduction (over 70%) will come from the power sector. The results also indicate the very significant potential for CO 2 emission reduction through a significant change in the transport system of the country by shifting from low-occupancy personal modes of transport to electrified MRTS and railways.

Two transport policies with climate co-benefits for the intra-city and inter-city transport in Brazil are analysed. Both policies aim to shift transport from the road (cars in cities, trucks between cities) towards less energy-intensive transport modes (bus, underground, rail and shipping). The main motivations for these policies are domestic benefits, including reduced energy costs, fewer accidents, and reduced local congestion and pollution. Despite these apparent benefits, barriers and financing constraints limit the scale and scope of the policy formulation and are likely to further impact their implementation. While it is relatively easy to mobilize investment in transport logistics infrastructure at the national level, given the benefits for economic competitiveness for the country as a whole, it is more challenging to leverage funds to provide more efficient and integrated public transport systems at the city level. International cooperation can play a significant role in supporting domestic policies, and thus contribute to direct emissions reductions and lower-carbon growth trajectories through a modal shift. Policy relevance: A modal shift of freight and passenger transport would enhance the energy efficiency of transport services. In Brazil, like most developing countries, infrastructure constraints prevent such a modal shift. Barriers to implementing national policies can differ within a country as well as internationally; for example, financial constraints are far more severe for cities pursuing public transport projects than for federal projects on inter-city freight transport. This creates opportunities for international support to tackle specific barriers and thus help governments to deliver domestic policy objectives. In order to avoid merely subsidizing the transport sector and increasing transport volumes, international support has to focus on measures to facilitate a modal shift that underpins a broader national transport strategy.

The problem of creating an appropriate domestic sectoral climate policy by emerging economy governments is examined through the case study of India's iron and steel sector. Unique circumstances and patterns exist in different sectors of emerging economies so a single international policy may be unable to reconcile subtle yet important countryspecific drivers. Shortcomings in the form of distortions could arise if policies are designed with a short time horizon. A fully integrated, long-term and well-planned domestic policy is required. The emergence of a strong domestic carbon price to guide sector expansion is identified as a key feature for such a framework. Additional support through international cooperation would help to gain the necessary political support while stabilizing the policy environment and facilitating substantial sectoral abatement. Policy relevance: Fuel savings and emissions reductions in India's steel sector can be delivered firstly by improving energy efficiency in existing and new plants, secondly by shifting to efficient production processes, and thirdly by using steel more efficiently as a component or by substituting low-carbon alternatives. The CDM only supports energy savings and emissions reductions from efficiency improvements in the production process, but cannot target the other two opportunities. Domestic policies, including improved product standards and carbon pricing, can create broader benefits for the Indian economy and global climate. However, to achieve domestic support for these measures, international cooperation and coordination are necessary. A key question is how support can be structured without providing subsidies for the production of a carbon-intensive commodity.

A series of Mn0.15Fe0.05/fly-ash catalysts have been synthesized by the co-precipitation method using coal fly ash (FA) as the catalyst carrier. The catalyst showed high catalytic activity for low-temperature selective catalytic reduction (LTSCR) of NO with NH3. The catalytic reaction experiments were carried out using a lab-scale fixed-bed reactor. De-NOx experimental results showed the use of optimum weight ratio of Mn/FA and Fe/FA, resulted in high NH3-SCR (selective catalytic reduction) activity with a broad operating temperature range (130–300 °C) under 50000 h−1. Various characterization methods were used to understand the role of the physicochemical structure of the synthesized catalysts on their De-NOx capability. The scanning electron microscopy, physical adsorption-desorption, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed the interaction among the MnOx, FeOx, and the substrate increased the surface area, the amount of high valence metal state (Mn4+, Mn3+, and Fe3+), and the surface adsorbed oxygen. Hence, redox cycles (Fe3+ + Mn2+ ↔ Mn3+ + Fe2+; Fe2+ + Mn4+ ↔ Mn3+ + Fe3+) were co-promoted over the catalyst. The balance between the adsorption ability of the reactants and the redox ability can promote the excellent NOx conversion ability of the catalyst at low temperatures. Furthermore, NH3/NO temperature-programmed desorption, NH3/NO- thermo gravimetric-mass spectrometry (NH3/NO-TG-MS), and in-situ DRIFTs (Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy) results showed the Mn0.15Fe0.05/FA has relatively high adsorption capacity and activation capability of reactants (NO, O2, and NH3) at low temperatures. These results also showed that the Langmuir–Hinshelwood (L–H) reaction mechanism is the main reaction mechanism through which NH3-SCR reactions took place. This work is important for synthesizing an efficient and environmentally-friendly catalyst and demonstrates a promising waste-utilization strategy.

China is the world’s largest carbon emitter and coal de-capacity is a policy with immediate and substantial CO2 reduction effects. However, the carbon emission reduction and health co-benefits arising from the coal de-capacity are often ignored. Here, we assessed the carbon emission reductions and quantified the health co-benefits from coal de-capacity based on an analysis of the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of the mine closures and phase out during 2016–2022. Our findings show that China had closed/phased out a total of 4027 mines with a total de-capacity of 8.75 × 108 t, spatially concentrated in Southwest and North China from 2016 to 2022. The coal life cycle emitted 1859 million t of carbon during the coal de-capacity. Importantly, 11,775 premature deaths were avoided during 2016–2022 due to reduced PM2.5 exposure as a result of coal mining. This study highlights the significant effects of coal de-capacity on carbon reduction and health co-benefits in China and provides scientific evidence and data to support the achievement of the sustainable development goals and the ‘dual carbon goals’.

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is common in patients with personality disorders. This comorbidity is accompanied by a lower quality of life, and a higher risk of suicide attempts than patients with only one of these diagnoses. Objective: The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the scientific evidence of the efficacy of PTSD treatments for this population. Method: A literature search was performed from 1946 through June 2020. Standardized mean effect sizes of psychotherapy for PTSD were computed. Results: The literature search revealed that psychotherapy was the only intervention that was systematically explored. Fourteen studies were included. In 12 of these studies solely patients with borderline personality disorder participated. Analysis of the four RCTs showed a significant, moderate to high standardized effect size for reducing PTSD symptom severity (Hedges' g = 0.54), with effects being maintained at least 3 months (Hedges' g = 0.82). Effect sizes for all studies were also significant, with moderate to high standardized values for symptoms of PTSD (Hedges' g = 1.04). PTSD improvements were again maintained at 3-month follow-up and beyond (Hedges' g = 0.98). In addition, a significant decrease in symptoms of depression, anxiety, borderline symptoms, and PTSD in patients with borderline personality disorder could be revealed for all studies (Hedges' g 0.48-1.04). No increase in self-injurious behaviour, suicide attempts, or hospitalization was observed, while the mean weighted dropout rate during PTSD treatment was 17%. Conclusions: Psychotherapy for PTSD is efficacious and safe for patients with borderline personality disorder and should not be withheld from these vulnerable individuals.

In order to stabilize long-term greenhouse gas concentrations at 450 ppm CO 2 -eq or lower, developed countries as a group should reduce emissions by 25-40% below 1990 levels by 2020, while developing countries' emissions need to be reduced by around 15-30%, relative to their baseline levels, according to the IPCC and our earlier work. This study examines 19 other studies on the emission reductions attributed to the developed and developing countries for meeting a 450 ppm target. These studies considered different allocation approaches, according to equity principles. The effect of the assumed global emissions cap in these studies is analysed. For developed countries, the original reduction range of 25-40% by 2020 is still within the average range of all studies, but does not cover it completely. Comparing the studies shows that assuming a global emissions cap of 5-15% above 1990 levels by 2020 generally leads to more stringent reduction targets than when a global emissions cap of 20-30% above 1990 levels is assumed. For developing countries, the reduction range of 15-30% below their baseline levels by 2020 corresponds to an increase on the 1990 level from 70% (about the 2006 level) to 120%. Reducing deforestation emissions by 50% below baseline levels by 2020 may relax the emission reductions for either group of countries; for developing countries by about 7% or for developed countries by about 15% (but not for both).