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Forest ecosystems play an important role in regulating global carbon cycle. There are very few studies on biomass and carbon (C) stock from the community managed montane evergreen forests of India. In the present study three traditional forests: Sacred forests (SF), Restricted forests (RF) and Village forests (VF) were studied to analyze the level of disturbance, species diversity, stand characteristics, biomass and C stock. In each forest a belt transect of 20 m wide and 250 m long (0.5 ha) was laid for enumeration of all woody individuals having a diameter at breast height (dbh) of ≥ 5 cm. Species richness, density, basal area and population structure varied between the traditional forest types. The aboveground biomass (AGB) was 273 ± 55.5 in the SF, 195 ± 32.12 in the RF and 75.3 ± 17.1 Mg ha−1 in the VF whereas, the corresponding belowground biomass (BGB) was 59.53 ± 8.4, 44.48 ± 7.5 and 19.9 ± 4.3 Mg ha−1, respectively. Overall, there was a 30% reduction of AGB in RFs and 70% in VFs as compared to the SFs. The mean AGBC stock was 129 ± 26.3, 92.49 ± 15.2 and 39 ± 5.7 Mg C ha−1 in SF, RF and VF. The BGBC ranged from a minimum of 6 to 34 Mg C ha−1 in the study sites. The AGB accumulation was greater in intermediate diameter classes (26 − 45.9 cm) in the RFs and VFs whereas in SFs the diameter class >65cm accounted to about 27-69% of the total AGB. Human disturbance had a strong influence on the species richness and stand characteristics that in turn influence the biomass and C stock in the community forests. It is emphasized that the village forests need to be provided with adequate protection for increasing the C storing potential.

This paper investigates the effects of the European Union Emission Allowance (EUA)’s price on European carbon-intensive industries’ stock returns based on daily data from April 25, 2005 to July 24, 2017. Utilizing a multifactor market model specification and a panel quantile regression approach, the study tests whether the influences of the EUA price on the stock market are heterogeneous and asymmetric concerning each phase. The results show that a significant negative impact of the EUA price on the stock market is found in the middle- and high-return markets during Phases I and III, whereas in Phase II, the impacts are positive. Additionally, no asymmetric feature of the carbon market effect is shown in Phases I and III, but it shows a strong asymmetric effect across quantiles during Phase II. Some factors such as allocation rules and macroeconomic stability may cause this dissimilarity.

Il existe un nombre important d'incendies de mines de charbon incontrôlés (principalement dus à la combustion spontanée du charbon), qui brûlent actuellement dans le monde entier. Ces sources de combustion spontanée émettent des gaz à effet de serre (GES). Un examen critique révèle qu'il n'existe pas de méthodes de mesure standard pour estimer les émissions de GES provenant des incendies de mines/des zones de combustion spontanée. L'objectif de ce document de recherche était d'estimer les émissions de GES provenant de la combustion spontanée des charbons dans le contexte indien. Une méthode de chambre d'échantillonnage (SC) a été utilisée avec succès pour évaluer les émissions à deux endroits du projet Enna Opencast (OCP), Jharia Coalfield (JCF), pendant 3 mois. L'étude révèle que le taux d'émission moyen cumulé mesuré pour le CO2 varie de 75,02 à 286,03 gs−1m−1 et que le CH4 varie de 41,49 à 40,34 gs−1m−1 pour les zones à basse et moyenne température. Les émissions totales de GES prévues à partir de cet incendie unique affectant les mines de JCF varient de 16,86 à 20,19 Mtyr−1. Hay un número significativo de incendios incontrolados en las minas de carbón (principalmente debido a la combustión espontánea de carbón), que actualmente se están quemando en todo el mundo. Estas fuentes de combustión espontánea emiten gases de efecto invernadero (GEI). Una revisión crítica revela que no existen métodos de medición estándar para estimar las emisiones de GEI de las áreas de incendio/combustión espontánea de minas. El objetivo de este trabajo de investigación fue estimar las emisiones de GEI de la combustión espontánea de carbones en el contexto indio. Se utilizó con éxito un método de cámara de muestreo (SC) para evaluar las emisiones en dos ubicaciones del Enna Opencast Project (OCP), Jharia Coalfield (JCF), durante 3 meses. El estudio revela que la tasa de emisión media acumulada medida de CO2 varía de 75.02 a 286.03 gs−1m−1 y CH4 varía de 41.49 a 40.34 gs−1m−1 para zonas de baja y media temperatura. Las emisiones totales de GEI previstas de este único incendio que afecta a las minas de JCF varían de 16,86 a 20,19 Mtyr−1. There are a significant number of uncontrolled coal mine fires (primarily due to spontaneous combustion of coal), which are currently burning all over the world. These spontaneous combustion sources emit greenhouse gases (GHGs). A critical review reveals that there are no standard measurement methods to estimate GHG emissions from mine fire/spontaneous combustion areas. The objective of this research paper was to estimate GHGs emissions from spontaneous combustion of coals in the Indian context. A sampling chamber (SC) method was successfully used to assess emissions at two locations of the Enna Opencast Project (OCP), Jharia Coalfield (JCF), for 3 months. The study reveals that measured cumulative average emission rate for CO2 varies from 75.02 to 286.03 gs−1m−1 and CH4 varies from 41.49 to 40.34 gs−1m−1 for low- and medium-temperature zones. The total GHG emissions predicted from this single fire affecting mines of JCF vary from 16.86 to 20.19 Mtyr−1. هناك عدد كبير من حرائق مناجم الفحم غير المنضبطة (ويرجع ذلك في المقام الأول إلى الاحتراق التلقائي للفحم)، والتي تحترق حاليًا في جميع أنحاء العالم. تنبعث من مصادر الاحتراق التلقائي هذه غازات الدفيئة (GHG). تكشف المراجعة النقدية أنه لا توجد طرق قياس قياسية لتقدير انبعاثات غازات الدفيئة من مناطق حرائق المناجم/الاحتراق التلقائي. كان الهدف من هذه الورقة البحثية هو تقدير انبعاثات غازات الدفيئة الناتجة عن الاحتراق التلقائي للفحم في السياق الهندي. تم استخدام طريقة غرفة أخذ العينات (SC) بنجاح لتقييم الانبعاثات في موقعين من مشروع Enna Openencast (OCP)، Jharia Coalfield (JCF)، لمدة 3 أشهر. تكشف الدراسة أن متوسط معدل الانبعاث التراكمي المقاس لثاني أكسيد الكربون يتراوح من 75.02 إلى 286.03 جم-1 م-1 و CH4 يتراوح من 41.49 إلى 40.34 جم-1 م-1 للمناطق ذات درجات الحرارة المنخفضة والمتوسطة. يتراوح إجمالي انبعاثات غازات الدفيئة المتوقعة من هذا الحريق الفردي الذي يؤثر على مناجم JCF من 16.86 إلى 20.19 متر -1.

Despite recent voluntary climate change reporting (VCCR) initiatives, such as the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), Chinese companies continue to lag behind their global counterparts. This research contributes to the existing literature examining the effects of CEO background (specifically academic, foreign and political background) on corporate decisions to engage in VCCR. The data sample consists of Chinese listed companies that participated in CDP surveys during 2010–2017 (1041 final firm-year observations). The study’s descriptive findings reveal that most Chinese companies are reluctant to report their climate change information to the CDP as only 12% of Chinese companies participated in the CDP annual survey during the study period. However, using a logistic regression model, we find that CEOs with academic experience, foreign exposure and political connections positively affect firms’ decisions to engage in VCCR. The results remain robust when we use the propensity score matching technique to account for sample selection problems. Overall, the results are interpreted within the theoretical insights of the upper echelons perspective.

Carbon pricing is regarded as a crucial enabler for an accelerated low-carbon energy economy transformation to achieve temperature control targets. This paper studies carbon price forecasting considering historical carbon price series as an influencing factor. A hybrid model of a kernel-based extreme learning machine (KELM) optimized by the bat optimization algorithm based on wavelet transform is proposed. Firstly, the wavelet transform is used to eliminate the high-frequency components of the previous day’s carbon price data to improve the accuracy of prediction. Then, the partial auto-correlation function (PACF) is applied to analyse the correlation among historical carbon prices to select the inputs for the forecasting model. Additionally, adding a kernel function improves to some extent the fitting accuracy and stability of the traditional extreme learning machine. Finally, the parameters of the KELM model are optimized by the bat optimization algorithm. Two types of carbon prices in the China ETS were used to examine the forecasting ability of the proposed hybrid methodology. The empirical results show that the proposed hybrid methodology is more robust than other comparison models for carbon price forecasting.

This article examines the role of communities in carbon management as it relates to both climate change and energy policy at the local level and as a seedbed for grassroots activity. The article considers some of the implications of recent policy developments, particularly the ways in which the ‘lines of responsibility’ are now being drawn at the local level. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with local authorities in the UK and the USA, the article examines the political distinctions that are evident between the two situations and the ramifications of these for practical community engagement in carbon management at the local level. Community engagement is likely to be central to the delivery of CO2 reductions, but evidence so far points to a series of challenges that will require a greater emphasis on partnership working between community groups and formal decision-making bodies.

A reduction in the CO2 emission intensity (ton per gross domestic product) from a base year to a target year with different rates of reduction in each individual year can yield different cumulative CO2 emissions over time, which could have different effects on the climate. In this paper, an indicator is proposed to measure the extent to which the cumulative CO2 emissions are generated by a specific reduction trajectory of CO2 emission intensity, especially for emerging economies with a relatively higher economic growth rate. The proposed indicator is important for less-developed countries and regions in which economic growth is heavily reliant on energy and in which significant potential exists for improvement of energy efficiency. The indicator is applied to evaluate the CO2 emission reduction performance in China’s 12th Five-Year Plan period, and the result is not encouraging, especially when the likely gap between the energy conservation goals and temperature goals is further examined. Mitigation goals should be set by considering not only the performance in the final year, but also the reduction in cumulative emissions over the evaluation period.