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The reduction of carbon emissions, along with other greenhouse gases (GHGs), has become a vitally important task of international, national and local actors. If we understand governance as the creation of “conditions for ordered rule and collective action” then, given the fact that the reduction of carbon emissions will require concerted collective action, it follows that the governance of carbon will be of paramount concern. We have seen numerous international conferences over the past 20 years tasked with finding a way of facilitating this, and while international agreements have been infamously difficult to reach, action at the national level has been much more effective. In the UK, the Climate Change Act 2008 committed the government to meeting significant carbon reduction targets. In England, these carbon emissions are governed using numerous different instruments, which involve a variety of actors. While it has been argued by authors like Rhodes that there has been a “hollowing out” of the nation state, and that governments have lost their capabilities to govern to a variety of non-state actors and the European Union, the case of carbon governance in England actually runs counter to this. The government body responsible for the task, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), is the “main external dynamic” behind governing actions in this area, and “rather than hollowing out central co-ordination”. The department may rely on other bodies to deliver its desired outcomes, but it is still ultimately responsible for the imposition of the rules and regulations that “steer (carbon) governmental action at the national level”. It is therefore evident that carbon governance in England is hierarchical in nature, in that “legislative decisions and executive decisions” are the main dynamic behind carbon governance action. This does not deny the existence of a network of bodies around DECC who are part of the process, but they are supplementary actors who are steered by central decisions. This article focuses on carbon governance in England as the other countries of the UK all have devolved assemblies who are responsible for the governance of carbon emissions in their respective countries.
The Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) is a carbon offset and carbon reduction scheme to lower CO2 emissions for international flights, to curb the aviation impact on climate change.
The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is a carbon tariff on carbon intensive products, such as steel, cement and some electricity, imported to the European Union. Legislated as part of the European Green Deal, it takes effect in 2026, with reporting starting in 2023. CBAM was passed by the European Parliament with 450 votes for, 115 against, and 55 abstentions and entered into force on 17 May 2023.
References
- ↑ "Environmental Protection Agency". Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
- ↑ UK Use of IT Tools in the EU ETS Compliance Process, p4
- ↑ "Ebace Aero p.23" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
- ↑ Edie Ireland News Article: Irish and British aviation emissions cutting work underway
<https://ets.epa.ie/Common/Help.aspx#gen20 Archived 5 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine /> <http://ec.europa.eu/clima/events/0008/s2_o_joel_uk_ea.pdf /> <https://web.archive.org/web/20111007100206/http://www.ebace.aero/2011/archives/presentations/20110518-wiese-eu-ets-operators-responsibility-liabilities.pdf />