From foot-draggers to strategic counter-partners : the dynamics of U.S. and Chinese policies for tackling climate change

As can been seen from the U.S.'s non-ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, together with the negotiations toward the post-Kyoto Protocol framework, the U.S. and China have been quarrelling over their responsibilities and have contradicted one another over the introduction of compulsory domestic greenhouse gases emission reduction targets. Therefore, for a long time, it has been argued that the controversy between the two countries has hindered the process of forging an international agreement to deal with climate change. On the other hand, Sino-U.S. bilateral cooperation on climate change has significantly increased in recent years in summit talks and their Strategic & Economic Dialogue (S&ED), especially after the 15th Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen, one of whose aims was to facilitate positive negotiations for the post-Kyoto Protocol agreement. Analyzing this in the light of recent developments, we find that the U.S. and China have tended to address climate change and related issues from a pluralistic viewpoint and approach, by regarding the achievement of bilateral cooperation and global agreements as their common strategic objective.

Authoritarianism and labor market : preference of labor policies in the Arab Gulf countries

Migrant and labor issues are a primary concern in the Arab Gulf countries. With focus on the economic and political conditions that influence actors' decisions when framing labor policies, this study analyzes how preferences of such policies are formed and explains why the governments of the Arab Gulf countries attempt to implement less economical policies. The findings suggest that governments avoid concessions for enterprises required to implement more economical policies and chose uneconomical ones to maintain authoritarian regimes.

The emission reduction effect and economic impact of an energy tax vs. a carbon tax in China : a dynamic CGE model analysis

Chinese government commits to reach its peak carbon emissions before 2030, which requires China to implement new policies. Using a CGE model, this study conducts simulation studies on the functions of an energy tax and a carbon tax and analyzes their effects on macro-economic indices. The Chinese economy is affected at an acceptable level by the two taxes. GDP will lose less than 0.8% with a carbon tax of 100, 50, or 10 RMB/ton CO2 or 5% of the delivery price of an energy tax. Thus, the loss of real disposable personal income is smaller. Compared with implementing a single tax, a combined carbon and energy tax induces more emission reductions with relatively smaller economic costs. With these taxes, the domestic competitiveness of energy intensive industries is improved. Additionally, we found that the sooner such taxes are launched, the smaller the economic costs and the more significant the achieved emission reductions.

Integrated economic-hydrologic analysis of policy responses

Water is a vital resource, but also a critical limiting factor for economic and social development in many parts of the world. The recent rapid growth in human population and water use for social and economic development is increasing the pressure on water resources and the environment, as well as leading to growing conflicts among competing water use sectors (agriculture, urban, tourism, industry) and regions (Gleick et al., 2009; World Bank, 2006). In Spain, as in many other arid and semi-arid regions affected by drought and wide climate variability, irrigated agriculture is responsible for most consumptive water use and plays an important role in sustaining rural livelihoods (Varela-Ortega, 2007). Historically, the evolution of irrigation has been based on publicly-funded irrigation development plans that promoted economic growth and improved the socio-economic conditions of rural farmers in agrarian Spain, but increased environmental damage and led to excessive and inefficient exploitation of water resources (Garrido and Llamas, 2010; Varela-Ortega et al., 2010). Currently, water policies in Spain focus on rehabilitating and improving the efficiency of irrigation systems, and are moving from technocratic towards integrated water management strategies driven by the European Union (EU) Water Framework Directive (WFD).

An economic modelling approach for vulnerability assesment in irrigation farms in Spain

In the last years, vulnerability assessment has emerged as a need for policy making instead of being a pure academic exercise (Hinkel, 2010). In the current context of changing climate, increasing water scarcity threatens economic activities in many arid or semi-arid regions of the World. Climate change (CC) science and policy debates have traditionally focused on CC mitigation and impact assessment (Krysanova et al., 2010). However, even if mitigation policies are successfully enforced some climate change is still expected. Then, adaptation is strongly necessary and, for that, improved knowledge on vulnerability and adaptive capacity is required.

An example of integration between en economic and an hydrologic model in the framework of water resource management problems

Growing scarcity, increasing demand and bad management of water resources are causing weighty competition for water and consequently managers are facing more and more pressure in an attempt to satisfy users? requirement. In many regions agriculture is one of the most important users at river basin scale since it concentrates high volumes of water consumption during relatively short periods (irrigation season), with a significant economic, social and environmental impact. The interdisciplinary characteristics of related water resources problems require, as established in the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC, an integrated and participative approach to water management and assigns an essential role to economic analysis as a decision support tool. For this reason, a methodology is developed to analyse the economic and environmental implications of water resource management under different scenarios, with a focus on the agricultural sector. This research integrates both economic and hydrologic components in modelling, defining scenarios of water resource management with the goal of preventing critical situations, such as droughts. The model follows the Positive Mathematical Programming (PMP) approach, an innovative methodology successfully used for agricultural policy analysis in the last decade and also applied in several analyses regarding water use in agriculture. This approach has, among others, the very important capability of perfectly calibrating the baseline scenario using a very limited database. However one important disadvantage is its limited capacity to simulate activities non-observed during the reference period but which could be adopted if the scenario changed. To overcome this problem the classical methodology is extended in order to simulate a more realistic farmers? response to new agricultural policies or modified water availability. In this way an economic model has been developed to reproduce the farmers? behaviour within two irrigation districts in the Tiber High Valley. This economic model is then integrated with SIMBAT, an hydrologic model developed for the Tiber basin which allows to simulate the balance between the water volumes available at the Montedoglio dam and the water volumes required by the various irrigation users.

The Economic Value of Residential Land in Historical Areas: An Application of the Residual Method to the Secondary Market

Land value bears significant weight in house prices in historical town centers. An essential aim for regulating the mortgage market, particularly in the financial and property crisis that countries such as Spain are undergoing, is to have at hand objective procedures for its valuation, whatever the conditions (location, construction, planning). Of all the factors contributing to house price make-up, the land is the only one whose value does not depend on acquisition cost, but rather on the location-time binomial. That is to say, the specific circumstances at that point and at the exact moment of valuation. For this reason, the most commonly applied procedure for land valuation in town centers is the use of the residual method: once the selling price of new housing in a district is known, the other necessary costs and expenses of development are deducted, including those of building and the developer’s profit. The value left is that of the land. To apply these procedures it is vital to have figures such as building costs, technical fees, tax costs, etc. But, above all, it is essential to obtain the selling price of the new housing. This is not always feasible, on account of the lack of newbuild development in this location. This shortage of information occurs in historical town cities, where urban renewal is slight due to the heritage-protection policies, and where, nevertheless there is substantial activity in the secondary market. In these circumstances, as an alternative for land valuation in consolidated urban areas, we have the adaptation of the residual method to the particular characteristics of the secondary market. To these ends, there is the proposal for the appreciation of the dwelling which follows, in a backwards direction, the application of traditional depreciation methods proposed by the various valuation manuals and guidelines. The reliability of the results obtained is analyzed by contrasting it with published figures for newly-built properties, according to different rules applied in administrative appraisals in Spain and the incidence of an eventual correction due to conservation state.

Balancing groundwater conservation and rural livelihoods under water and climate uncertainties: An integrated hydro-economic modeling framework

In arid countries worldwide, social conflicts between irrigation-based human development and the conservation of aquatic ecosystems are widespread and attract many public debates. This research focuses on the analysis of water and agricultural policies aimed at conserving groundwater resources and maintaining rurallivelihoods in a basin in Spain's central arid region. Intensive groundwater mining for irrigation has caused overexploitation of the basin's large aquifer, the degradation of reputed wetlands and has given rise to notable social conflicts over the years. With the aim of tackling the multifaceted socio-ecological interactions of complex water systems, the methodology used in this study consists in a novel integration into a common platform of an economic optimization model and a hydrology model WEAP (Water Evaluation And Planning system). This robust tool is used to analyze the spatial and temporal effects of different water and agricultural policies under different climate scenarios. It permits the prediction of different climate and policy outcomes across farm types (water stress impacts and adaptation), at basin's level (aquifer recovery), and along the policies’ implementation horizon (short and long run). Results show that the region's current quota-based water policies may contribute to reduce water consumption in the farms but will not be able to recover the aquifer and will inflict income losses to the rural communities. This situation would worsen in case of drought. Economies of scale and technology are evidenced as larger farms with cropping diversification and those equipped with modern irrigation will better adapt to water stress conditions. However, the long-term sustainability of the aquifer and the maintenance of rurallivelihoods will be attained only if additional policy measures are put in place such as the control of illegal abstractions and the establishing of a water bank. Within the policy domain, the research contributes to the new sustainable development strategy of the EU by concluding that, in water-scarce regions, effective integration of water and agricultural policies is essential for achieving the water protection objectives of the EU policies. Therefore, the design and enforcement of well-balanced region-specific polices is a major task faced by policy makers for achieving successful water management that will ensure nature protection and human development at tolerable social costs. From a methodological perspective, this research initiative contributes to better address hydrological questions as well as economic and social issues in complex water and human systems. Its integrated vision provides a valuable illustration to inform water policy and management decisions within contexts of water-related conflicts worldwide.

Modeling impact assessment of transport policies through a multiregional input-output integrated approach

El objetivo de esta investigación es desarrollar una metodología para estimar los potenciales impactos económicos y de transporte generados por la aplicación de políticas en el sector transporte. Los departamentos de transporte y otras instituciones gubernamentales relacionadas se encuentran interesadas en estos análisis debido a que son presentados comúnmente de forma errónea por la insuficiencia de datos o por la falta de metodologías adecuadas. La presente investigación tiene por objeto llenar este vacío haciendo un análisis exhaustivo de las técnicas disponibles que coincidan con ese propósito. Se ha realizado un análisis que ha identificado las diferencias cuando son aplicados para la valoración de los beneficios para el usuario o para otros efectos como aspectos sociales. Como resultado de ello, esta investigación ofrece un enfoque integrado que incluye un modelo Input-Output de múltiples regiones basado en la utilidad aleatoria (RUBMRIO), y un modelo de red de transporte por carretera. Este modelo permite la reproducción con mayor detalle y realismo del transporte de mercancías que por medio de su estructura sectorial identifica los vínculos de las compras y ventas inter-industriales dentro de un país utilizando los servicios del transporte de mercancías. Por esta razón, el modelo integrado es aplicable a diversas políticas de transporte. En efecto, el enfoque se ha aplicado para estudiar los efectos macroeconómicos regionales de la implementación de dos políticas diferentes en el sistema de transporte de mercancías de España, tales como la tarificación basada en la distancia recorrida por vehículo-kilómetro (€/km) aplicada a los vehículos del transporte de mercancías, y para la introducción de vehículos más largos y pesados de mercancías en la red de carreteras de España. El enfoque metodológico se ha evaluado caso por caso teniendo en cuenta una selección de la red de carreteras que unen las capitales de las regiones españolas. También se ha tenido en cuenta una dimensión económica a través de una tabla Input-Output de múltiples regiones (MRIO) y la base de datos de conteo de tráfico existente para realizar la validación del modelo. El enfoque integrado reproduce las condiciones de comercio observadas entre las regiones usando el sistema de transporte de mercancías por carretera, y que permite por comparación con los escenarios de políticas, determinar las contribuciones a los cambios distributivos y generativos. Así pues, el análisis estima los impactos económicos en cualquier región considerando los cambios en el Producto Interno Bruto (PIB) y el empleo. El enfoque identifica los cambios en el sistema de transporte a través de todos los caminos de la red de transporte a través de las medidas de efectividad (MOEs). Los resultados presentados en esta investigación proporcionan evidencia sustancial de que en la evaluación de las políticas de transporte, es necesario establecer un vínculo entre la estructura económica de las regiones y de los servicios de transporte. Los análisis muestran que para la mayoría de las regiones del país, los cambios son evidentes para el PIB y el empleo, ya que el comercio se fomenta o se inhibe. El enfoque muestra cómo el tráfico se desvía en ambas políticas, y también determina detalles de las emisiones de contaminantes en los dos escenarios. Además, las políticas de fijación de precios o de regulación de los sistemas de transporte de mercancías por carretera dirigidas a los productores y consumidores en las regiones promoverán transformaciones regionales afectando todo el país, y esto conduce a conclusiones diferentes. Así mismo, este enfoque integrado podría ser útil para evaluar otras políticas y otros países en todo el mundo. The purpose of this research is to develop a methodological approach aimed at assessing the potential economic and transportation impacts of transport policies. Transportation departments and other related government parties are interested in such analysis because it is commonly misrepresented for the insufficiency of data and suitable methodologies available. This research is directed at filling this gap by making a comprehensive analysis of the available techniques that match with that purpose. The differences when they are applied for the valuation of user benefits or for other impacts as social matters have been identified. As a result, this research presents an integrated approach which includes both a random utility-based multiregional Input-Output model (RUBMRIO), and a road transport network model. This model accounts for freight transport with more detail and realism because its commodity-based structure traces the linkages of inter-industry purchases and sales that use freight services within a given country. For this reason, the integrated model is applicable to various transport policies. In fact, the approach is applied to study the regional macroeconomic effects of implementing two different policies in the freight transport system of Spain, such as a distance-based charge in vehicle-kilometer (€/km) for Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs), and the introduction of Longer and Heavier Vehicles (LHVs) in the road network of Spain. The methodological approach has been evaluated on a case by case basis considering a selected road network of highways linking the capitals of the Spanish regions. It has also considered an economic dimension through a Multiregional Input Output Table (MRIO) and the existing traffic count database used in the model validation. The integrated approach replicates observed conditions of trade among regions using road freight transport systems that determine contributions to distributional and generative changes by comparison with policy scenarios. Therefore, the model estimates economic impacts in any given area by considering changes in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), employment (jobs), and in the transportation system across all paths of the transport network considering Measures of effectiveness (MOEs). The results presented in this research provide substantive evidence that in the assessment of transport policies it is necessary to establish a link between the economic structure of regions and the transportation services. The analysis shows that for most regions in the country, GDP and employment changes are noticeable when trade is encouraged or discouraged. This approach shows how traffic is diverted in both policies, and also provides details of the pollutant emissions in both scenarios. Furthermore, policies, such as pricing or regulation of road freight transportation systems, directed to producers and consumers in regions will promote different regional transformations across the country, and this lead to different conclusions. In addition, this integrated approach could be useful to assess other policies and countries worldwide.

Joint assessment of water and agricultural policies: a Pan-European multidimensional modelling approach.

Sustainability and the food-water-environment nexus. Food-water linkages in global agro-economic models. The CAPRI water module. Potential to jointly assess food and water policies. Pilot case study. Further development.

Integrated assessment of policy interventions for promoting sustainable irrigation in semi-arid environments: A hydro-economic modeling approach

Sustaining irrigated agriculture to meet food production needs while maintaining aquatic ecosystems is at the heart of many policy debates in various parts of the world, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. Researchers and practitioners are increasingly calling for integrated approaches, and policy-makers are progressively supporting the inclusion of ecological and social aspects in water management programs. This paper contributes to this policy debate by providing an integrated economic-hydrologic modeling framework that captures the socio-economic and environmental effects of various policy initiatives and climate variability. This modeling integration includes a risk-based economic optimization model and a hydrologic water management simulation model that have been specified for the Middle Guadiana basin, a vulnerable drought-prone agro-ecological area with highly regulated river systems in southwest Spain. Namely, two key water policy interventions were investigated: the implementation of minimum environmental flows (supported by the European Water Framework Directive, EU WFD), and a reduction in the legal amount of water delivered for irrigation (planned measure included in the new Guadiana River Basin Management Plan, GRBMP, still under discussion). Results indicate that current patterns of excessive water use for irrigation in the basin may put environmental flow demands at risk, jeopardizing the WFD s goal of restoring the ?good ecological status? of water bodies by 2015. Conflicts between environmental and agricultural water uses will be stressed during prolonged dry episodes, and particularly in summer low-flow periods, when there is an important increase of crop irrigation water requirements. Securing minimum stream flows would entail a substantial reduction in irrigation water use for rice cultivation, which might affect the profitability and economic viability of small rice-growing farms located upstream in the river. The new GRBMP could contribute to balance competing water demands in the basin and to increase economic water productivity, but might not be sufficient to ensure the provision of environmental flows as required by the WFD. A thoroughly revision of the basin s water use concession system for irrigation seems to be needed in order to bring the GRBMP in line with the WFD objectives. Furthermore, the study illustrates that social, economic, institutional, and technological factors, in addition to bio-physical conditions, are important issues to be considered for designing and developing water management strategies. The research initiative presented in this paper demonstrates that hydro-economic models can explicitly integrate all these issues, constituting a valuable tool that could assist policy makers for implementing sustainable irrigation policies.

Exploring public support for climate change adaptation policies in the Mediterranean region: A case study in Southern Spain.

The understanding of public perception to climate change is an essential factor in the development of adaptation policies. In the Mediterranean, agriculture, as the largest consumer of freshwater, has the highest potential to suffer adverse impacts of climate change. Future water availability predictions, conflicting interests among stakeholders and an increasing social concern about the environment further aggravate the situation. Therefore studying public support for adaptation policies can play a key role in successfully adapting the sector. The study site, approximately 36,000 hectares of rice fields in Seville (Spain), exemplifies an area in the Mediterranean where water needs to be carefully re-allocated in view of the limitations anticipated by climate change scenarios; in particular where conflicts will arise between water for agriculture and water for ‘natural’ ecosystems. This paper proposes an ex-ante evaluation of the societal support for adaptation policies. A survey of 117 respondents was conducted and a Logit model utilized to analyze which predictors positively or negatively affect people's support for adaptation policies. Results suggest that the main barriers to support these policies were economic losses and low climate change concern whereas the primary motivation factor was environmental commitment. Additionally, the main socio-demographic determinants were gender, age, education and family structure. In order to improve societal support for climate change adaptation policies, implementing educational and awareness raising initiatives will be the main challenges for policy makers to overcome.

Beyond the Regional Development Paradigm: The Limits of Transport-Based Policies in Spain

This paper reviews the transport and economic development trends for the last 20 years in Spain at a detailed (province or NUTS3) level. As Spain has sustained a significant transport investment effort in this period, with the support of EU funding, this review offers an excellent perspective to put some further light on how the transport-and-regional-development paradigm has shaped decision-making in the transport sector. The paper reviews changes in gross domestic product (GDP), population and motorway endowment for the 47 provinces in mainland Spain. Regional development trends seem to be closely associated to particular local conditions, not clearly associated to transport (motorway) infrastructure endowment. This is consistent with the fact that transport infrastructure has not generally been a critical bottleneck for trade and economic activity during this period. The paper concludes that, in general terms, transport infrastructure investment does not seem to be clearly associated to the otherwise substantial differences in regional development among Spanish mainland provinces during this period.

The impact of the economic crisis and policy actions on GHG emissions from road transport in Spain

Road traffic is the greatest contributor to the carbon footprint of the transport sector and reducing it has become one of the main targets of sustainable transport policies. An analysis of the main factors influencing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is essential for designing new energy- and environmentally efficient strategies for the road transport. This paper addresses this need by (i) identifying factors which influence the carbon footprint, including traffic activity, fuel economy and socioeconomic development; and (ii) proposing a methodological framework which uses Modified Laspeyres Index decomposition to analyze the effect of important drivers on the changes in emissions of road transport in Spain during the period from 1990 to 2010. The results demonstrate that the country׳s economic growth has been closely linked to the rise in GHG emissions. The innovative contribution of this paper is the special analysis of the changes in mobility patterns and GHG emissions during the economic crisis, when, for the first time, Spanish road traffic emissions decreased. The reduction of road transport and improved energy efficiency has been powerful contributors to this decrease, demonstrating the effectiveness of energy-saving measures. On the basis of this analysis, several tailored policy recommendations have been suggested for future implementation.

Evaluación de los co-beneficios sobre el desarrollo sostenible y la reducción de la pobreza de proyectos de mitigación del cambio climático en Brasil

El cambio climático y los diferentes aspectos del concepto de “desarrollo” están intrínsecamente interconectados. Por un lado, el desarrollo económico de nuestras sociedades ha contribuido a un aumento insostenible de las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero, las cuales están desestabilizando el sistema climático global, generando al mismo tiempo una distribución desigual de la capacidad de las personas para hacer frente a estos cambios. Por otro lado, en la actualidad existe un amplio consenso sobre que el cambio climático impacta directamente y de manera negativa sobre el denominando desarrollo sostenible. De igual manera, cada vez existe un mayor consenso de que el cambio climático va a desafiar sustancialmente nuestra capacidad de erradicar la pobreza a medio y largo plazo. Ante esta realidad, no cabe duda de que las estrategias de adaptación son esenciales para mantener el desarrollo. Es por esto que hasta el momento, los mayores esfuerzos realizados por unir las agendas globales de la lucha contra la pobreza y del cambio climático se han dado en el entorno de la adaptación al cambio climático. Sin embargo, cada vez son más los actores que defienden, desde distintos escenarios, que existen sinergias entre la mitigación de emisiones y la mejora de las condiciones de vida de las poblaciones más vulnerables, favoreciendo así un “desarrollo sostenible” sin disminuir los recursos financieros destinados a la adaptación. Para hacer efectivo este potencial, es imprescindible identificar diseños de estrategias de mitigación que incrementen los resultados de desarrollo, contribuyendo al desarrollo sostenible al mismo tiempo que a reducir la pobreza. En este contexto se sitúa el objetivo principal de esta investigación, consistente en analizar los co-beneficios locales, para el desarrollo sostenible y la reducción la pobreza, de proyectos de mitigación del cambio climático que se implementan en Brasil. Por co-beneficios se entienden, en el lenguaje de las discusiones internacionales de cambio climático, aquellos beneficios que van más allá de la reducción de emisiones de Gases de Efecto Invernadero (GEI) intrínsecas por definición a los proyectos de mitigación. Los proyectos de mitigación más relevantes hasta el momento bajo el paraguas de la Convención Marco de las Naciones Unidas para el Cambio Climático (CMNUCC), son los denominados Mecanismos de Desarrollo Limpio (MDL) del Protocolo de Kioto. Sin embargo, existen alternativas de proyectos de mitigación (tales como los denominados “estándares adicionales” a los MDL de los Mercados Voluntarios de Carbono y las Tecnologías Sociales), que también serán tenidos en cuenta en el marco de este estudio. La elección del tema se justifica por la relevancia del mismo en un momento histórico en el que se está decidiendo el futuro del régimen climático a partir del año 2020. Aunque en el momento de redactar este documento, todavía no se ha acordado la forma que tendrán los futuros instrumentos de mitigación, sí que se sabe que los co-beneficios de estos instrumentos serán tan importantes, o incluso más, que las reducciones de GEI que generan. Esto se debe, principalmente, a las presiones realizadas en las negociaciones climáticas por parte de los países menos desarrollados, para los cuales el mayor incentivo de formar parte de dichas negociaciones se basa principalmente en estos potenciales co-beneficios. Los resultados de la tesis se estructuran alrededor de tres preguntas de investigación: ¿cómo están contribuyendo los MDL implementados en Brasil a generar co-beneficios que fomenten el desarrollo sostenible y reduzcan la pobreza?; ¿existen proyectos de mitigación en Brasil que por tener compromisos más exigentes en cuanto a su contribución al desarrollo sostenible y/o la reducción de la pobreza que los MDL estén siendo más eficientes que estos en relación a los co-beneficios que generan?; y ¿qué características de los proyectos de mitigación pueden resultar críticas para potenciar sus co-beneficios en las comunidades en las que se implementan? Para dar respuesta a estas preguntas, se ha desarrollado durante cuatro años una labor de investigación estructurada en varias fases y en la que se combinan diversas metodologías, que abarcan desde el desarrollo de un modelo de análisis de cobeneficios, hasta la aplicación del mismo tanto a nivel documental sobre 194 documentos de diseño de proyecto (denominado análisis ex-ante), como a través de 20 casos de estudio (denominado análisis ex-post). Con la realización de esta investigación, se ha confirmado que los requisitos existentes hasta el momento para registrar un proyecto como MDL bajo la CMNUCC no favorecen sustancialmente la generación de co-beneficios locales para las comunidades en las que se implementan. Adicionalmente, se han identificado prácticas y factores, que vinculadas a las actividades intrínsecas de los proyectos de mitigación, son efectivas para incrementar sus co-beneficios. Estas prácticas y factores podrán ser tenidas en cuenta tanto para mejorar los requisitos de los actuales proyectos MDL, como para apoyar la definición de los nuevos instrumentos climáticos. ABSTRACT Climate change and development are inextricably linked. On the one hand, the economic development of our societies has contributed to the unsustainable increase of Green House Gases emissions, which are destabilizing the global climate system while fostering an unequal distribution of people´s ability to cope with these changes. On the other hand, there is now a consensus that climate change directly impacts the so-called sustainable development. Likely, there is a growing agreement that climate change will substantially threaten our capacity to eradicate poverty in the medium and long term. Given this reality, there is no doubt that adaptation strategies are essentials to keep development. This is why, to date, much of the focus on poverty in the context of climate change has been on adaptation However, without diverting resources from adaptation, there may exist the potential to synergize efforts to mitigate emissions, contribute to sustainable development and reduce poverty. To fulfil this potential, it is key identifying how mitigation strategies can also support sustainable development and reduce poverty. In this context, the main purpose of this investigation is to explore the co-benefits, for sustainable development and for poverty reduction, of climate change mitigation projects being implemented in Brazil. In recent years the term co-benefits, has been used by policy makers and academics to refer the potentially large and diverse range of collateral benefits that can be associated with climate change mitigation policies in addition to the direct avoided climate impact benefits. The most relevant mitigation projects developed during the last years under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are the so-called Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol. Thus, this research will analyse this official mechanism. However, there are alternatives to the mitigation projects (such as the "add-on standards" of the Voluntary Carbon Markets, and the Social Technologies) that will also be assessed as part of the research. The selection of this research theme is justified because its relevance in a historic moment in which proposals for a future climate regime after 2020 are being negotiated. Although at the moment of writing this document, there is not a common understanding on the shape of the new mitigation instruments, there is a great agreement about the importance of the co-benefits of such instruments, which may be even more important for the Least Developed Countries that their expected greenhouse gases emissions reductions. The results of the thesis are structured around three research questions: how are the CDM projects being implemented in Brazil generating local co-benefits that foster sustainable development and poverty reduction?; are other mitigation projects in Brazil that due to their more stringent sustainable development and/o poverty reduction criteria, any more successful at delivering co-benefits than regular CDM projects?; and what are the distinguishing characteristics of mitigation projects that are successful at delivering co-benefits? To answer these research questions, during four years it has been developed a research work structured in several phases and combining various methodologies. Those methodologies cover from the development of a co-benefits assessment model, to the application of such model both to a desktop analysis of 194 project design documents, and to 20 case studies using field data based on site visits to the project sites. With the completion of this research, it has been confirmed that current requirements to register a CDM project under the UNFCCC not substantially favour co-benefits at the local level. In addition, some practices and factors enablers of co-benefits have been identified. These characteristics may be taken into consideration to improve the current CDM and to support the definition of the new international market mechanisms for climate mitigation.