Climate Change: Improvements Needed to Clarify National Priorities and Better Align Them with Federal Funding Decisions PDF Download

Author: David C. Trimble
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1437987982
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 95

View

Book Description
Climate change poses risks to many environmental and economic systems, including agriculture, infrastructure, and ecosystems. This report examines: (1) federal funding for climate change activities and how these activities are organized; (2) the extent to which methods for defining and reporting climate change funding are interpreted consistently across the federal government; (3) federal climate change strategic priorities, and the extent to which funding is aligned with these priorities; and (4) what options, if any, are available to better align federal climate change funding with strategic priorities. Includes recommendations. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand edition of an important, hard-to-find publication.

Author: U. s. Government Accountability Office
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781478106463
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 96

View

Book Description
GAO-11-317. Climate change poses risks to many environmental and economic systems, including agriculture, infrastructure, and ecosystems. Federal law has periodically required the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to report on federal climate change funding. GAO was asked to examine (1) federal funding for climate change activities and how these activities are organized; (2) the extent to which methods for defining and reporting climate change funding are interpreted consistently across the federal government; (3) federal climate change strategic priorities, and the extent to which funding is aligned with these priorities; and (4) what options, if any, are available to better align federal climate change funding with strategic priorities. GAO analyzed OMB funding reports and responses to a Web-based questionnaire sent to federal officials, reviewed available literature, and interviewed stakeholders. Funding for climate change activities reported by OMB increased from $4.6 billion in 2003 to $8.8 billion in 2010, and is organized in a complex, crosscutting system. OMB reports funding in four categories: technology to reduce emissions, science to better understand climate change, international assistance for developing countries, and wildlife adaptation to respond to actual or expected changes. Over this period, technology funding, the largest category, increased from $2.56 billion to $5.5 billion and increased as a share of total funding. OMB also reported $26.1 billion as funding for climate change programs and activities in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and tax expenditures to encourage emissions reductions, with $7.2 billion in federal revenue losses in 2010. Many federal entities manage related activities, including interagency programs that coordinate agency actions. Questionnaire responses suggest that methods for defining and reporting climate change funding are not interpreted consistently across the federal government. Respondents identified three methods for defining and reporting climate change funding, foremost of which is guidance contained in OMB Circular A-11. While most said their own organization consistently applied these methods internally, far fewer said that they were applied consistently across the government. Some, for example, noted that other agencies use their own interpretation of definitions, resulting in inconsistent accounting across the government, because of several factors, such as the difficulty in distinguishing between programs related and unrelated to climate change. Respondents, literature, and stakeholders identified two key factors that complicate efforts to align funding with priorities. First, notwithstanding existing coordinating mechanisms, questionnaire results indicated that federal officials do not have a shared understanding of strategic priorities. Second, respondents indicated that since mechanisms for aligning funding with priorities are nonbinding, they are limited when in conflict with agencies' own priorities. Among GAO's recommendations are that the appropriate entities within the Executive Office of the President (EOP), in consultation with Congress, clearly establish federal strategic climate change priorities and assess the effectiveness of current practices for defining and reporting related funding. Relevant EOP entities did not provide official written comments, but instead provided technical comments, which GAO incorporated as appropriate.~

Author: U S Government Accountability Office (G
Publisher: BiblioGov
ISBN: 9781289084974
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 98

View

Book Description
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent agency that works for Congress. The GAO watches over Congress, and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayers dollars. The Comptroller General of the United States is the leader of the GAO, and is appointed to a 15-year term by the U.S. President. The GAO wants to support Congress, while at the same time doing right by the citizens of the United States. They audit, investigate, perform analyses, issue legal decisions and report anything that the government is doing. This is one of their reports.

Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : National security
Languages : en
Pages : 574

View

Book Description

Author: Eike Albrecht
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3540776141
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 347

View

Book Description
The causes and effects of climate change are just as varied as the proposed solutions and approaches for dealing with the problem. Given the global character of climate change, comprehensive global cooperation is called for that leads to effective and appropriate international action in accordance with the respective responsibilities. These will inevitably differ depending on the capabilities and the social and economic situations of the respective actors. The contributions in this book present a variety of ideas, approaches and tools regarding the adaptation to climate change in specific countries and regions. In addition to examining (existing) legal instruments, they also focus on the implementation of economic instruments and planning tools, as well as their (further) development. Rather than simply discussing strategies to counteract climate change by reducing emissions, the authors also search for ways of actively adapting to climate change.

Author: Adrian Fozzard
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 257

View

Book Description
This Climate Change Public Expenditure and Institutional Review Sourcebook (CCPEIR) seeks to provide practitioners with the tools and information needed to respond to the public expenditure policy and management challenges arising from climate change. It is a series of notes and supporting materials written as a first step towards consolidating current research and international experience, identifying emerging practice and providing practical and applicable guidance for staff of central finance agencies, development agencies, environmental agencies and other international organizations working on climate change issues. In addition to emphasizing the importance of strengthening national systems throughout, the Sourcebook focuses on the specific public expenditure policy and management challenges posed by climate change, such as decision-making in the face of uncertain future climate conditions, expenditure planning for extreme weather and climate events, the lack of agreed budget definition and classification of climate change activities.

Author: Andrew J Hansen
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 161091712X
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 408

View

Book Description
Scientists have been warning for years that human activity is heating up the planet and climate change is under way. We are only just beginning to acknowledge the serious effects this will have on all life on Earth. The federal government is crafting broad-scale strategies to protect wildland ecosystems from the worst effects of climate change. One of the greatest challenges is to get the latest science into the hands of resource managers entrusted with vulnerable wildland ecosystems. This book examines climate and land-use changes in montane environments, assesses the vulnerability of species and ecosystems to these changes, and provides resource managers with collaborative management approaches to mitigate expected impacts. Climate Change in Wildlands proposes a new kind of collaboration between scientists and managers--a science-derived framework and common-sense approaches for keeping parks and protected areas healthy on a rapidly changing planet.

Author: Ahjond S. Garmestani
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231536356
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 417

View

Book Description
Environmental law envisions ecological systems as existing in an equilibrium state, reinforcing a rigid legal framework unable to absorb rapid environmental changes and innovations in sustainability. For the past four decades, "resilience theory," which embraces uncertainty and nonlinear dynamics in complex adaptive systems, has provided a robust, invaluable foundation for sound environmental management. Reforming American law to incorporate this knowledge is the key to sustainability. This volume features top legal and resilience scholars speaking on resilience theory and its legal applications to climate change, biodiversity, national parks, and water law.

Author: Richard L. Stroup
Publisher: Cato Institute
ISBN: 1944424016
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 116

View

Book Description
It’s one thing to be passionate about protecting the environment. It’s another to be successful at it. This history of environmentalism includes a constant shift from one concern to another, and many laws have been enacted to clean up pollution or preserve natural beauty. However, many of these laws are ineffective and others have had unintended consequences. In this updated edition, Richard Stroup explains how economics applies to environmental decisionmaking, why many of our environmental laws have failed us, and how we might go about doing a better job of protecting nature. Eco-nomics is an indispensable guide to learning how to think about both economics and the environment.

Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Disaster relief
Languages : en
Pages : 82

View

Book Description