Emission Trading Schemes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Emission Trading Schemes - Essay Example [1]. Emissions' trading has emerged over the last two decades as the preferred environmental policy tool. The key advantage of emissions trading is that firms can flexibly choose to meet their targets, rather than use predetermined technologies or standards - i.e., command-and-control policies. Emissions sources with low-cost reduction opportunities can over comply and sell their additional allowances to sources where reductions would be more difficult and costly. This leads to the lowest overall cost, or most economically efficient solution. Emissions' trading is particularly relevant to climate change mitigation as carbon dioxide (CO2) and other green-house gases (GHGs) have the same effect wherever they are emitted and compliance costs differ dramatically across sources. Hence there is considerable scope for trading, and opportunity for considerable gains from these trades. Experience in the United States and other countries have shown that well-designed emissions trading programs can reduce environmental policy costs by as much as 50%. [1]. The origins of the EU-ETS date back to 1992 when 180 countries signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Following negotiations under this agreement, the Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1997, committing the industrialized nations to an averaged 5.2% reduction from 1990 levels by the first commitment period in 2008-2012. The EU-ETS officially began on January 1, 2005 and consists of a "warm-up" phase from 2005-2007 and then successive 5-year periods, with the second phase from 2008-2012 set to coincide with the Kyoto compliance period. Six key industrial sectors are covered, notably electricity and heat production plants greater than 20MW capacity. Other included sectors (with specific facility size thresholds) are oil refineries, coke ovens, metal ore and steel installations, cement kilns, glass manufacturing, ceramics manufacturing, and paper, pulp and board mills. These sectors are likely to account for around 12,000 installations (depending on the final details of the specification process), and represent close to half of the total CO2 emissions from the EU-25 countries. Participating companies are allocated allowances, each allowance representing a ton of the relevant emission, in this case carbon dioxide equivalent. Emissions' trading allows companies to emit in excess of their allocation of a llowances by purchasing allowances from the market. Similarly, a company that emits less than its allocation of allowances can sell its surplus allowances. [1]. Monitoring and reporting of an installation's emissions are carried out based on binding EU-wide guidelines mainly through fuel purchases and use of emissions factors, although continuous monitoring and third party verification are allowed. All self-reported emissions must be verified by an independent third party (similar to an auditor reviewing a firm's financial accounts). [2].Methodologies are under development to allow inclusion of additional sources, greenhouse gases and emissions factors. Hefty fines exists for non-compliance (40 Euro/TCO2 from 2005-2007, then 100Euro/TCO2 from 2008 onwards), levels that are considerably higher than most predictions of allowance prices. [3]. Even though the EU ETS will ultimately be judged on the basis of its effectiveness as a tool to reduce GHG emissions, the underlying rationale for choosing emissions trading was based on economic

Womens Crisis Services of Waterloo Region Organization Essay

Womens Crisis Services of Waterloo Region Organization - Essay Example This paper illustrates that Haven and Anselma were functioning independently up until 2001 when they merged to form the present Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region (WCSWR). This also resulted in the integration of the board of directors and the creation of the post of the executive director who has the responsibility of managing the two facilities. The adoption of a dragonfly as its logo reflects the organizations’ literal shift from violence against women and children. The tagline â€Å"Moving beyond violence† is an enhancement of the message that achievement of equality is determined by human courage and initiative to propagate human values and leave violence against women in the past. Among its services is the residential program that serves women above the age of 16 either with or without children. These women include those who are being abused intimately or experiencing problems in a domestic relationship. The organization also has the outreach and ed ucation services that work closely with the process of transitioning women to independence, and also those seeking assistance from their current abusive situations. The education program functions to provide the community and professionals with the required information on healthy relationships. Therefore, they are guided by the fact that there should be synergistic efforts towards achieving a better world without violence against women with a mission of providing shelter, education and public sensitization to all the abused women and children. Therefore, it has grown to become the subsequent vision that any form of aggression against women and children will not be tolerated by society. The organization’s central contributions lie in the empowerment of women against this vice in the advent of calls for equality among males and females. This organization is also playing a fundamental part in refining the community regarding the costs of domestic violence and the benefits of avo iding it. It is also playing a significant role in creating conflict resolutions and ways to avoid the emergence of these conflicts. In another word, it means that the organization is working on the creation, sustainability and dissemination of peace in homes hence alleviating this problem of violence that is directed by men towards women.

Report on apple and INTO giving Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Report on apple and INTO giving - Assignment Example It raises funds through various activities such as the 2009 event when they drove three second hand vehicles across many countries to raise money for charity in Gambia (Finkle and Mallin, 2010). Apple is a corporation and a profit making organization, it is owned by different shareholders (Dediu, 2013). On contrary, INTO Giving is a non-profit making organization. It is owned by INTO university partnership with the aim of facilitating education access to the less fortunate children in the world. The fact that the ownership is different, it’s suitable since the owners have different interests in the organization. Apple`s owners are profit driven while INTO Giving`s owners aim at helping the needy. INTO Giving has an organization structure that comprises the following, the board chairman, director and Treasurer, operations director and the fundraising and communications manager. The members of this organization`s manages the organization to meet the charity work which is its main. On the other hand, apple has an organization structure that comprises the following, the board chairman, senior vice presidents from various departments, vice presidents and the employees (Dediu, 2013; Yang, 2013). The structure of the two organizations differs because of their goals of operation resulting to omission of some departments. (Polidoro, 2012) It is the beliefs, values, norms, languages, way of doing things and habits in an organization (Ravasi and Schultz, 2006). Apple’s culture is collaborative and the company is organized like a start-up. The company recognizes performance and awarding its best employees (Yang, 2013). The Company also insists on accountability for all its employees, a culture it has maintained to date. On the other hand, INTO Giving has maintained a culture of monitoring the performance of its employees across the many countries it offers its charity services. INTO Giving mission states,

World War Ii In Southeast Asia History Essay

World War Ii In Southeast Asia History Essay Japanese occupation in Indochina. The Japanese Invasion of French Indochina, also known as the Vietnam Expedition, was a move of Japanese Empire in September 1940, during the Second Sino-Japanese War, to prevent China from importing arms and fuel through French Indochina, especially through Sino-Vietnam border. With the outbreak of World War II, France was force to withdraw its best troops from Indochina in order to help their force in the war in Europe. Thus, it was a wide open opportunity to the Japanese. Japan saw that French Indochina would need to be protected so that other foreign powers couldnt seek to take advantage of Frances plight. Earlier, Japan demanded the French colonial to close the Hanoi-Kunming railway in order to abandon the shipments of war-related goods from Vietnam to China. Later, the Japanese sought to gain control over the Haiphong-Yunnan railroad so that it could attack the main supply based of Chiang Kai-shek. After the fall of France during World War II, t hat the Japanese seized power from French and occupied the entire Indochina. However, the colony was still administered by Vichy France, but was under the Japanese supervision until a brief period of complete Japanese control between March and August 1945. In Cambodia and Laos, in the short term at least, despite the fact that the French continued to administer these states and to support the traditional rulers, so that there was a limited growth of nationalist feeling compared to other states in the region. In Cambodia, politicization just began during World War II. By the 1940s, Khmer intellectuals had begun to form three institutions including the scholar Buddhist Institute, Cambodias sole French-language high school, and Khmer newspaper Nagara Varta (Angkor Wat). Cambodian feelings were outraged in 1940 after getting back some territories of the north-western provinces from Thailand under the Japanese support. However, the nationalistic movements in Cambodia were slickly under French control. The French and Japanese agreed to let French continued to occupy the Indochina, but Japanese forces could move freely in Indochina. French role was variegated in the growth of Cambodian nationalism. In order to reduce Japanese popular fascination in the country, French began to provide a quasi-nationalist movement to young Cambodians. Simultaneously, French glorified Khmers past and its future in partnership with France. Moreover, French also promoted the status and salary of Cambodians in the g overnment service. Unconsciously, in 1943 they pushed the strong nationalism feelings further by launching a program to replace Khmer traditional writing with a roman alphabet. The Buddhist sangha and intellectuals protested against this program because they considered that this was an attack on Khmer traditional learning and cultural heritage. The feeling of anti-French continued until the Japanese seized control of government in March 1945, and the Romanization was cancelled. In April 1945, the Japanese provide independent to Cambodia, but after the surrender of Japan in August 1945, there was no next step for Cambodia independent. Furthermore, there was still no anti-colonial movement in Cambodia such as national movements emerged in Vietnam and Indonesia in 1945. In June 1940, after the Fall of France, Laos was controlled by the Axis-puppet Vichy France government which was under the supervision of the Japanese. Most of Laos stayed under the control of French supervision until March 1945. Before March 1945, French had brought significant changes to Laos. A National renovation movement was assembled; schools and other amenities were built; Lao music, dance and literature were promoted. Moreover, First Lao newspaper was also emerged at that time. The nationalistic movement arose as well, especially in the Lao lowlanders. On 9 March, 1945, Japanese occupied Laos, so Laos stayed under the administration of French along with Japanese supervision. During the Japanese occupation of Laos, enormous amount of French officials were imprisoned. At the same time, King Sisavang Vong, who tried to declare independence of Laos and accepted Laos under the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity sphere, were put into the prison as well. Japan continued to rule Laos de spite constant civil unrest against it until it was force to withdraw from Indochina after the Japanese surrender in August 1945. The Japanese occupied Vietnam from September 1940 until the end of World War II. Japan came to Vietnam with the policy Asia for Asians and Japanese forces took only a week to control Vietnam. However, Japan still left the French colonial government there, because Japan could not provide enough men to occupy the entire of Vietnam. Japan left the French in charge and developed Vietnam as its client state. The French continued to colonize Indochina, but ultimate political and military power was not in their hands. Japanese demanded for resources and had priority over French policies. Thus, Japanese troops could freely access to Vietnams roads, rail network and ports, so that the Japanese could conquer Thailand and Burma easily. During the Japanese occupation, the Vietnamese were told that the Japanese were not conquerors, but liberators Japan would drive away the white imperialists out of Asia. Simultaneously, Japanese language course were introduced; Japanese films, literature and poe try were translate into local language as well. However, Vietminh considered Japanese as number one enemy. It was notable that the Vietnamese Communists rose up in the 1930s, before the arrival of Japanese. However, the arrival of Japan made Vietnamese Communists felt that there was no hope for them to demand for getting any power. Their numbers remained small and the French was trying to eliminate the political force that was considered as a threat to their role in Vietnam as well. As the war advanced and the altered of the political environment, it was an opportunity for the Vietnamese Communist-Nationalists. The Vietnamese was trying to develop its force in order to seize the power at the end of the war. By June 1945, Ho Chi Minh felt strong enough to create a Viet Minh-controlled area in north-western Vietnam. By August, Viet Minh forces seized the control of Japanese-held villages and towns. In early August, the Japanese forces prepared to leave after the Japanese surrender in World War II. Within days, Vietminh forces took control of most of northern and central Vietnam and declared Vietnams independence On 2 September 1945 in Hanoi. Exceptional case: Thailand Thailand was the most interesting country among Southeast Asian nations during the colonial period as well as the period of World War II because it was the only state in the region that was not under the foreign colonization. At the beginning of World War II, Thailand was under the control of an authoritarian government which was led by Prime Minister Phibun. In that regime, the government supported the restoration of the territories in Cambodia and Laos, and they rose up anti-French sentiment in the country as well. Phibun was trying to keep closer relations with Japan in order to seek support against France. In October 1940, a conflict between Thai and French forces broke out along Thailands eastern border. Then, it was a good opportunity for Japan to intervene to mediate the conflict. Japan used its influence with the Vichy regime in France to gain concessions for Thailand. As a result, France agreed to give away western part of Laos and most of Cambodian Battambang province to Th ailand. The restoration of Thai lost territory increased Phibuns reputation in Thailand. However, Japan wanted to maintain the relationship with Vichy, so that Thailand was forced to get only a quarter of its demanded land. In addition, they had to pay six millions piasters as a concession to the French. Relations between Japan and Thailand became tense; then Phibun turned to courting the British and Americans instead. In December 1941, Japan moved its troops into Thailand and demanded the rights to access through Thailand to invade British Burma and Malaya. Thai troops resisted but later the Phibuns government called for ceasefire. After that, a mutual offensive-defensive alliance pact between Thailand and Japan was signed and Thai entered a military alliance with Japan. Japanese troops were allowed to move freely in Thailand; however, Thailand still controlled its own armed forces as well as internal affairs. In January 1942, Thais declared war on Britain and the United States bec ause of the Japan pressure. Meanwhile, Japan had put its troops in Thailand and built the infamous Death Railway by using many Asian labour forces as well as allied prisoners of war. According to M. Walsh (2005), the Japanese engineers predicted that Death Railway would be completed in five years. However, the Japanese army forced the prisoners to finish this railway in only sixteen months. The causalities in the construction were very high there were about 12,400 deaths among the total 61, 700 labour forces. In 1943, there was tense situation between Japan and Thailand, and many Thai people began to against Japan. Because of the war, Thailand had experienced the economic disruption as well. In July 1944, Phibun resigned from office and left Thailand with the problem of preparing Thailand for an Allied victory. Thai politicians were under the controlled of Japanese until August 1945 Japanese surrender in World War II.

Emersons Friendship Essays -- essays papers

Emersons Friendship I believe that in his essay, â€Å"Friendship†, Emerson’s main point is that people should not be afraid to expand their friendly horizons. They should more try to open up and be honest with people. The essay investigates simply how to be more open with others and gives tips on differentiating between true friends and those whom we just refer to as friends. There are many people whom we speak to and meet on an everyday basis. In everyday conversations we show others that they are favored â€Å"from the highest degree of passionate love, to the lowest degree of good-will, they make the sweetness of life.† It is believed by many that our intellectual powers increase accordingly with our affection. In order for someone to take on another person as their friend there are certain things that one can search for. Suppose a stranger comes up to you and you are beginning a marvelous conversation, one in which you begin to suspect that he may be your new best friend, during this conversation or meeting you must think and observe him carefully. Once he b...

Life in the Trenches Essay

World War One, also known as the Great War, was a war that would change all wars. Never in the history of humanity had there been a war fought in such a manor, and it would change the way all wars that followed it were fought. World War I was expected to be a relatively short war, as those in the past had been, and a war of great battles and movement. However WWI was typified by its lack of movement, years of stalemates and â€Å"great battles† that turned out to be massive slaughters where hundreds of thousands of men died for a very small gain in territory. The most important aspect of WWI that made it so unique was its use of a new tactic of digging a series of connecting trenches that carved up the landscape of the Western and Eastern fronts. This use of trenches by both the Allies and the Germans was one of the primary reasons that WWI lasted as long as it did. Life in the trenches was a horrifying experience for any man who served in the Great War. The terrible conditions in the trenches would only be fully known by the public after the war was over in late 1918. The armies of the Allies had strict rules against the public gaining knowledge of the details of the war and used many methods to prevent them knowing the truth. After the Battle of the Marne in September 1914, the German army was forced to retreat. They had failed in their objective to force France into and early surrender and rather than give up the land that they had gained they dug into the ground to secure their position and protect themselves from the Allie fire. Because the Germans were at an advantage of being able to fire at the Allies from below ground level because of this the Allies could not break the German trench line. It was apparent that the Germans would not be removed the Allies followed the German example and dug their own trenches. It was this event that halted movement on both sides and changed the style of warfare forever. Trenches soon stretched across the countryside and spread from the North Sea to Switzerland. Trench life soon became as mentally and physically taxing on soldiers as the actual fighting element of the war. Disease, rats, lice, and boredom became a part of daily life for a soldier in the trenches. After the war was over there were many accounts from soldiers of the appalling conditions and the amount of death that occurred in the trenches. It was estimated that up to  one third of Allied casualties on the Western Front were actually sustained in the trenches . Aside from injuries caused by the enemy, disease accounted for a large amount of that total. Many accounts from soldiers of their time spent in the trenches are dominated by an emphasis on the amount of mud. Living in the trenches soldiers were rarely clean and when they were they did not stay that way for very long. Because of the lack of sanitary conditions in the trenches men suffered from many pests such as rats and frogs as well as more harmful things like lice and diseases like trench foot and shell shock. The rats in the trenches became a problem for the soldiers because there was no way to avoid them or get rid of them. A single pair of rats could produce almost 900 offspring in a year so the infestation continued throughout the war. Rats in the trenches were rumoured to have grown as large as cats on occasion, from eating or stealing scraps and feeding off the corpses of dead soldiers. Because the rats became so fearless the men in the trenches came to loathe them and often spent free time killing them and setting traps . Yet another annoying pest was the lice that continually plagued the men. Soldiers could spend up to an hour a day burning the lice off their bodies and clothes in an attempt to rid themselves of the pests; but the effort was all in vain because they would only be re-infested the next day. Occasionally the men were sent to clean themselves in large baths while their clothes were being put through delousing machines. Unfortunately, this rarely worked; a fair proportion of the eggs remained in the clothes and within two or three hours of the clothes being put on again a man’s body heat had hatched them out. Because of the continuously muddy conditions the men often walked around in mud and water sometimes covering as far up as their knees or waists. During the early part of the war over 20,000 men were treated for a condition that became known as trench foot. This was an infection of the feet caused by cold, wet and unsanitary conditions. Without being able to remove wet socks or boots the feet would gradually go numb and the skin would turn red or blue. If untreated, trench foot could turn gangrenous and result in  amputation. The only remedy for trench foot was for the soldiers to dry their feet and change their socks several times a day. By the end of 1915 British soldiers in the trenches had to have three pairs of socks with them and were under orders to change their socks at least twice a day. As well as drying their feet, soldiers were told to cover their feet with grease made from whale oil. The Allies needed to make sure that there would be no additional factors that would affect the morale at home; news of the conditions that the soldiers were forced to live in and the continuing stalemates would surely do that. If confidence in the war effort was diminished and the truth about the trenches was known there would be fewer new recruits and the Allies would be challenged to keep up with the Germans numbers. Most soldiers during the war chose to conceal the horrors of the trench warfare not wishing to expose their families to it. But those who wished to confide in family members and try to share with them their experiences were prevented from doing so by new laws that were put into place. The House of Commons passed the Defence of the Realm Act on August 8th 1914 without debate . The Act gave the government executive power to suppress criticism, imprison without trial and commandeer economic resources for the war effort. As a result all letters that the men wrote were read and censored by the junior officers. Although soldiers were encouraged to write letters to friends and family, the contents of the letters were monitored strictly by the junior officers in accordance with the new laws guidelines. Anything that disclosed information about military action would be removed to ensure that the Allies plans could not get to the Germans. The junior officers were also instructed to remove anything from the letters that discussed the conditions of the trenches or insinuated that the soldiers did not have faith in the actions that were being taken by the army. The members of parliament believed that if family members were to receive letters of that nature the morale in Britain would be effected which would affect the war effort all together. Britain and France also had problems deciding what to do about journalists who were reporting the war. Originally under the Defence of the Realm Act Britain put strict limitations on all reporters often preventing their  articles from making it back to Britain from France. After complaints from the USA on how the British government was treating the situation a cabinet meeting was held to change the policy and to allow selected journalists to report the war. The British government appointed five men to be accredited war correspondents in January of 1915. These men were to remain on the Western Front but to be permitted to do so these journalists had to accept government control over what they wrote. As a result of government interference even the disastrous first day of the Battle of the Somme was reported as a victory. Although some defended their actions saying that they were attempting to â€Å"spare the feelings of men and women, who, have sons and husbands fighting in France†; most of the journalists admitted that they were deeply ashamed of what they had written. After the war most of the accredited war correspondents were offered knighthoods by George V. Some agreed to accept the offer but others like Hamilton Fyfe refused seeing the knighthood as a bribe to keep quiet about the inefficiency and corruption he had witnessed during the war. Fyfe would later become a member of the Union of Democratic Control after the war, and would speak out as a strong critic of the Versailles Peace Treaty . There were a few other instances of the British government preventing criticism of the war from being published. In 1916 the Clyde Workers Committee journal, called The Worker, was brought to court under the Defence of the Realm Act for an article that criticized the war. The two editors of the journal were found guilty and sent to prison, one for six months and the other for a year . Critical novels that were written during the war were prevented from being published or banned if they did make it to publication. A.T. Fitzroy’s Despised and Rejected, about conscientious objectors during WWI, was published in April 1918. A thousand copies were sold before the book was banned and the publisher prosecuted under the Defence of the Realm Act. Another novel, What Not: A Prophetic Comedy by Rose Macaulay, which ridiculed wartime bureaucracy, was prevented from being published near the end of 1918. Instead it was not published until after the Armistice. So although the conditions for the men who fought in the First World War were horrific, the public did not realize the sacrifices that had been made for their freedom on a daily basis. The suppression of the truth by the British government is a controversial topic that is still debated today. Whether or not the British were justified in preventing the public from knowing the truth it was inevitably disclosed after the wars conclusion. The images seen and the conditions endured plagued on many men’s minds after the war was over. The Great War, a war that was to be one of heroic battles and great movement, turned into a war remembered for its lack of movement, its number of casualties and the conditions that had to be endured. World War One changed the way all wars after it were fought, but not for the better.

We All Have the Right to Die in Dignity

We All Have the Right to Die in Dignity Do You Believe Euthanasia (Assisted Suicide) is Right? Life is quite good to some people. People all over the world every day become healthy, wealthy and wise and live very long lives with their spouses, full of experience and adventure. All in all, they live a life with little suffering, if any at all. But for some people, life is quite cruel, strife with a disease, heartbreak, hardship, bankruptcy and premature death. It’s terrible to see, hoping it would never happen to us. Not to be too depressive, but it happens too often. But don’t worry: no one makes it out alive anyway. Nonetheless, to steer the conversation forward, every single person has the right to Euthanasia – or an assisted suicide: the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma. It is a very controversial issue, as it is illegal in many American states. However, a single person alive deserves to die with dignity. First of all, Euthanasia should be legalized across the board, internationally, because no one should have the right to decide if and when another person can end their life. It is up to that individual considering Euthanasia to decide. They own their life, so they’re responsible for it. And if they wish to end it, because of illness, suffering, hardship or other dire reasons, they can. Why should anyone be concerned if another wants to end their own being? It’s none of anyone else’s business. It’s Existentialism at its finest: a philosophical theory or approach which emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will. If a person’s will is to end their existence, through Euthanasia, they are born with the power to decide this fate – and if they need a doctor’s assistance for this, a doctor could legally be allowed to take a patient’s life, with the patient permitting, of course Secondly, some instances truly call for an end to the suffering, so people certainly have the right to Euthanasia. They have a right to die with dignity because living in dignity is not exactly an option for them. Picture an active 41-year-old person woman. She loves to jet ski and canoe and boat on the water, being outside in the fine weather and with family to share a holiday and fine meal. The spice of life is peppered with her waking moments, and she loves it. Then one day she is diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), a motor neuron disease. It affects one’s motor skills and bodily functions  and ultimately corrodes the body and its usefulness. The famous theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking has ALS, or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. But now, like Hawking, this woman cannot move, nor can she take care of cleaning herself, using the bathroom and eating. For years she has been in terrible anguish, feeling like she is a burden to every around her. She is despondent – but where she lives, in Virginia, Euthanasia is illegal. Though she wants to, she cannot end her life of suffering, even if it is her wish and will to do so. She is therefore stuck in a life that will have sourly for her, one that ended more like a living hell than a life at all. She certainly deserves assisted suicide, don’t you think? Lastly – and thankfully to conclude this argument, which is painful to expound on at length – it’s a horrendous feeling to imagine if this person were you. Would you want the power to have a doctor inject you with something to suddenly end your life, painlessly and with dignity? Why should a person be made to wait until they are pathetically decrepit, a wasted piece of humanity, to wither away like a dead flower? Every person deserves a proud, classy, peaceful and clean way to die – and they should never be forced to waiver this inalienable right. A human being deserves a humane death, and Euthanasia should never be considered a crime. If anything it’s more a beautiful, selfless gift to someone who needs an urgent end to the pain. It’s their way out of the suffering, and only the patient has the right to end their physical being and transcends this reality. Though this argument will continue for many years to come, it’s important to ha ve empathy and be active in teaching others about Euthanasia.