Volume 32 (2021): Issue 2 (June 2021)

The purpose of this preliminary study was to learn about citizens’ perceptions of promotion activities related to wildlife and nature conservation in public spaces in Warsaw, Poland. One hundred and fifty individuals, randomly approached, agreed to participate in the survey, 48 of whom were professionals in natural sciences. The survey contained 13 substantive questions, whereby predefined answers or were open-ended. The vast majority (81%) of respondents were interested in nature and environmental problems. They expressed views that the current efforts and activities in Warsaw to promote conservation of nature and endangered wild animal species are insufficient. In most cases, the respondents were able to list some activities for nature education they had observed in a number of the city's public spaces. The survey suggested that age and education of the respondents did not affect their attitudes toward nature conservation. However, the survey did indicate that women were more interested and concerned with nature protection than men, and they were willing to take part in the survey, when approached, more often than men. This study helps to consider directions for further research in this area.

The rapid increases of European Union Allowance (EUA) prices and very high market volatility, resulting mainly from the growing role of speculative entities, can contribute to forming a price bubble. This may cause the market instability and could have a implications on planning future reduction investments by European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) participants. That is why they need some kind of ‘safety valve’, an effective EU ETS instrument, which can be triggered when the situation requires it.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the current legislative rules of the EU ETS protect against sudden EUA price fluctuation and the risk of formation of a price bubble. This paper tries to assess the potential EUA price bubble and to review of existing instruments within the EU ETS, analysing their efficiency using different assumptions and identify channels of possible other market instruments to efficiently prevent the carbon market instability caused by rising EUA prices and market speculation. We argue that the European Commission (EC) does not currently have an appropriate market instrument to respond to the EUA price fluctuation. Moreover, there are some legislative loopholes in the system, which may encourage market speculators to influence EUA prices, and there is need to introduce better market safeguards.

The European Green Deal (EGD) communication supports strengthening and expansion of the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). Possible linkages with other carbon markets worldwide are also subject to both experts’ and policy-makers’ discussions. Results of the survey on the state and expectations concerning the development of the EU climate policy measures, in particular, the EU ETS, are presented in this article. The survey was done online. There is a group of questions dealing with the EU ETS performance and future development, and another concerning available information assessment and individual self-assessment in terms of relevant knowledge.

Land use and land cover change (LULCC) are the result of different interacting socio-economic and environmental causes and consequences that have been known since the beginning of agriculture. The study intended to explore the implications and drivers of LULCC in the Ethiopian rift valley region of Gidabo river sub basin from 1986 to 2019. The researchers have triangulated the data from Landsat 5 (™), and Landsat 8 (OLI) with data obtained from key informants, focus groups and field observation, which is helpful to determine the interaction between the environment and the community. It is also important to mitigate environmental disaster (erosion, landslides, and climate change) and sustainable utilization of natural resources. The LULCC of the past 33 years implied that about 58.4 % of the area was changed to other Land use land cover (LULC) classes. This refers to the fact that about 14% of agroforestry, 2% of the settlement, 1.1% of the forest, and 1% of bare land were expanded at the expense of 10.3% of shrub/woodland, 6.3 % of grassland, and 1% of cropland classes. Therefore, as a result, the highest land cover (46.7%) was observed on the agroforestry system. Participants in group discussion and informant interviews attributed the expansion of agroforestry to the drivers, such as population density, cultural values (Songo, Babbo), traditional beliefs, land policy, and the insecurity resulting from climate change. Whereas, the drivers related to unproductive land, resettlement, urbanisation, and lack of agricultural inputs were considered as threats that will adversely affect the agroforestry system of the area. The study concluded that the high expansion of the agroforestry system has significant contribution to achieve a resilient environment and sustainable development, which integrates the socio-economic and environmental needs of the community. But greater attention should be given to the changes observed in shrub/woodland, grassland, and bare land to enhance environmental protection.

Starting in 2021, Poland's emission reduction target for 2030, in the sectors not covered by the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is −7% compared to the emissions level in the non-ETS sectors in 2005. This is a big change in comparison with the target for the period of 2013–2020, which assumed potential emissions increase relative to the same baseline and was +14% by 2020. In order to cope with the need to make a much greater reduction effort, Poland will likely need to use flexibility mechanisms to support achieving the more ambitious target.

One the possible mechanism is the use of removals to cover likely excesses of annual non-ETS emissions through an additional individual limit on the number of removals generated in the land-use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector. However, this possibility is conditional on a range of factors associated with emission inventory and reporting, legal regulations and accounting procedures.

The present study addresses these factors in detail and highlights the linkages between them. It provides a comprehensive cross-cutting analysis of the issue and gives an insight into the scattered legal regulations in relation to the discussed subject. In conceivably straightforward ways, there are described the specific concepts and processes depicting the inclusion of removals in accounting to meet the reduction target in the non-ETS. The article points out the potential opportunities for Poland to comply with the obligations imposed by EU regulations.