Download or read book Technology Transfer and Mode of Foreign Entry in the Context of CDM written by Claire Prévost and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Mode of Foreign Entry Technology Transfer and FDI Policy written by Aaditya Mattoo and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2001 with total page 42 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When technology transfer is costly, a foreign firm and host country government may differ in their preferences over direct entry and acquisition. Government intervention could help induce the socially preferred choice.

Download or read book Mode of Foreign Entry Technology Transfer and Foreign Direct Investment Policy written by Aaditya Mattoo and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 42 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When technology transfer is costly, a foreign firm and host country government may differ in their preferences over direct entry and acquisition. Government intervention could help induce the socially preferred choice.Foreign direct investment can take place through the direct entry of foreign firms or the acquisition of existing domestic firms. Mattoo, Olarreaga, and Saggi examine the preferences of a foreign firm and the host country government with respect to these two modes of foreign direct investment in the presence of costly technology transfer. The tradeoff between technology transfer and market competition emerges as a key determinant of preferences.The authors identify the circumstances in which the choices of the government and the foreign firm diverge - and in which domestic welfare can be improved by restrictions on foreign direct investment that induce the foreign firm to choose the socially preferred mode of entry.This paper - a product of Trade, Development Research Group - is part of a larger effort in the group to understand the determinants of trade in services in developing countries. The authors may be contacted at [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected].

Download or read book Technology Transfer and Foreign Market Entry written by Ahmed Samir Elsayad and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The topic of technology transfer has been studied from several perspectives ; however, very few of these addressed the association beetween technology transfer and various foreign market modes of entry in developing countries, and especially in Egypt. Moreover, a coherent and systematic framework for understanding the dynamics of the process of technology transfer does not clearly emerge from the literature; neither does the assessment of the implications of national policy and interlinked issues on the content of technology transferred from foreign market modes of entry. Hence, the key objectives of the current thesis are "To develop a dynamic conceptual framework that allows for systematic representation and exploration of the process of technology transfer associated with different modes of foreign entry into a host developing country (Egypt); To empirically explore the dynamic process of technology transfer associated with foreign market modes of entry into Egypt; and To assess and critique Egypt's current policy environment impacting on modes of foreign entry into Egypt and their associated technology transfer". This thesis qualitatively explores the technology transfer process occurring in foreign companies operating in Egypt, under various contractual and investment modes of entry. The empirical findings of the multiple case analyses (conducted using in-depth interviews) and the subsequent cross-case synthesis showed that the framework developed in this thesis is valid and applies well to all explored cases. Findings also revealed that the highest level of technology transfer occurred at start-up phases of all modes. This transfer involved all components of technology. In cases of FDI and JVs, technology transfer is sustained through continuous and regular foreign interactions, and increases with the introduction of new `events' such as new product lines being added. In the licensing modes, a slow down of technology transfer is found after start-up phases. In regards to linkage issues impacting on both foreign entry and technology transfer, the findings confirmed many expectations outlined from the literature, such as the importance of learning, compatibility of partners, contractual perspectives (and others). Some issues emerging from literature were not substantiated by findings of this thesis such as the importance of technological gaps in entry mode decisions. In addition, new issues were identified, such as the overwhelming impacts of Egyptian government measures that hamper many aspects of technology transfer. Such policy measures include exchange rate policy, as well as inconsistencies and inflexibility of policy implementation. This thesis concludes that modes of foreign entry into Egypt and technology transfer are tightly coupled, but are subject to the effects of many issues. A better understanding of the dynamics of the technology transfer process associated with foreign entries, along with an integrated and more flexible policy framework are essential requirements for attracting quality foreign investments, and catalysing associated transfer of technology. Finally, conducting research on a highly contextual topic such as technology transfer associated with modes of foreign entry, in the very challenging research environment of Egypt (due to many factors such as culture, absence of previous empirical efforts and the current turmoil in the economy) has resulted in several methodological and theoretical contributions. These contributions, along with the limitations of the research and directions for future efforts are discussed.

Download or read book Low carbon Technology Transfer written by David G. Ockwell and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-12-12 with total page 391 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Low carbon technology transfer to developing countries has been both a lynchpin of, and a key stumbling block to a global deal on climate change. This book brings together for the first time in one place the work of some of the world's leading contemporary researchers in this field. It provides a practical, empirically grounded guide for policy makers and practitioners, while at the same time making new theoretical advances in combining insights from the literature on technology transfer and the literature on low carbon innovation. The book begins by summarizing the nature of low carbon technology transfer and its contemporary relevance in the context of climate change, before introducing a new theoretical framework through which effective policy mechanisms can be analyzed. The north-south, developed-developing country differences and synergies are then introduced together with the relevant international policy context. Uniquely, the book also introduces questions around the extent to which current approaches to technology transfer under the international policy regime might be considered to be 'pro-poor'. Throughout, the book draws on cutting edge empirical work to illustrate the insights it affords. The book concludes by setting out constructive ways forward towards delivering on existing international commitments in this area, including practical tools for decision makers.

Download or read book An evolving paradigm of agricultural mechanization development How much can Africa learn from Asia written by Diao, Xinshen, ed. and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2020-12-07 with total page 548 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agricultural mechanization in Africa south of the Sahara — especially for small farms and businesses — requires a new paradigm to meet the needs of the continent’s evolving farming systems. Can Asia, with its recent success in adopting mechanization, offer a model for Africa? An Evolving Paradigm of Agricultural Mechanization Development analyzes the experiences of eight Asian and five African countries. The authors explore crucial government roles in boosting and supporting mechanization, from import policies to promotion policies to public good policies. Potential approaches presented to facilitating mechanization in Africa include prioritizing market-led hiring services, eliminating distortions, and developing appropriate technologies for the African context. The role of agricultural mechanization within overall agricultural and rural transformation strategies in Africa is also discussed. The book’s recommendations and insights should be useful to national policymakers and the development community, who can adapt this knowledge to local contexts and use it as a foundation for further research.

Download or read book The Changing Constitution written by Jeffrey L. Jowell and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1989 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Previous edition, 1st, published in 1985.

Download or read book Monitoring Reporting and Verification Manual for Clean Development Mechanism Projects written by Asian Development Bank and published by Asian Development Bank. This book was released on 2016-06-01 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), a market mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol, has been successful in supporting mitigation actions through carbon inance. With nearly 7,700 projects and 290 Program of Activities registered by the CDM Executive Board, the CDM allows GHG emission reduction projects in developing countries to generate Certiied Emission Reductions which can be used to ofset mandatory or voluntary emission reduction targets. It however requires a robust monitoring, reporting, and veriication (MRV) to ensure social and environmental integrity of such projects and the emissions reductions thereof. This MRV manual is intended to assist CDM project developers in understanding and managing the MRV requirements and process of their CDM projects in a simple step-by-step manner with the help of real examples and practical tips. While this MRV manual has been developed primarily to assist CDM project developers, it also aspires to be of help for projects participating in other existing and emerging market mechanisms. These may include bilateral mechanisms; voluntary carbon markets; regional, national, and subnational carbon markets; and any of the cooperative approaches and new market mechanism for the post-2020 carbon markets consequent to the Paris Agreement adopted at COP21 in December 2015. As carbon markets in the region evolve beyond CDM, there is a strong need to maintain and further build institutional capacities to ensure growth and enhanced efectivity of carbon markets---and this MRV manual is an efort in that direction.

Download or read book International Trade and Climate Change written by World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2007-10-15 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate change remains a global challenge requiring international collaborative action. Another area where countries have successfully committed to a long-term multilateral resolution is the liberalization of international trade. Integration into the world economy has proven a powerful means for countries to promote economic growth, development, and poverty reduction. The broad objectives of the betterment of current and future human welfare are shared by both global trade and climate regimes. Yet both climate and trade agendas have evolved largely independently through the years, despite their mutually supporting objectives. Since global emission goals and global trade objectives are shared policy objectives of most countries, and nearly all of the World Bank's clients, it makes sense to consider the two sets of objectives together. This book is one of the first comprehensive attempts to look at the synergies between climate change and trade objectives from economic, legal, and institutional perspectives. It addresses an important policy question - how changes in trade policies and international cooperation on trade policies can help address global environmental spillovers, especially GHG emissions, and what the (potential) effects of (national) environmental policies that are aimed at global environmental problems might be for trade and investment. It explores opportunities for aligning development and energy policies in such a way that they could stimulate production, trade, and investment in cleaner technology options.

Download or read book Registries for Evaluating Patient Outcomes written by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality/AHRQ and published by Government Printing Office. This book was released on 2014-04-01 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This User’s Guide is intended to support the design, implementation, analysis, interpretation, and quality evaluation of registries created to increase understanding of patient outcomes. For the purposes of this guide, a patient registry is an organized system that uses observational study methods to collect uniform data (clinical and other) to evaluate specified outcomes for a population defined by a particular disease, condition, or exposure, and that serves one or more predetermined scientific, clinical, or policy purposes. A registry database is a file (or files) derived from the registry. Although registries can serve many purposes, this guide focuses on registries created for one or more of the following purposes: to describe the natural history of disease, to determine clinical effectiveness or cost-effectiveness of health care products and services, to measure or monitor safety and harm, and/or to measure quality of care. Registries are classified according to how their populations are defined. For example, product registries include patients who have been exposed to biopharmaceutical products or medical devices. Health services registries consist of patients who have had a common procedure, clinical encounter, or hospitalization. Disease or condition registries are defined by patients having the same diagnosis, such as cystic fibrosis or heart failure. The User’s Guide was created by researchers affiliated with AHRQ’s Effective Health Care Program, particularly those who participated in AHRQ’s DEcIDE (Developing Evidence to Inform Decisions About Effectiveness) program. Chapters were subject to multiple internal and external independent reviews.

Download or read book Evaluating Climate Change Action for Sustainable Development written by Juha I. Uitto and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-01-11 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is open access under a Creative Commons license. This authoritative book presents the ever progressing state of the art in evaluating climate change strategies and action. It builds upon a selection of relevant and practical papers and presentations given at the 2nd International Conference on Evaluating Climate Change and Development held in Washington DC in 2014 and includes perspectives from independent evaluations of the major international organisations supporting climate action in developing countries, such as the Global Environment Facility. The first section of the book sets the stage and provides an overview of independent evaluations, carried out by multilateral development banks and development organisations. Important topics include how policies and organisations aim to achieve impact and how this is measured, whether climate change is mainstreamed into other development programs, and whether operations are meeting the urgency of climate change challenges. The following sections focus on evaluation of climate change projects and policies as they link to development, from the perspective of international organisations, NGO’s, multilateral and bilateral aid agencies, and academia. The authors share methodologies or approaches used to better understand problems and assess interventions, strategies and policies. They also share challenges encountered, what was done to solve these and lessons learned from evaluations. Collectively, the authors illustrate the importance of evaluation in providing evidence to guide policy change to informed decision-making.

Download or read book Technology Transfer for the Ozone Layer written by Stephen O. Andersen and published by Earthscan. This book was released on 2012 with total page 455 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Imagine the pride of earning the Nobel Prize for warning that CFCs were destroying the ozone layer. Then imagine that citizens, policymakers, and business executives heeded the warning and transformed markets to protect the earth. This book is the story of why we can all be optimistic about the future if we are willing to be brave and dedicated world citizens.' MARIO MOLINA, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry and Professor, University of California This book tells how the Montreal Protocol, the most successful global environmental agreement so far, stimulated the development and worldwide transfer of technologies to protect the ozone layer.Technology transfer is the crux of the 230 international environmental treaties and is essential to fighting climate change. While debate rages about obstacles to technology transfer, until now there has been no comprehensive assessment of what actually works to remove the obstacles. The authors, leaders in the field, assess over 1000 technology transfer projects funded under the Montreal Protocol s Multilateral Fund and the Global Environment Facility, and identify lessons that can be applied to technology transfer for climate change."

Download or read book The Greenhouse Gas Protocol written by and published by World Business Pub.. This book was released on 2004 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard helps companies and other organizations to identify, calculate, and report GHG emissions. It is designed to set the standard for accurate, complete, consistent, relevant and transparent accounting and reporting of GHG emissions.

Download or read book The Geopolitics of the Global Energy Transition written by Manfred Hafner and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-06-09 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The world is currently undergoing an historic energy transition, driven by increasingly stringent decarbonisation policies and rapid advances in low-carbon technologies. The large-scale shift to low-carbon energy is disrupting the global energy system, impacting whole economies, and changing the political dynamics within and between countries. This open access book, written by leading energy scholars, examines the economic and geopolitical implications of the global energy transition, from both regional and thematic perspectives. The first part of the book addresses the geopolitical implications in the world’s main energy-producing and energy-consuming regions, while the second presents in-depth case studies on selected issues, ranging from the geopolitics of renewable energy, to the mineral foundations of the global energy transformation, to governance issues in connection with the changing global energy order. Given its scope, the book will appeal to researchers in energy, climate change and international relations, as well as to professionals working in the energy industry.

Download or read book Behavioral Determinants of Enterprise Development and Innovation written by Anna Ujwary-Gil and published by Cognitione Foundation for the Dissemination of Knowledge and Science. This book was released on 2020-01-01 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The second issue in 2020 of the quarterly published JEMI explores enterprise development and innovation. The behavioral determinants of the economic ventures indicated by the authors is a continually developing trend of research in economic sciences. Contemporary enterprises are increasingly investing their resources in obtaining information on factors that stimulate employee behavior in order to increase efficiency or develop innovation. Behavioral approach is also used in seeking answers to questions about the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) posed by entities responsible for supporting the SME sector. In economic sciences, behavioral approaches result from an interdisciplinary view on the behavior of people participating in economic life. The behaviors of entrepreneurs, managers, other participants in an organization, clients, and entities supporting economic activities are an essential subject of research interest. The presented articles show the research perspectives that contribute to the development of a behavioral stream in economic sciences. The first article proposes a triangulation of theoretical foundations for behavioral research in economic sciences. Dominika Korzeniowska and Łukasz Sułkowski reviewed the scientific literature and analyzed 37 articles and 21 monographs selected from scientific databases. As a result of their research, the authors concluded that by adopting different research perspectives in behavioral economics, rather than just a cognitive one, it is possible to enrich both theoretical and empirical foundations in scientific research. Discovering human economic behavior can be done using methods and techniques appropriate to research, e.g. in behavioral or evolutionary trends. The authors conduct their analysis in relation to three paradigms: cognitive, behavioral and evolutionary, and then come to the conclusion that these approaches should not be treated as competitive but complementary knowledge of economic behavior. For example, the evolutionary approach in psychology makes it easier to explain the genetics of certain automatic response patterns that have developed during evolution. Its usefulness is expressed in the possibilities of creating an image of the human economic mind or economic society. In turn, the use of behavioral approaches, according to the authors, allows finding ways to eliminate the effects of mental traps appearing in the processes of making economic decisions and other problem situations. The authors in their research refer to three research trends, but ultimately encourage the search for other theories and concepts in the study of human economic behavior and their impact on business ventures. The next article presents field studies carried out in West Sumatra. The authors use psychoeconomic factors lying on the side of entrepreneurs to study failures in their business operations. An essential aspect of the research is the identification and analysis of opportunistic behavior and its impact on the success or failure of operations. Hafiz Rahman, Eri Besra, and Nurhayati conducted quantitative research using multiple and partial regression analysis on a sample of 1541 young entrepreneurs from the West Sumatra province in Indonesia, who had experienced failures in their earlier enterprises. It was found that psycho-economic factors, together with the opportunistic behavior of individuals, more or less, caused the entrepreneurial failure. The obtained research results also formed the basis for the claim that opportunistic behavior can be seen as both a source of business success and failure. The authors believe that the research should be of interest to the Indonesian government, as it suggests that the creation of entrepreneurial resilience takes place in a process that also considers the failures of undertaken enterprises. Young entrepreneurs usually draw conclusions from the mistakes they made, which is why it is postulated to support them even in situations of failure, e.g. through entrepreneurship capacity building programs. In addition to economic and business knowledge, it is necessary to build mental resilience, develop maturity, logically consider the choice of alternatives, improve decision-making processes, and deal with social pressure. The subject of interest of the author of the third article is organizational behaviors that affect high performance. Przemysław Zbierowski presented the results of his research, conducted on a sample of 406 enterprises, using the computer-assisted personal interview (CAPI) technique. Based on the collected research material, the author analyzed the impact of high-performance organizational features on actual organizational performance, and the indirect impact on organizational citizenship and entrepreneurship-oriented behavior. As the author notes, his research contributes to the scientific debate in at least three ways. Firstly, it confirms that the features of high performance have a strong impact on the actual performance of the enterprise, which is not surprising but verifies the hypothesis. Secondly, it indicates entrepreneurial orientation as a partial mediator in this relationship. Finally, he discovers the very strong impact that high-performance features have on the organization's civic behavior. The article also has practical implications. The obtained research results form the basis for developing organizational citizenship and entrepreneurship orientation through the skillful use of high-performance factors. Behavioral research trends in economic sciences also include the research presented in the fourth article regarding employee behavior and their development stimulated by managerial coaching. Ghulam Abid, Saira Ahmed, Tehmina Fiaz Qazi, and Komal Sarwar filled the research gap in the field of sustainable employee development in the organization. The research conducted by them is pioneering. The authors relate to the context of work and individual differences in promoting a thriving workplace. The intervention mechanism of self-efficacy and prosocial motivation in the relationship between managerial coaching and thriving at work was explored using a sequential mediation approach. Data were analyzed using Hayes' Process Model 6 based on 1,000 bootstrap resampling with an actual sample of 221 respondents. The obtained results confirm that managerial coaching increases employee self-efficacy. The goal of coaching is to increase the employee's sense of self-efficacy in connection with a particular activity so that he or she can perform his or her tasks effectively and efficiently. Efficiency among employees directly activates positive moods that help engage employees and trigger prosocial behavior. This study contributes to the detection of awareness related to the links between prosocial motivation and employee development and provides an additional, comprehensive analysis of the procedure for obtaining the positive effects of managerial coaching. Another group of articles relates to the behavioral aspects of developing innovation in enterprises in relation to employees, as well as the implementation of innovation by customers. Determinants of innovation in enterprises have become the subject of the research interests of Izabella Steinerowska-Streb and Grzegorz Głód. The authors presented the results of their research, which was conducted on a sample of 353 Polish family businesses. In the course of the conducted research, it was possible to determine whether family businesses that introduced the creative ideas of their employees were more innovative than others. The company's innovativeness can be expressed in the product, process, marketing, or organizational area. The authors also examined the relationship between the innovation of family businesses and their involvement in activities that stimulate creative thinking, build trust in the workplace, stimulate employee development, and support team integration. The study revealed that family businesses that are aware of the importance of creative employees, and that bring their employees' creative ideas into business practice, are more innovative than other family businesses. In addition, it was found that an increase in company innovation exists when the company supports employee development. Interesting behavioral aspects are presented in the research on employee resistance to implementing technological innovations. Çiğdem Sıcakyüz and Oya Hacire Yüregir conducted a study of medical personnel at a public hospital in Adana, Turkey, to investigate the reasons for employee resistance to implementing an IT system. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was expanded to include factors such as affective commitment, gender, and age. Based on the data collected from 291 surveys, a regression analysis was conducted, which led to the formulation of conclusions regarding the usefulness of information technology, its ease of use, and affective commitment. It was examined whether demographic factors such as age, gender, position, and tenure are associated with resistance to implemented technological innovations. The results of this study confirm earlier models of technology acceptance. The practical implications of the study relate to the need to increase employee participation in making decisions about the change process. The examined resistance of employees to technological innovations should also be treated as an essential voice in the discussion of problems related to managing change in the organization. In the article presented by Neema Mori and Rosallia Mlambiti, attention was focused on the acceptance of product innovation by customers. The research was carried out in Tanzania using the example of mobile banking services. To examine the impact of demographic factors on the adoption of innovative mobile banking services, Rogers' Diffusion Innovation Theory (DIT) was applied to 416 clients of a leading bank in Tanzania. Regression results showed a positive and significant relationship between income level and education on the one hand, and the adoption of mobile banking on the other. Practical implications refer to the recommendations to develop promotional practices and awareness campaigns and capture customer demographic profiles to encourage them to use mobile banking. The study showed the importance of using the situational theory to adopt innovative technologies in banking services in Tanzania. The authors indicate that this approach to research issues, broadens the understanding of the importance of demographic factors, especially in relation to the Sub-Saharan African region, and also contributes to a better understanding of mobile banking from the point of view of the bank's customers in Tanzania. The last article covers a bibliometric analysis of published research results in the field of business innovation, its financing, and policy framework. The analysis was based on the resources of the Web of Science Core Collection using Vosviewer for the period 1990–2019. The researched publications were divided according to the research area, and then the research gaps were identified. In total, 437 articles were found that went through various stages of selection. 32 publications were analyzed in detail, and the study presents citations received by each of these selected publications and their summaries. Thematically grouped summaries show the areas that the researchers paid more or less attention to. The conducted research allowed the authors to state that the countries involved in a higher level of innovation had a higher level of publication. Few studies on this topic have been developed in emerging economies such as Africa and Asia, excluding China and Taiwan. A similar situation was noted for countries in the Middle East. Most of the research comes from the United States and European countries. The article also refers to aspects such as the time horizon of research, approach, and research methods. The results of the presented research allow readers to get acquainted with the current state of publications on the subject of financing innovation and policy in this field. The editors express the hope that the articles presented will contribute to the development of knowledge on behavioral aspects of the functioning of enterprises and the development of innovation. The authors' extension of the research perspective with behavioral determinants, strengthens our belief in the legitimacy of supporting this research trend in JEMI. We thank all the researchers and authors for enriching their studies, broadening the perspective of resolving complex management problems, and developing innovation in organizations dispersed in geographical, economic, and cultural terms. We hope all readers will find this second issue of JEMI in 2020 both interesting and informative.

Download or read book Biochar for Environmental Management written by Dr. Johannes Lehmann and published by Earthscan. This book was released on 2009 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Biochar is the carbon-rich product when biomass (such as wood, manure, or crop residues) is heated in a closed container with little or no available air. It can be used to improve agriculture and the environment in several ways, and its stability in soil and superior nutrient-retention properties make it an ideal soil amendment to increase crop yields. In addition to this, biochar sequestration, in combination with sustainable biomass production, can be carbon-negative and therefore used to actively remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, with major implications for mitigation of climate change. Biochar production can also be combined with bioenergy production through the use of the gases that are given off in the pyrolysis process.This book is the first to synthesize the expanding research literature on this topic. The book's interdisciplinary approach, which covers engineering, environmental sciences, agricultural sciences, economics and policy, is a vital tool at this stage of biochar technology development. This comprehensive overview of current knowledge will be of interest to advanced students, researchers and professionals in a wide range of disciplines"--Provided by publisher.

Download or read book Legal Aspects of Implementing the Kyoto Protocol Mechanisms written by David Freestone and published by Oxford University Press on Demand. This book was released on 2005 with total page 643 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted in Kyoto in 1997 and entered into force in February 2005. It is a unique international law instrument which sets legally binding targets for the reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change. The targets are unprecedented in an environmental agreement and will involve substantial financial commitment in virtually all industrialized country parties to the protocol. The Kyoto Protocol is also the first international agreement to include economic instruments which are designed to involve private sector entities and assist parties to meet their targets. These economic instruments, known as the Kyoto or flexible mechanisms, are Joint Implementation (JI), the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and International Emissions Trading. The Kyoto Protocol defined these mechanisms but did not set out the details necessary for their operation. After protracted negotiations, detailed rules were finalized at the Seventh Session of the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties held in Marrakech in 2001. The Marrakech Accords run to almost 250 pages but still leave many important practical issues unaddressed. As the 2008-2012 commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol draws close more and more projects under CDM and JI are being developed to take advantage of the Kyoto mechanisms and the key issues and problems are now becoming more apparent. Drawing on the emerging bodyof expertise in this complex area, this book conveys a knowledge of what is becoming known as 'Carbon Finance'. It thereby aims to contribute to the development of the market for carbon emission reductions - one of the objectives of the Kyoto mechanisms.