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Students name Professors name Institution 7th June 2012. Current Global Practices on How Countries Are Responding To Carbon Emissions The effect of carbon emissions to the environment are numerous and devastating. The most notable carbon emission is carbon dioxide. They cause extreme changes in weather, increase in the temperature to intolerable levels, pollution of the air as well as the degeneration and the loss of many ecosystems of the world. Nations all over the world have consequently set in motion policies that are geared towards the control of carbon emissions and protection of the environment (Jain 2009, p.59). This paper will consider some of the policies that have been set in motion by the U.S., China, India, The European Union as well as third world countries such as Saudi Arabia. Currently, the Kyoto protocol is the broadest policy on greenhouse emission. But on the sideline, each of these governments has set more stringent measures to promote the control of carbon emission to the atmosphere. To begin with the United States federal government has initiated several policies that are aimed at regulating its local emissions. This has been done through the mandates of the federal government. The government has instituted a special form of carbon tax. Companies are taxed in a direct proportion to the quantity of carbon that they release into the atmosphere. The main aim of this taxation is to persuade the organizations and companies to reduce their emissions. Additionally the government has also enacted the cap-and-trade legislation, whereby a particular cap has been set on the optimum amount of carbon allowable to be emitted. The government

then auctions the allowances of emissions to companies. Companies that surpass their emission limit are forced to buy more of from other companies (Hansjrgens 2005, p.165). The European Union governments have also initiated the 20/20/20 policy. This policy aims at reducing green house gases emission within the EU bloc by 20% by the year 2020. Additionally, they aim at increasing the renewable energy sources by 20% by the same year (Fossati & Hutton 1998, p.180). The EU members also passed the Aviation Emission Policy. This was a controversial policy which involved charging all the airlines that landed or took off within the EU bloc a fee to cater for their carbon emissions (Zachariadis 2011, p.56). The government of china, being the worlds largest single carbon emitter, has also initiated the National Building Codes for Residential and Commercial Buildings. This policy has helped conserve trees for purposes of controlling the green house effect. It has further initiated the Fuel Economy Standards for Vehicles, this policy targets to control emissions by the numerous automobiles in the country (Chen 2012, p.250). The government of Saudi Arabia has initiated policies that aim at developing as well as applying clean energy technologies which will reduce the countrys dependence on fossil fuels. This will enable it to conserve its oil reserves for exportation in future; this has also lowered the Saudi Arabian Carbon Footprint. In conjunction with UNDP, Saudi Arabia has developed programs that involve private oil investors to ensure that environment friendly procedures are utilized during their mining processes of fossil fuels (Toman & Future 2001, p.158). The government of India has initiated coal mining and utilization policies in an endeavor to lower its carbon emissions. The government is also affecting policies that will substitute coal energy with renewable energy sources to reduce the dependency of the country on coal for its energy needs (Shukla2003, p.16).

REFERENCES HANSJRGENS, B. 2005. Emissions Trading For Climate Policy: US And European Perspectives, Cambridge University Press. TOMAN, M. A. & FUTURE, R. F. T. 2001. Climate Change Economics and Policy: An Rff Anthology, Resources for the Future. ZACHARIADIS, T. I. 2011. Cars and Carbon: Automobiles and European Climate Policy in a Global Context, Springer. CHEN, G. 2012. China's Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis. FOSSATI, A. & HUTTON, J. P. 1998. Policy Simulations in the European Union, Routledge. SHUKLA, P. R. 2003. Climate Change and India: Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation, Universities Press. JAIN, A. K. 2009. Low Carbon City: Policy, Planning and Practice, Discovery Publishing House.