Sources Arranged by Research Goal
Here are a few ideas about where to begin your research on each of the four goals stated in your assignment.
Background on the Country's Economy
Statesman's Yearbook 2007: Politics, Cultures and Economies of the World, located in the law library's reference collection (Ref Coll; Direct Statesma)
Europa World Year Book, located in the law library's reference collection (Ref Coll; Direct Europa w)
World Almanac and Book of Facts, located in the law library's reference collection (Ref Coll; Direct World al)
LexisNexis Statistical (online)
The CIA World Factbook (online)
Regional Effects of Climate Change
IPCC Third Assessment Report: Climate Change 2001, Synthesis Report (a short summary) and Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability (in-depth review broken down by region, including Key Regional Concerns)
News sources such as ClimateWire, LexisNexis and Westlaw
Regional Effects of Climate Change from Climate.org
Programs Addressing Climate Change
UNFCCC National Communications (NC) and/or In-Depth Reviews (IDR) (links for each country are below)-- the purpose of these reports is specifically to state the steps that each country is taking to implement the Convention.
The First Ten Years: an overview of actions taken during the past decade to combat climate change and mitigate its adverse effects, a publication from the UNFCCC
Caring for Climate 2005: a guide to the Climate Change Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, a publication from the UNFCCC
In addition to general sources that summarize programs addressing climate change, you may also want to research laws that have been enacted in your country. The Foreign Law Guide (Reynolds and Flores) is a good place to start researching any foreign law topic. For each country except the United States, there is also a legal research guide included in the list of LLRX Research Guides on the left.
Past Positions in Kyoto Negotiations
In addition to NC's, IDR's, and other UNFCCC documents concerning earlier negotiations (search for these documents here or use subject headings to browse for documents here), you could also try to locate official statements of the government of your country, transcripts of speeches, press briefings and news articles. The sources for these documents will be different for each country, so please scroll down to your country's entry on the list below for a few possible starting points.
Selected Country-Specific Resources
Australia
UNFCCC summary, latest NC and IDR
Australian Government, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Climate Change, includes "Australia's Position," speeches, and Australia's National Greenhouse Strategy
Australian Greenhouse Office, from the Australian Government, includes information on emissions monitoring, impacts and adaptation, business and industry, and international activities
Australian Bureau of Meteorology's Climate Change Site
Brazil
Ministry of Science and Technology Site on Climate Change
Brazil's Ministry of Science and Technology, "Brazil and the Convention": Includes speeches and reports, national policy statements, planning and legislation, implementing activities, response measures, conference and workshop papers, news, and general information
Brazil Climate Change and Energy Programme, from the British Embassy in Brazil
SciDev.net's Spotlight on Brazil and Climate Change: a collection of primary and secondary materials relating to climate change and Brazil
China
SciDev.net's Spotlight on China and Climate Change: a collection of primary and secondary materials relating to climate change and China
Climate Change Info-Net, from China's Office of National Coordination Committee on Climate Change, includes statements and speeches, text of laws in English, and information about workshops and conferences
Costa Rica
UNFCCC summary and latest NC (in Spanish)
After preliminary searching, no government resources were found aside from UNFCCC documents. For reports of press releases and other information, try searching ClimateWire using "Costa Rica" as a keyword. And as always, if you need more help, please come to the reference desk and ask for an individual research consultation with a reference librarian.
France
UNFCCC summary, latest NC (French) and IDR
French ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development (in French)
Germany
UNFCCC summary, latest NC and IDR
German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety
Center for Science and Environment
German Advisory Council on Global Change
India
SciDev.net's Spotlight on India and Climate Change: a collection of primary and secondary materials relating to climate change and India
Ministry of Environment and Forests, Climate Change
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)
Russia
UNFCCC summary, latest NC and IDR
Russian Government, search for "climate" retrieves a few recent press releases on climate change
Russian Natural Resources Ministry (incomplete); (Russian version)
Sweden
UNFCCC summary, latest NC and IDR
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
Swedish Ministry of Sustainable Development
Switzerland
UNFCCC summary, latest NC and IDR
Advisory Body on Climate Change
Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscape
United Kingdom
UNFCCC summary, latest NC and IDR
Hadley Center for Climate Change
Carbon Trust, "Making business sense of climate change"
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Climate Change Site
Climate Changefrom the BBC Weather Center
United States
UNFCCC summary, latest NC and IDR
U.S. Department of State, Climate Change Policy: Includes remarks, briefings and releases for the 9th, 10th, and 11th Sessions of the Conference of the Parties on the UN Convention on Climate Change
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Climate Protection Partnerships
National Climatic Data Center, U.S. Department of Commerce