Innovative Economic Policies For Climate Change Mitigation

Climate change mitigation is still possible, if innovative economic policies are implemented, such as those provided by this book: a large array of proposals by 30 economists from developing and developed countries. High and senior level policymakers (and their staff) will find fundamental outlines and insights for negotiating and laying down NAMAs (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions) and Climate Action Plans at national, sub-national, city and sectoral levels. With more than 20 "recipes", this book is revolutionary because: 1. it leads the reader from the context to the implementation details; 2. it reverses classical textbook proportions of "90%%%% analysis and 10%%%% proposals" in favor of "90%%%% proposals and 10%%%% analysis"; 3. it relates each policy to a number of co-benefits to synergize climate mitigation with employment, competitiveness, and happiness. This second edition 2012 builds upon the experience gained in implementation worldwide.

This book presents provides a rigorous yet accessible treatment of the main topics in climate change policy using a large body of research generated using WITCH (World Induced Technical Change Hybrid), an innovative and path-breaking integrated assessm

A comprehensive examination of the inability of liberal capitalism to generate the technological innovations necessary to prevent dangerous climate change. The case is made for the need for institutional evolution to drive the climate innovation, and the potential for climate innovation in an increasingly economically interconnected world.

This edited book aims to ignite both an academic and practitioner-oriented discussion regarding the question how the business and government sector can adapt to today’s fast-changing climate. Specifically, the collection seeks to explore how businesses and policy makers can prepare for a world where freshwater is scarce, extreme weather events are common, floods and wildfires are frequent, and global sea levels rise by more than two meters. In addition to assessing incremental approaches, it explores strategies that employ interdisciplinary and innovative solutions to climate change adaptation. The chapters included in this book examine and propose business and policy solutions for climate-induced economic, technical, urban, and societal challenges. It draws on an international range of prominent authors and, therefore, will be of interest for academics and practitioners working in the field of sustainability management, sustainable finance, sustainable operations management, food management, strategy, and environmental management. It can also serve as a valuable guide for practitioners and policymakers in those fields.

Although the world faces many environmental challenges, climate change continues to demand attention. This timely book explores ways in which market-based instruments and complementary policies can help countries meet their climate change goals. The chapters explore carbon pricing and other tax and non-tax measures, offering useful market-based perspectives that can help inform the many climate policy decisions that lie ahead.

The year 2015 will be a landmark year for international climate change negotiations. Governments have agreed to adopt a universal legal agreement on climate change at the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Paris in 2015. The agreement will come into force no later than 2020. This book focuses on the prospects for global agreement, how to encourage compliance with any such agreement and perspectives of key players in the negotiations — the United States, India, China, and the EU. It finds that there is strong commitment to the established UN institutions and processes within which the search for further agreed actions will occur. There are already a myriad of local and regional policies that are helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build mutual confidence. However, the chapters in the book also highlight potential areas of discord. For instance, varying interpretations of the “common but differentiated responsibilities” of developing countries, agreed as part of the UNFCCC, could be a major sticking point for negotiators. When combined with other issues, such as the choice of consumption or production as the basis for mitigation commitments, the appropriate time frame and base date for their measurement and whether level or intensity commitments are to be negotiated, the challenges that need to be overcome are considerable. The authors bring to bear insights from economics, public finance and game theory. Contents:Introduction (Alex Bowen, Nicholas Stern and John Whalley)Global Cooperation and Understanding to Accelerate Climate Action (James Rydge and Samuela Bassi)The US and Action on Climate Change (Samuela Bassi and Alex Bowen)Challenges and Reality: China's Dilemma on Durban Platform Negotiation (Mou Wang, Huishan Lian and Yamin Zhou)Sustainable Growth and Climate Change: Evolution of India's Strategies (Ruth Kattumuri and Darshini Ravindranath)After Copenhagen and the Economic Crisis: Does the EU Need to Go Back to the Drawing Board? (Christian Egenhofer and Monica Alessi)The Scope for “Green Growth” and a New Technological Revolution (Alex Bowen)Negotiating to Avoid “Dangerous” Climate Change (Scott Barrett)Unilateral Measures and Emissions Mitigation (Shurojit Chatterji, Sayantan Ghosal, Sean Walsh and John Whalley)Compliance Mechanisms in Global Climate Regimes: Kyoto and Post-Kyoto (Sean Walsh and John Whalley) Readership: students and researchers in developmental economics and climate change; policy makers and decision makers; general public interested in climate change issues. Keywords:Climate Change;International Negotiation;Participation;COP21;UNFCCCKey Features:Timely and relevant for climate policy negotiators in the run-up to COP21 in Paris at the end of 2015Written by authors who have strong backgrounds in economics, both theoretical (e.g. game theory) and empirical (e.g. climate policy evaluation)

The issues of technology and uncertainty are very much at the heart of the policy debate of how much to control greenhouse gas emissions. The costs of doing so are present and high while the benefits are very much in the future and, most importantly, they are highly uncertain. Whilst there is broad consensus on the key elements of climate change science and agreement that near-term actions are needed to prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system, there is little agreement on the costs and benefits of climate policy. The book looks at different ways of reconciling the needs for sustainability and equity with the costs of action now. Presenting a compendium of methodologies for evaluating the economic impact of technological innovation upon climate-change policy, this book describes mathematical models and their predictions. The goal is to provide a practitioner’s guide for doing the science of economics and climate change. Because the assumptions motivating different problems in the economics of climate change have different complexities, a number of models are presented with varying levels of difficulty: reduced-form and structural, partial- and general-equilibrium, closed-form and computational. A unifying theme of these models is the incorporation of a number of price and quantity instruments and an analysis of their respective efficacies. This book presents models that contain structural uncertainty, i.e., uncertainty that economic agents respond to via their risk attitudes. The novelty of this book is to relate the effects of risk and risk attitudes to environment-improving technological innovation.

Climate change is mainly caused by emissions of CO2 from burning fossil fuels, which provides over 85% of the world’s energy. Strategies for mitigating climate change are connected with handling economic and social activities through their effects on the use of energy. Climate Change Mitigation investigates the costs of mitigation measures in comparison to their benefits, and compares the effects of implementing mitigation measures on various areas such as energy security and energy economy. “For 20 years, diplomats have struggled to make progress on climate change, mostly because global diplomacy is not well-linked to the realities of how nations and firms control emissions and adapt to the impacts of a changing climate. In this excellent book, Dr Yamaguchi has assembled experts to guide the redesign of global policy. The authors underscore how global warming efforts must resonate with other policy goals.” David G. Victor, Director, Laboratory on International Law and Regulation and Professor, University of California San Diego “Climate Change Mitigation clarifies that climate change cannot be controlled by sacrificing economic growth or other global problems; however, action to control climate change cannot be delayed.Climate policy is pervasive and affects all dimensions of international policy;but it cannot be too ambitious: a balanced approach between mitigation and adaptation, economic growth and resource management, and short term development and long term investments, should be adopted. I recommend its reading.” Carlo Carraro,President, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice “The International Energy Agency estimates for every $1 of investment now toward sustainable energy, $4 of future spending can be saved. There is a business case for companies to reduce energy use. Companies in the energy and resource intensive industries must lead the way.” Chad Holliday, Chairman. World Business Council for Sustainable Development and former Chair and CEO, DuPont