Title: Economic approaches to international agreements for carbon dioxide containment

Authors: Heinz Welsh

Addresses: Institute of Energy Economics, University of Cologne, Albertus Magnus Platz, 50923 Koln, Germany

Abstract: This article discusses economic approaches to international CO₂ agreements from the point of view of equity and efficiency. Both of these aspects are important for the mitigation of climate risk because an effective CO₂ containment agreement is likely to be attainable only if the associated burdens are kept to a minimum and distributed in an equitable way. The paper provides a comparison of selected fixed and flexible quota arrangements both from a theoretical and an empirical point of view. It is concluded that flexible quotas not only minimize overall economic burdens, but also reduce the present inequality in the world income distribution.

Keywords: efficiency; equity; fixed quotas; tradeable quotas; international carbon dioxide agreement; CO2; carbon emissions; climate change; flexible quotas.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGEI.1993.063636

International Journal of Global Energy Issues, 1993 Vol.5 No.2/3/4, pp.114-122

Published online: 17 Jul 2014 *

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