Open AccessA framework for a post-2012 global climate agreement
Author(s) -
Ross Garnaut,
Frank Jotzo,
Stephen Howes
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
policy quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2324-1101
pISSN - 2324-1098
DOI - 10.26686/pq.v4i4.4277
Subject(s) - greenhouse gas , negotiation , per capita , climate change , china , developing country , global warming , global temperature , economics , global climate , natural resource economics , climate change mitigation , international economics , international trade , political science , economic growth , ecology , population , demography , sociology , law , biology
Global greenhouse gas emissions are on a steeper growth trajectory than assumed in most scenarios that underlie current international policy discussions and negotiations. Effective global climate change mitigation action will require speed, depth and breadth well beyond any efforts seen to date, and will need to involve all major emitters, including developing countries (Garnaut et al., 2008). To achieve a comprehensive global agreement at or after the Copenhagen climate conference, a principles-based framework for mitigation is needed. Here we outline a system that adds up to a global solution, and that could be broadly acceptable. It involves internationally tradable emissions rights allocated across countries, with allocations moving over time to equal per capita allocations. Developing countries would receive increasing emissions entitlements, linked to their GDP growth, for a transitional period. Binding emissions targets would apply to all developed and high-income countries plus China from the outset.