Metrics for aggregating the climate effect of different emissions: A unifying framework

Arbeitspapier

Multi-gas approaches to climate change policies require a metric establishing equivalences among emissions of various species. Climate scientists and economists have proposed four classes of such metrics and debated their relative merits. We present a unifying framework that clarifies the relationships among them. We show that the Global Warming Potential, used in international law to compare greenhouse gases, is a special case of the Global Damage Potential, assuming (1) a finite time horizon, (2) a zero discount rate, (3) constant atmospheric concentrations, and (4) impacts that are proportional to radiative forcing. We show that the Global Temperature change Potential is a special case of the Global Cost Potential, assuming (1) no induced technological change, and (2) a short-lived capital stock. We also show that the Global Cost Potential is a special case of the Global Damage Potential, assuming (1) zero damages below a threshold and (2) infinite damage after a threshold. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change uses the Global Warming Potential, a simplified cost-benefit concept, even though the UNFCCC frames climate policy as a cost-effectiveness problem and should therefore use the Global Cost Potential or its simplification, the Global Temperature Potential.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: ESRI Working Paper ; No. 257

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft
• Subject: climate change ; multi-gas climate policy ; Global Warming Potential ; equivalences between greenhouse gases ; Klimaveränderung ; Treibhausgas ; Umweltbelastung ; Umweltschutzkosten ; Schätzung ; Theorie

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Tol, Richard S. J. ; Berntsen, Terje K. ; O'Neill, Brian C. ; Fuglestvedt, Jan S. ; Shine, Keith P. ; Balkanski, Yves ; Makra, Laszlo
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI)
• (where): Dublin
• (when): 2008

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/50162
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET