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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 10, NUMBER 5, MAY 1997

REPORTS...
CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY

Item #d97may59

Technologies, Policies and Measures for Mitigating Climate Change (IPCC Technical Paper 1), R.T. Watson (World Bank), M.C. Zinyowera (Zimbabwe Meteorol. Services), R.H. Moss (Battelle Pacific Northwest Natl. Lab.), Eds., 84 pp., Nov. 1996 (IPCC Secretariat).

Produced by IPCC Working Group II in response to a request from the Ad Hoc Group on the Berlin Mandate for the U.N. climate convention. The paper is based on the material already in the IPCC assessment reports and special reports, and has undergone governmental and peer review. Provides an overview and analysis of technologies and measures to limit and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to enhance sinks, focusing on the industrialized countries. Discusses technical, economic and market potentials of measures, and includes a separate chapter on economic instruments.

Item #d97may60

Sharing the Effort: Options for Differentiating Commitments on Climate Change, M. Paterson, M. Grubb, Eds., 80 pp., Dec. 1996, $15 (Royal Institute/Brookings).

Combines papers from a Royal Institute workshop with an overview of the ensuing discussion among leading negotiators and analysts.

Item #d97may61

Implementing European CO₂ Commitments-A Joint Policy Proposal, 60 pp., Apr. 1997, $11 (Royal Institute/Brookings).

Researchers from five of Europe's leading policy research institutes examine the dilemmas facing European climate change policy and argue that a fresh approach, incorporating a system of tradeable emission permits, can enable the EU to break out of its current impasse.

Item #d97may62

Climate Change Risks and Policies: An Overview (Climate Issues Brief No. 1), M.A. Toman, 12 pp., Mar. 1997. Copies available from Resources for the Future (RFF); also available on the World Wide Web at http://www.rff.org.

The first in a series of briefing papers on key issues in the climate change debate, intended to provide topical, timely and non-technical analyses that integrate critical reviews of existing literature with original research at RFF. This first paper summarizes some ways to think about climate change risks and policies, presents a six-step decision framework, and suggests ways to enhance the effectiveness of climate policies. Comments briefly on the January 1997 draft climate treaty protocol of the Clinton Administration.

Item #d97may63

IEA Statement on the Energy Dimension of Climate Change, Mar. 1997 (Intl. Energy Agency).

Presented during the March 1997 meeting of the Ad-Hoc Group on the Berlin Mandate of the climate convention. The implementation of cost-effective and viable mitigation measures is essential if countries are to reduce greenhouse emissions. Suggests market-based solutions for abatement, with discussion of economic and technological points.

Item #d97may64

Development and Global Finance: The Case for an International Bank for Environmental Settlements, G. Chichilnisky (U.N. Devel. Prog.), 42 pp., Apr. 1997 (UNDP).

A discussion paper proposing a new international bank that could regulate trading of greenhouse gas emission permits and monitor the success of the program. Makes several policy recommendations on tradeable permits. (See Intl. Environ. Rptr., p. 361, Apr. 16, 1997.)

Item #d97may65

Environmental Taxation in Sweden-Economic Policy Instruments in Environmental Policy, Swedish Environ. Protection Agency (SEPA), Apr. 1997. Available in English from SEPA.

This evaluation of Sweden's green taxes and charges demonstrates that they are effective policy instruments. For instance, the CO₂ tax introduced in 1990 provides a relatively stable income for the public treasury, while helping to limit CO₂ emissions. (See Intl. Environ. Rptr., pp. 382-383, Apr. 16, 1997; New Scientist, p. 6, Apr. 5.)

Item #d97may66

Environmental Taxes: Implementation and Environmental Effectiveness (Environ. Issue Series No. 1), European Environ. Agency (Copenhagen), Oct. 1996.

The "green taxes" adopted by individual European countries over the past decade have been effective and are gaining acceptance. They have achieved their objectives at reasonable cost, and there is considerable scope for expanding their use on the national and European Union levels. The most successful approach is "green tax reform," in which green taxes are part of a package of tax reforms designed to address market failures, competitiveness, and employment through a tax shift from labor or capital to energy and the environment. (See "Environmental Taxes Gaining Ground in Europe," Environ. Sci. & Technol., pp. 84A-88A, Feb. 1997.)

Item #d97may67

Integrated Economy-Energy-Environment Policy Analysis: A Case Study for the People's Republic of China, Z.-X. Zhang, 300+ pp., 1996, $35. Contact the author at Dept. General Econ., Univ. Wageningen, 6706 KN Wageningen, Neth. (tel: 31(0) 317 484637; fax: 31(0) 317 484763; e-mail: Zhang.Zhongxiang@alg.shhk.wau.nl).

Constitutes the author's Ph.D. dissertation. Consists of three parts: analysis of the Chinese energy system; macroeconomic analysis of CO₂ emission limits for China; and a cost-effectiveness analysis of carbon abatement options in China's electricity sector. Reviewed by A.D. Owen (Energy Policy, pp. 268-269, Feb. 1997), who calls the work a pathbreaking entry into one of the most complicated aspects of contemporary energy/environmental economics, and the first systematic and comprehensive attempt to provide a rigorous analysis of the economic implications of carbon abatement for the Chinese economy.