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Understanding Transatlantic Differences

Link to RFF at COP11-MOP1

From the Archives
The Ancillary Carbon Benefits of SO2 Reductions from a Small-Boiler Policy in Taiyuan, PRC
Richard Morgenstern, Alan Krupnick, and Xuehua Zhang
Discussion Paper 02-54
September 2002

Climate Change and Economic Development
Michael Toman, Barbora Jemelkova, and Joel Darmstadter
Issue Brief 02-23
August 2002
Issue Backgrounder

Determining Project-Based Emissions Baselines with Incomplete Information
Carolyn Fischer
Discussion Paper 02-23
May 2002

International Emissions Trading Design and Tax Shifting by Multinational Corporations
Carolyn Fischer
Climate Issue Brief 02-01, January 2002

The Economics of a Lost Deal
Jean-Charles Hourcade and Frédéric Ghersi
Discussion Paper 01-48
December 2001

Multinational Taxation and International Emissions Trading
Carolyn Fischer
Discussion Paper 01-18
April 2001

India’s Reappraisal of the Clean Development Mechanism
Karl Hausker and Kathleen McGinty
January 2001

International Equity and Climate Change Policy
Marina Cazorla and Michael Toman
Climate Issue Brief #27
December 2000

Establishing and Operating the Clean Development Mechanism
Michael Toman
Climate Issue Brief #22
September 2000

New Investment Abroad: Can it Reduce China's Greenhouse Gas Emissions?
Allen Blackman
Resources, Fall 1999

The Economics of Technology Diffusion: Implications for Climate Policy in Developing Countries
Allen Blackman
Discussion Paper 99-42
June 1999

Opportunities for Developing Countries to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Ramón López
Climate Issue Brief #16
January 1999

Implementing the Clean Development Mechanism: Lessons from U.S. Private-Sector Participation in Activities Implemented Jointly
Ronald Lile, Mark R. Powell, and Michael A. Toman
Discussion Paper 99-08
November 1998

Enforcing Compliance: The Allocation of Liability in International GHG Emissions Trading and the Clean Development Mechanism
Suzi Kerr
Climate Issue Brief #15
October 1998

International Emissions Trading and the Clean Development Mechanism
Raymond J. Kopp, Michael A. Toman, and Marina Cazorla
RFF Climate Issue Brief #13
October 1998

Foreign Direct Investment in China's Power Sector: Trends, Benefits and Barriers
Allen Blackman and Xun Wu
Discussion Paper 98-50
September 1998

The Economics of Technology Diffusion: Implications for Greenhouse Gas Mitigation in Developing Countries
Allen Blackman
Climate Issue Brief #5
October 1997

International Cooperation for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions: From Theory to Practice Through Technology Transfer
Ma Zhong, Yoshitaka Nitta, and Michael A. Toman
RFF Report
December 1997

Home > Solutions and Actions >
Developing Countries

The importance of developing countries taking action to limit their greenhouse emissions cannot be overemphasized. In the year 2000 the combined emissions of carbon dioxide from China and India were only 60 percent of U.S. emissions. But in 2025 those emissions are forecast (by the U.S. Energy Information Agency) to exceed U.S. emissions.

The Kyoto Protocol does not put any emissions limits on developing countries. Those countries vehemently object to any limits on their economic growth and argue that since the present concentrations of carbon in the atmosphere were put there mainly by the rich countries, it is up to them to lead the way in any reduction. But the massive increases in emissions from the biggest and most rapidly industrializing countries, above all China and India, make it clear that any effective climate program must somehow include them.

One possibility is to shift from a structure that limits emissions directly, as Kyoto does, to one that forces higher fuel efficiency. With the recent increases in fuel prices, that idea has a new appeal. Another possibility is to note that emissions of greenhouse gases, particularly in poor countries, are usually associated with the emissions of other pollutants with direct and visible effects on human health.

Featured Work on This Topic

 

Thomas Schelling: Developing Countries Will Suffer Most from Global Warming
Resources for the Future

Resources 164 | Winter 2007

     
 
Link to Foreign Affairs article  

What to Do About Climate Change?
Ruth Greenspan Bell
April 2006

In a recent Foreign Affairs article, RFF Resident Scholar Ruth Greenspan Bell argues that successful efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will require a combination of new, country-specific strategies and traditional monitoring and enforcement measures.

     
     
Link to Foreign Affairs article (external link)  

Market Failure

Ruth Greenspan Bell
The Environmental Forum
March/April 2006

     
   

Panel - Choice of Instruments  

Panel: Low Carbon Economics in
Developing Countries

Understanding Transatlantic Differences
An RFF Co-Hosted Seminar

Speakers discuss the uncertain future of Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM's), the challenges facing growing economies, and the changing perspectives of the U.S. and Europe.

     
   

Link to commentary  

Balancing the Partnership with the U.S.: A Golden Opportunity

Frank E. Loy, RFF Board Chair
A Weathervane Commentary
March 13, 2006

RFF Board Chair Frank E. Loy asserts that European countries need to press the U.S. to rescind its proposed funding cuts to the Global Environment Facility, a program that helps poorer countries develop sustainable resources.

     
     
Link to Discussion Paper 05-53  

Per Capita Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Convergence or Divergence?

Joseph E. Aldy
Discussion Paper 05-53
November 2005

RFF Fellow Joe Aldy suggests the gap between developing and industrialized countries’ per capita emissions has not closed over the past 40 years and may in fact widen, complicating efforts to develop international climate policy.

     
Yellow Line
     
Link to Kyoto Placebo  

The Kyoto Placebo

Ruth Greenspan Bell
Issues in Science and Technology
December 2005

RFF Resident Scholar Ruth Greenspan Bell argues that relying so heavily on the flexible mechanisms created by the Kyoto Protocol to control greenhouse gas emissions in the developing world is highly unrealistic.

     
Yellow Line
     
 

Project-Based Mechanisms for Emissions Reductions: Balancing Trade-offs with Baselines

Carolyn Fischer
Discussion Paper 04-32
August 2004

     
     
 

'Greening' Economic Development Activities For Greenhouse Gas Mitigation

Michael Toman
Issue Brief 03-02
December 2003

     
     
 

Effects of Carbon Policies and Technology Change

Molly K. Macauley and Jhih-Shyang ShihDiscussion Paper 03-14
December 2003

     
     
Link to RFF Press Book  

India and Global Climate Change:
Perspectives on Economics and Policy from a Developing Country


Michael A. Toman, Ujjayant Chakravorty, Shreekant Gupta, editors
RFF Press
2003

     
     
 

13 + 1: A Comparison of Global Climate Change Policy Architectures

Joseph E Aldy, Scott Barrett, and Robert N. Stavins
Discussion Paper 03-26
August 2003

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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