The Impact of Surplus Sharing on The Stability of International Climate Agreements

This paper analyses stability of coalitions for greenhouse gas abatement for different sharing rules applied to the gains from co-operation. We use a 12-regions model designed to examine internal and external stability of coalitions (STACO). We compare different sharing rules like, for example, grandfathering (i.e. sharing proportional to emissions) and a number of so-called equitable rules like, for example, sharing proportional to population or according to historical responsibilities. Due to strong free-rider incentives we find only small stable coalitions for all sharing rules examined. As a general pattern we observe that coalitions consist of regions with low marginal abatement costs, which are attractive partners in any coalition, and regions which have the highest claims according to the respective sharing rule. Furthermore, we find that a grandfathering scheme leads to the largest and – in terms of greenhouse gas abatement – most successful coalition, while many of the equitable rules achieve very little.International environmental agreements, Sharing rules, Stability of coalitions

The influence of political pressure groups on the stability of international environmental agreements

This paper examines the effects of political pressure groups (lobbies) on the emissions abatement decisions of countries and on the stability of international environmental agreements. We consider two types of lobbies, industry and environmentalists. We determine the influence of lobby-groups on the abatement decisions of countries. This influence affects members of an international environmental agreement as well as outsiders. However, in the case of agreement members, the effects of lobbying are not restricted to the lobby's host-country but spill over to other member countries and have ambiguous effects on the agreement stability

Climate Change and Tourism in Switzerland: a Survey on Impacts, Vulnerability and Possible Adaptation Measures

The tourism industry is particularly affected by climate change, being very climate- and weather- dependent. Moreover, particularly in the Alpine region, it is specially exposed to natural hazards. Nonetheless, this industry is an important pillar of the Swiss economy, providing employment and generating income. Then, it becomes essential to reduce its vulnerability and starting implementing adaptation measures. In order to do so, it is important to define which areas face which problems and to recognize vulnerability hot spots. This motivation comes from the prospect that the largest environmental, social and economic damages are likely to be concentrated in vulnerable areas. This article presents an overview of the current state of the knowledge on the impacts, the vulnerability and the possible adaptation measures of the tourism industry in relation to climate change. Moreover, it presents different methods that could help assessing this vulnerability, referring in particular to the Swiss situation. This is the first step toward the establishment of the vulnerability analysis and the consequent examination of possible adaptation measures

Integrated Assessment of Swiss GHG Mitigation Policies After 2012: Coupling the Residential Sector

The residential sector presents a great potential for greenhouse gases (GHG) mitigation. We perform an integrated assessment of different mitigation policies for Switzerland focusing on the residential sector. We analyze the case of pure incentive taxes and technical regulations. For our analysis, we have coupled a general equilibrium model with a Swiss residential energy model. We find that a progressive GHG tax of more than 200 USD2000/tCO2eq is necessary to reach a target of 50% reduction of GHG emissions in 2050. Finally, we also find that efficiency-based technical regulations provide limited additional abatement incentive

Assessment of acceptable Swiss post-2012 climate policies

In the framework of the revision of the Swiss CO2-Law and in view for the international negotiations that will take place at the next Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) has proposed a set of instruments and two levels of abatement to define the Swiss climate policy for the post-2012 period. The proposed policies are the results of a consultation procedure that took place at the beginning of 2009 and has allowed major stakeholders and lobbies to defend their interests. Using a hybrid model, we evaluate two proposed scenarios at the 2030 horizon and find important disparities in the prices of carbon faced by the different economic sectors and higher welfare costs than those that would be triggered by a uniform carbon tax

Sustainability, neutrality and beyond in the framework of Swiss post-2012 climate policy

Switzerland, as many developed countries, face a double problem for the next round of international negotiations on climate change. On the one hand, short term economic strategies would favor the implementation of a global carbon market that would minimize abatement costs globally. On the other hand, purchasing emissions certificates from developing countries does not prepare for the major technological and social changes that will certainly be required before the end of the century to avoid climate change. In this paper we use a coupled top-down bottom-up model to assess the impacts of a number of ambitious climate policies in Switzerland. We find that stringent policies with both domestic and total emission targets are affordable for a wealthy country like Switzerland. Such policies could not only put Switzerland in a leading po- sition regarding climate change issues but also pave the way for its long term climate policies

Integrated Assessment of Swiss GHG Mitigation Policies After 2012

The residential sector presents a great potential for greenhouse gases (GHG) mitigation. We perform an integrated assessment of different mitigation policies for Switzerland focusing on the residential sector. We analyze the case of pure incentive taxes and technical regulations. For our analysis, we have coupled a general equilibrium model with a Swiss residential energy model. We find that a progressive GHG tax of more than 200 USD2000/tCO2 eq is necessary to reach a target of 50% reduction of GHG emissions in 2050. Finally, we also find that efficiency-based technical regulations provide limited additional abatement incentives

A Global Carbon Tax to Compensate Damage and Adaptation Costs

We analyze the implications of a global carbon tax on CO2 to finance the damage and adaptation costs of developing countries (DCs) using the computable general equilibrium model GEMINI-E3. We considered two options, first, that the tax is only applied to industrialized countries and secondly, that the tax is charged globally. We conclude that a scheme that puts the entire tax burden on the industrialized countries would not be a feasible policy strategy. Furthermore, it would be more likely that industrialized countries accept to finance adaptation because it entails a lower financial burden and might foster emission reductions in DCs

Border adjustment measures as instruments to reduce emissions leakage

We analyze carbon-related BAMs (focused on imports) as potential instruments to reduce emissions leakage. We combine an approach from international trade law with an economic approach. For the legal aspect we discuss the elements needed to include carbon-related BAMs within the current GATT and WTO frameworks. For the economic aspect, we assess the effects of leakage and of BAMs to tackle it within an optimal climate policy model and a general equilibrium model. We find that the design and implementation of these BAMs would be difficult to bring in compliance with current international trade law and it may entail high transaction costs. Moreover, we observe that the severity of leakage may be amplified by international trade and that BAMs help in reducing it. Finally, we find that welfare effects of introducing carbon-related BAMs are ambiguous and thus they may not represent a credible threat to involve other actors in the international climate regime

Coupling GEMINI-E3 and MARKAL-CHRES to Simulate Swiss Climate Policies

This report collects two studies hat have been performed in the Research group on the Economics and Management of the Environment of EPFL to assess the Swiss post-Kyoto climate policy with a focus on the residential sector. We couple two existing top-down and residential bottom-up models in order to carry out a integrated assessment of various post-2012 climate policies for Switzerland