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Growing international trade has been one of the most important drivers for China's recent economic growth. This growth has fed rapid increases in energy demand and carbon emissions since 2000. China is now the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide. There is mounting pressure from some in the international community for China to take specific actions to mitigate its emissions as part of a post-2012 climate regime. However, emissions embodied in internationally traded goods have not been given enough attention in this debate. This article discusses the results of research to quantify the emissions stemming from goods that are exported from China to other countries. It finds that these emissions accounted for 23% of China's national total in 2004. The article sets out how this result has been obtained and compares it to the results of several other pieces of research to demonstrate the importance of this issue. Some pointers for international climate policy are then discussed, including the advantages and difficulties of moving to consumption-based emissions accounting, and implications for international trade rules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contrast to many discussions based on annual emissions, this article presents calculations and projections of cumulative contributions to the stock of atmospheric CO2 by the major players, China, Europe, India, Japan and the USA, for the period 1900-2080. Although relative contributions to the climate problem are changing dramatically, notably due to the rapid industrialization of China, long-term responsibilities for enhanced global warming have not been transparently quantified in the literature. The analysis shows that if current trends continue, by the middle of this century China will overtake the USA as the major cumulative contributor to atmospheric concentrations of CO2. This has enormous implications for the debate on the ethical responsibilities of the major greenhouse gas emitters. Effective climate policy will require both the recognition of shared responsibility and an unprecedented degree of cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An integrated set of low-carbon society (LCS) scenarios for the UK were analysed using the UK MARKAL Macro (M-M) model. A $100/tCO2 carbon price scenario was compared with long-term LCS scenarios with a domestic 80% CO2 reduction target. As M-M is a national-level model, a set of five international drivers were investigated, and grouped under Annex I consensus and Global consensus assumption sets. For economy-wide results the inclusion of international aviation and potential large-scale purchases of CO2 permits (when available) are most important. For sectoral implications, all international drivers considered here are important; for example in divergent overall size and configuration of the UK electricity sector. The carbon price scenario and set of 80% LCS targets scenarios give GDP losses rising from 0.36% to a range of 1.64-2.21% in 2050. This steep cost convexity in deep CO2 reductions represents increasing efforts to decarbonize the UK energy system, and the further impact of key international drivers. This illustrative analysis demonstrates that UK policy makers should be cognisant of, and flexible with respect to, international strategies on LCS and emission reduction targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The challenge of creating a global low-carbon society is examined from the perspectives of a slow-growing but highly developed economy (Canada) and a fast-growing developing economy (China). Both countries' responses are compared to a similar carbon price schedule (US$10/tCO2e in 2013 rising exponentially to $100 by 2050) using a hybrid technologically explicit and behaviourally realistic model with macroeconomic feedbacks (CIMS). Then additional measures are imposed based on the national circumstances of each country; for Canada we simulate a 50% reduction by 2050, and stabilization for China. The scale of the challenge in all cases requires that every available option be vigorously pursued, including energy efficiency, fuel switching, carbon capture and storage, and accelerated development of renewables; to compensate, there are significant co-reductions of local air pollutants such as SOx and NOx. Finally, the abatement cost schedules of China and Canada are compared, and implications considered for carbon permit flows if the cost schedule of the rest of the developed world is assumed to be similar to that of Canada. We found that the developed world and China could collectively reduce emissions by 50% in 2050 at a price of $175/ tCO2e, with permits flowing from the developed countries to China; while abatement costs are lower in China up to $75/t, at higher prices reductions are less costly in the developed world. Our results indicate that a global low-carbon society is feasible, on condition that policy makers are willing and able to impose long-term, credible policy packages with carbon pricing policy as the core element, coupled with supplementary regulations to address market failures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article envisions a future in which advances in technology and urban development have transformed Japanese society by 2050, resulting in significant greenhouse gas reductions. Pathways leading Japan towards a low-carbon society are calculated using a scenario approach based on back-casting' techniques. It is possible to reach a 70% reduction in 002 emissions through a combination of demand-side and supply-side actions. On the demand side, reductions of 40-45% are possible through efficiency improvements, decreased population and the more rational use of energy despite increased energy demands arising in certain sectors. On the supply side, 002 emissions can be reduced through a combination of the appropriate choice of low-carbon energy sources (including carbon capture and storage) and improving energy efficiency. The estimated direct annual cost of technology to achieve this by 2050 is 6.7-9.8 trillion yen, approximately 1% of the estimated 2050 GDP However, this excludes costs involved in infrastructure investments with aims other than climate policy (e.g. strengthening international competitiveness, improving security, enhancing urban development, and reinforcing energy). To avoid investing in its current high-carbon-emitting infrastructure, Japan must develop long-term strategies to create the necessary technological and societal innovations and to channel the appropriate financial resources for intensive economy-wide change, such as development of land, urban areas, and buildings, improvements in industrial structures, and new technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the verified emissions for the 2005 and 2006 trading years, the actual emissions and allowances for each installation covered by the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) were compared. Based on data available for 24 Member States as of May 2007, this article uses a thorough data analysis for about 9,900 installations to investigate evidence on three issues: first, the stringency of the total allocation cap and allocation differences both among the Member States and a selection of emission- intensive sectors; second, the distribution of the size of installations; and third, the spread of allocation discrepancies and possible allocation biases regarding the size of installations. There is a surprisingly high spread of allocation discrepancies, which provide evidence for treating small installations differently from large ones: the inequality of distribution of the size of installations, between allocated and verified allowances, variations in the spread of the allocation discrepancies both by country and by sector reflecting the implementation of National Allocation Plans, the size of an installation and its allocation discrepancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the debate on global climate change has focused on direct costs of mitigation. Recently this debate has included the issue of ancillary benefits. The present analysis incorporates a linkage between air pollution and ancillary health benefits into a general equilibrium model applied to Sweden. Direct disutility and indirect health effects are modelled using concentration-response and contingent valuation data. Health benefits are compared in three scenarios for attaining the Swedish carbon dioxide target with alternative projected and harmful emission levels. Results show that the costs of climate policy could be overstated when not accounting for ancillary health benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]