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This paper investigates the design of policy packages to enable carbon neutrality in the manufacturing sector by 2050, based on the case of the Netherlands. It first models potential pathways to net-zero emissions by 2050 in the Dutch manufacturing sector, and then evaluates the current policy framework's ability to catalyse the transition. The analysis shows that the Netherlands' credible commitment to raising carbon prices combined with ambitious technology support provides strong incentives for manufacturing to significantly decarbonise. However, even if the carbon levy sets an ambitious price trajectory to 2030, it is tempered by extensive preferential treatment to energy-intensive users, yielding a highly unequal carbon price across firms and sectors. Moreover, the country's technology support focuses on the cost-effective deployment of low-carbon options, which ensures least-cost decarbonisation in the short run but favours relatively mature technologies. The paper offers recommendations for policy adjustments to reach the country's carbon neutrality objective, including the gradual removal of exemptions, enhanced support for emerging technologies and greater visibility over future infrastructure plans. Other countries can learn from the Dutch experience when designing their own decarbonisation strategy for the manufacturing sector. • The Dutch policy package provides strong incentives for manufacturing to decarbonise. • Carbon pricing exemptions for energy-intensive users increase abatement costs. • Technology support favours short-term efficiency over long-term deep decarbonisation. • Dutch transition hinges on regulatory certainty and swift infrastructure deployment. • The Dutch case offers insights for other countries to design net-zero strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To secure effective and sustainable climate change policies, it is of the utmost importance to create synergies between socioeconomic and environmental development goals. Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) programs are being promoted as a suitable mechanism furthering, among others, carbon offsetting and poverty reduction in ecologically fragile areas of developing countries. Rural households are compensated for the loss of property and business income through income transfers and potential job opportunities connected to environmental programs. While the potential pro-poor effects of such policies are well recognized, the impact of PES on extremely poor households has not been systematically reviewed. Drawing on a pooled cross-sectional dataset of 5225 households in the Province of Sichuan, this paper analyzes the income and distributional effects among poor households in rural China participating in a forest carbon sink (FCS) program. To be able to make causal inferences, we employ an Instrumental Variable (IV) approach to control for potential endogeneity and self-selection. Our results indicate a strong need to adjust the PES program: While moderately poor rural households benefit from program participation, extremely poor rural households, in fact, suffer net losses. The main reason is that income reduction resulting from limited access to forest resources is compensated mainly via wage income from participating in forest tending work. Extremely poor households with low labor ability cannot make use of these job opportunities, and thus they'll not only fail to benefit but even incur losses from a PES program. While PES programs can be a viable tool for poverty reduction in underdeveloped regions due to their overall pro-poorness, they need to be accompanied by additional benefits for extremely poor rural households to avoid net losses among marginalized population groups especially. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The land-use change and forestry sector can be a cost-effective contributor to climate mitigation in at least three ways: providing carbon offsets through carbon sequestration in biomass and soils, reducing emissions of methane and other greenhouse gases, and producing biofuels that replace fossil fuels. The presence of carbon markets should help encourage these activities; however, most carbon trades to date have occurred in the energy sector. A major obstacle to carbon trades from land-use systems is the presence of high transaction costs of converting a carbon offset into a tradable commodity, so the prevailing market carbon prices may not provide enough incentive for adoption. This paper presents a model of the exchange of carbon offsets between a project developer and a group of landholders. The model is solved to derive project feasibility frontiers that show the minimum number of contracts necessary to make a project feasible at any given carbon price. The model is applied to two case studies (smallholder agroforestry in Indonesia and partial reforestation of family farms in Australia) under two types of contract (purchase of carbon flows and rental of carbon stocks). The paper concludes by identifying possible strategies to reduce transaction costs while maintaining project integrity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Equity, efficiency and effectiveness are three key criteria use to assess environmental policy instruments. Part 1 of this survey shows that, in terms of equity, Tradable Energy Quotas (TEQs) – a widely discussed personal carbon trading (PCT) scheme - cannot be differentiated from Cap and Dividend (C&D) or Cap and Share (C&S). Hence, Part 2 explores whether they can be differentiated in terms of efficiency and/or effectiveness. The paper reviews two studies that compare the efficiency of TEQs and C&D. Whilst their estimates of the costs and abatement potential of TEQs differ, neither study considers that there is a case, on efficiency grounds, for its implementation. The paper goes on to sketch two arguments for the implementation of PCT that might, nevertheless, be made on efficiency grounds and one – relating to public acceptability – that might be made on effectiveness grounds. Exploring the various public surveys conducted on the acceptability of PCT, the paper concludes that support for PCT is not obviously greater than for alternative instruments and notes a methodological limitation in the work reviewed. The paper concludes that, to date, the case against implementation of PCT is stronger than the case for. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In recent years, there has been considerable discussion within UK climate policy circles regarding the appropriateness of personal carbon trading as an instrument for greenhouse gas emission reduction. This paper is the first in a two-part survey of personal carbon trading (PCT), the term used here to describe proposed (sub-)national greenhouse gas emission trading schemes under which at least some emissions rights are allocated to and surrendered by individuals. After introducing the various proposed PCT schemes, the paper compares, in terms of equity, the two most-discussed PCT schemes with two alternative emission trading schemes and a carbon tax. The papers' two key findings are as follows. First, there are strong arguments that the equal per capita allocation proposed under some instruments is not completely fair. Second, the five instruments compared can be equivalent in terms of their equity. Along with equity, efficiency and effectiveness make up three key criteria for comparing environmental policy instruments. As PCT has no advantage in terms of equity, the paper concludes that any case for PCT will depend on it having advantages in terms of efficiency and/or effectiveness. Whether PCT has such advantages is explored in Part 2. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract The establishment of China's carbon market has an obvious policy-oriented feature, and the carbon price is easily affected by demand-related policies within a compliance period. As prior models cannot help with clear simulation of the volatility of carbon price in China, this paper develops a fuzzy stochastic model to predict such price under the effect of demand-related policy. First, we quantify corporate final profit obtained from carbon trading based on different free allowance policies to measure the actual allowance demand in the carbon market. Second, based on such demand, we add the fuzzy number in each parameter of a stochastic differential equation and then develop a fuzzy stochastic model that can help to analyse the effect of demand-related policy on carbon price in the immature carbon market. Third, by analysing the demand-related policy formulated in the second-developing-phase of the Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange (from Nov. 17 in 2016) through our model, we predict the price trend after each demand-related policy publication. Experimental results reveal the accurate fitting effect of the developed model that can help to estimate the supply-and-demand in the carbon market and evaluate the effectiveness of current carbon trading policy as well. Further, our model can provide a robust theoretical implication for both corporate carbon trading strategies and governmental regulations on carbon demand-related policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Personal carbon trading is a downstream version of the cap and trade approaches to mitigating carbon emissions from individual energy use. Although there are studies that investigate the theoretical and implementation issues, there is little evidence over the potential ways people could reduce their emissions when subject to a PCT policy. Especially little is understood about how people make tradeoff between or complement reducing emissions from transport and in-home energy use. This paper addresses this gap by reporting the findings of a questionnaire survey of stated intentions under the policy. Results show that, more people (53.6%) preferred to reduce their emissions from both transport and in-home energy use compared to from only one of these. This shows the flexibility offered by a cap including transport and in-home energy use is more efficient compared to a PCT covering either of these separately. Nearly three-fourths (76.2%) opted to reduce their emissions following a PCT policy. However, among those with above-budget initial emissions, a large share (79.6%) still could not reduce their emissions to below the budget and opted to purchase at least some permits to cover their emissions, indicating the difficulty in reducing emissions at the personal and household level. Highlights • Questionnaire survey conducted to understand responses to personal carbon trading to reduce emissions • Three-fourths of the respondents intend to reduce emissions under such a policy • Only one-fifths of those above budget could reduce emissions to below budget, rest had to buy permits • More than half respondents reduce emissions from both transport and in-home energy use indicating flexibility • On average people could reduce transport emissions more than in-home energy emissions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past few decades, economists have defended the use of market-based instruments (MBI) in environmental and climate policy. There have been many papers which have compared the costs of attaining environmental objectives with MBIs and with command and control instruments. However very few have compared different MBIs in examining these costs. This paper seeks to analyse various MBIs for CO2 mitigation from the viewpoint of cost-effectiveness, using an AGE (applied general equilibrium) model for the case of Spain. A distinction is drawn between (1) quantity instruments, which represent different extents of a market for emission permits; and (2) price instruments, which represent different types of tax. Each instrument can affect different segments of the emission sources and therefore can have very different effects on the economy as a whole. We show how MBI can help to minimise mitigation costs, but also how taxes and tradable emission permits that are limited or constrained by many exemptions and distortions can raise costs considerably. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper estimates the economic returns to carbon abatement through biological sequestration in community managed forest under future REDD policy, and compares these for three possible management scenarios. For the estimation, the research relies on forest inventory data together with other socio-economic and resources use data collected from forest users in three sites of Nepal Himalaya. The paper estimates the incremental carbon from forest enhancement on a yearly basis over a five-year period using the value of $ 1 and $ 5 per tCO2 for conservative analysis. The results based on the three sites indicate that community forest management may be one of the least cost ways to abate carbon with a break-even price under Scenario 2 which ranges from $ 0.55 to $ 3.70 per tCO2. However, bringing community forests into the carbon market may entail high opportunity costs as forests provide numerous non-monetary benefits to the local population, who regard these as the main incentive for conservation and management. An important finding of the research is that if forest resources use by local communities is not permitted, then carbon trading will not be attractive to them as revenue from carbon will not cover the cost foregone by not harvesting forest resources. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Proposals being considered by the U.S. Congress would establish a cap-and-trade system to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions approximately 2% annually through 2050. Past cap-and-trade policies for other pollutants have distributed allowances free to the regulated companies, leaving consumers uncompensated for passed-through costs needed to achieve the required reductions. Social equity concerns were not a major issue because the total costs were relatively small. However, Americans currently spend about $1 trillion/year on energy, directly and indirectly via the goods and services they consume. If a cap on carbon emissions results in significant increases in energy prices, social equity concerns could quickly dominate the debate over climate policy. This paper confirms earlier studies that a traditional cap-and-trade policy is regressive and would cause the cost of reducing GHG emissions to fall disproportionately on low income households. This paper explores ways to ameliorate those effects, using highly disaggregated data available on consumer expenditures and energy-input¿output analyses of the U.S. economy. Emissions are estimated based on direct and embodied energy use at the household level. Social equity concerns are taken into account and the consequences of cap-and-trade policies are assessed by quantifying the extent to which the expenditure patterns of the poor are significantly more energy intensive than those of the rich. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This article proposes a multi-dimensional framework for understanding the development and effectiveness of Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) schemes, framed around the notions of institutional design, performance and interplay. The framework is applied in the context of Mexico''s Programme of Payments for Carbon, Biodiversity and Agro-forestry Services (PSA-CABSA), with an emphasis on its carbon component. The analysis shows that PSA-CABSA was promoted by civil society and its rules have been subject to continuous modifications over time. In the case of the carbon component, changes have been due to an original misunderstanding of how carbon projects should be designed, implemented, and carbon traded in actual markets. From a performance point of view, the paper shows that the programme has been well received by rural communities, and carbon payments have contributed to increase household income and to enhance forest management practices and organisational skills. The paper also highlights sources of institutional interplay with local institutions and international climate policy, and it reveals the importance of capacity and scale issues in securing an effective and fair implementation of PES. The conclusion provides some policy recommendations for the future development of PES initiatives in Mexico and elsewhere. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Existing literature has carried out fruitful research on the effects of environmental regulation policies. Due to differences in policies, regions, and data analysis methods, however, the previous studies have not reached a consensus on the effects of environmental regulation policies, especially on the effects of environmental regulation policies of developing countries from the perspective of environmental justice. This paper takes the establishment of the environmental court in China's intermediate people's court as a quasi-natural experiment and uses the multi-period difference-in-differences method to examine the effect of the establishment of the environmental court on environmental governance and economic performance, based on the panel data of 284 cities in China from 2003 to 2019. The results show that the establishment of the environmental court can significantly reduce the emission intensity of industrial SO 2 in the short term. This reduction effect is resulted from the joint emission reduction effect of the establishment of the environmental court on local cities and adjacent cities. The mechanism analysis shows that the establishment of the environmental court has the dual effect of emission reduction without hindering economic growth. This effect is mainly achieved by improving energy efficiency, stimulating green technology innovation, increasing environmental investment, and improving the green finance level. Furthermore, the emission reduction effect of the establishment of the environmental court shows differential effects under the constraints of regional rule-of-law level, environmental awareness, fiscal pressure, and level of innovation and entrepreneurship. In addition, the establishment of the environmental court can facilitate the achievement of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals. • Evaluated the impact of the improvement of judicial quality on environmental governance and economic performance. • The establishment of the environmental court would reduce the emission intensity of industrial SO 2. • The establishment of the environmental court would not compromise regional productivity. • There is heterogeneity in the policy effects of the establishment of the environmental court. • Effects are achieved via energy efficiency, green technology innovation, environmental investment, and green finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the characteristics of embodied CO 2 emissions from the perspective of carbon inflows, carbon outflows, and the net effects, at both an aggregate and bilateral scale. We identify several important relationships in bilateral carbon flows, including China–EU, China–USA, Russia–EU, and China–Japan, which make China and Russia the largest carbon exporters and the EU and the USA the largest carbon importers. A further investigation of the sectors contributing to carbon flows shows that exports from the mineral, chemicals, metals, oil, transport, and other manufacturing sectors are the main cause of carbon outflows, while the intermediate inputs of the electricity and transport sectors are the primary cause of carbon outflows due to export production. Moreover, we propose an intensity-based shared responsibility strategy and find that China should take the most responsibility because it is responsible for nearly 32% of all embodied emissions, due to its less efficient and high carbon-intensive technologies. The USA and the EU follow China, with shares of 13.2% and 11.3%, respectively, owing to their heavy consumption. As a result, China and the USA contribute 31.8% and 20.6%, respectively, of the total global emissions, outweighing the aggregated contribution from all other countries/regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is one of the most daunting challenges human kind has ever faced. In the paper, we provide a survey of the micro and macro economics of climate change from a complexity science perspective and we discuss the challenges ahead for this line of research. We identify four areas of the literature where complex system models have already produced valuable insights: (i) coalition formation and climate negotiations, (ii) macroeconomic impacts of climate-related events, (iii) energy markets and (iv) diffusion of climate-friendly technologies. On each of these issues, accounting for heterogeneity, interactions and disequilibrium dynamics provides a complementary and novel perspective to the one of standard equilibrium models. Furthermore, it highlights the potential economic benefits of mitigation and adaptation policies and the risk of under-estimating systemic climate change-related risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper calculates steady state management decisions that, if followed indefinitely, provide an adaptive strategy that maximizes the value from timber and carbon sequestration when risk is present. By including carbon offsets directly in the objective function of a Markov decision process (MDP) model, we find long-term trade-offs exist between economic and ecological outcomes. An economic supply schedule is provided, which shows an exponential increase in the cost of sequestration. Moderate carbon prices effectively sequester additional CO 2 from the atmosphere while having a positive impact on ecological indicators such as size and species diversity. In contrast, high carbon prices promote more of a monoculture in order to maximize expected forest value in the long run from carbon sequestration. This study finds evidence that the optimal adaptive decisions are sensitive to the magnitude of carbon prices, and consequently, so too are ecological outcomes. While some governments acknowledge the influence carbon markets have on the ecological integrity of the forest, fluctuations in carbon prices within a cap-and-trade market likely influence the optimal decision making of the forest manager, and thus, the ecological landscape of the forest itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Household consumption has great potential to reduce CO 2 emissions from the demand side which is an important way to achieve carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals. However, the shrinking household size will have a significant impact on household carbon emissions. In this paper, we have investigated the impacts of the decrease in Chinese household size on the direct and indirect household carbon emissions by using the input-output model and the bidirectional fixed-effect model, based on China's Urban Household Income and Expenditure Survey dataset. Results have shown that household size has a significant negative effect on household carbon emissions per capita, and such a negative effect on indirect carbon emissions is much greater than that on direct carbon emissions in China. Reducing the average household size by one has led to an increase of 0.128 t of the direct household carbon emissions per capita and 1.344 t of indirect household carbon emissions per capita, respectively. We also projected the potential change of household carbon emissions by 2030 under scenarios of increasing total population and shrinking household size and found that there may generate a 15.3%–18.8% growth in household carbon emissions compared to that in 2012, with other demographic characteristics unchanged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we investigate the role of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) on the Italian power exchange. The purpose of this analysis is to assess the impact of electricity generation from RES on the reduction of CO 2 emissions and on the value of the power supply. The study is based on hourly zonal micro-data for 2018 from the Italian power market and identifies the amount of avoided carbon emissions related both to crowded-out thermal units and to potential "load-shedding" situations. Finally, the investigation leads to the assessment of both the economic value of RES penetration and to the economic value of the CO 2 emissions avoided by renewable power generation. The results show that the annual savings of carbon emissions nationwide amount to nearly 22 Mt CO 2 whereas the value of CO 2 reduction is estimated at €348 million. The economic savings from large and small-scale wind and solar generation in 2018 account for nearly €19 billion and welfare is increased by 44%, thus confirming the net positive effect arising from RES promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Environmental policy instruments generate transaction costs to public and private parties. There is a growing literature reporting on the size of transaction costs produced by environmental policy instruments. This paper extends that literature through an analysis of the factors that influence transaction costs in environmental policy and how this influence occurs. The theory based factors that influence transaction costs are categorised as: 1) transaction characteristics; 2) transactor characteristics; 3) nature of the institutional environment; and 4) nature of the institutional arrangements. We examined how these factors influenced transaction costs through the analysis of two Australian-based development offset schemes with different policy designs. We found evidence of all four theory-based categories of influence in the policy case studies. The degree of influence and how each factor influenced transaction costs varies across the two policies and between parties. Policy design as a component of the institutional environment had a particularly large bearing on transaction costs of offset buyers and the policy administrator. An important contribution to transaction cost theory assumes the institutional environment as given. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to define a shared responsibility criterion for analysing the impact of international trade on CO2 emissions applied to sectors. With the approach proposed it is possible for sectors in a country to account for only a part of the emissions associated with exported and imported goods. The agents considered as responsible for pollution are sectors two-fold: as producers and suppliers of intermediate inputs and final demand (accounting for direct emissions linked to production), and as consumers of intermediate inputs required for production (accounting for direct and indirect emissions linked to consumption of inputs), and the countries and foreign sectors that trade with these industries. The responsibility of emissions is shared by all the participants along the global product chain depending on the value added of each step. The criterion is applied to the Spanish economy for the period 2000 to 2005, and proves useful for determining what economic policies may be suitable for mitigating anthropogenic impact on the environment and for including all the agents of the supply chain in the development of sustainable supply chain management. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper provides a detailed analysis of how the European Emission Trading System (EU ETS) as the core climate policy instrument of the European Union has impacted innovation. Towards this end, we investigate the impact of the EU ETS on research, development and demonstration (RD&D), adoption, and organizational change. In doing so, we pay particular attention to the relative influences of context factors (policy mix, market factors and public acceptance) and firm characteristics (value chain position, technology portfolio, size and vision). Empirically, our qualitative analysis is based on multiple case studies with 19 power generators, technology providers and project developers in the German power sector which were conducted in 2008/09. We find that the innovation impact of the EU ETS has remained limited so far because of the scheme's initial lack of stringency and predictability and the relatively greater importance of context factors. Additionally, the impact varies significantly across technologies, firms, and innovation dimensions and is most pronounced for RD&D on carbon capture technologies and organizational changes. Our analysis suggests that the EU ETS on its own may not provide sufficient incentives for fundamental changes in corporate innovation activities at a level which ensures political long-term targets can be achieved. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges confronting the international community requiring action to achieve deep cuts in carbon emissions. The implementation of potentially uncomfortable but necessary policy measures is, though, critically dependent upon public acceptability. This paper reports a novel application of stated preference techniques to explore the influence of key design attributes on the acceptability of a personal carbon trading scheme in isolation and when compared to a carbon tax. Illustrative forecasts from the models developed indicate the importance of design attributes, especially the basis of the initial permit allocation for personal carbon trading and the use to which revenues are put for carbon tax. Results indicate that the “best” scheme designs could be acceptable to a majority of respondents. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Climate change research is currently a topic of great interest for economic researchers. In particular, environmental input–output analysis increasingly plays an important role in measuring the economic and environmental effects of sustainable development policies in Europe. Other approaches also exist, such as econometric modelling, in which impacts are quantified on statistical grounds and with certain desirable properties (efficient estimates, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, etc.) that are not found in the input–output approach. Consequently, this paper merges the two approaches to address the calculation of unbiased and consistent carbon dioxide emission multipliers for Denmark and their respective confidence intervals. The use of the supply and use system instead of the symmetric input–output table also presents the opportunity to avoid the common problems associated with the construction of technical coefficients (technology assumptions, negatives, etc.). Moreover, a new policy-relevant application of these multipliers is introduced: the quantification of the performance of the carbon dioxide emission reductions carried out by industries via external trading. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Voluntary carbon offsetting (VCO) is an important means of controlling rapidly growing household consumption emissions. To design an effective VCO system, consumers' willingness towards VCO and its relevant determinants are of crucial importance, but are still rather insufficiently studied, especially in developing countries and among high‑carbon-emitting consumers. This paper adopts an extended theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to explore the influencing mechanism of Chinese consumers' willingness to offset. Willingness to pay(WTP) is also estimated to provide monetary value of willingness. Using K-means clustering based on consumption behaviours, high‑carbon-emitting consumers are identified and further investigated. The proposed model was tested empirically using survey data (N = 905) collected from different areas in China. The results show that on average, Chinese consumers are willing to pay 419.2 RMB (61.2 USD) per year for carbon offsetting. The major influencing factor is subjective norm, followed by attitude and personal moral norm. High‑carbon-emitting consumers have better knowledge, stronger perceived control and greater WTP for VCO, and their willingness to offset is directly influenced by subjective norm rather than personal moral norm. The findings shed light on the offsetting behaviours of Chinese consumers and recommendations on the design of a VCO system are further proposed. • We analyzed consumers' willingness towards voluntary carbon offsetting in the Chinese context. • An extended theory of planned behaviour was developed to study the influencing mechanism. • Subjective norm is the most decisive factor for willingness to offset among Chinese consumers. • High-carbon-emitting consumers pay primary attention to social pressure and are willing to pay more to offset. • Special carbon offsetting products should be designed for high-carbon-emitting consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The escalation of risks associated with environmental and climatic aspects has accelerated the introduction of voluntary personal carbon trading (PCT), a policy instrument for promotion and facilitation of low-carbon behavior in the domestic sector. This paper examines participants' motivation in the Guangdong pilot project, which aims to develop the first voluntary PCT scheme (Carbon Generalized System of Preferences, CGSP) in China to reduce the domestic sector's emissions and increase the liquidity of the Guangdong pilot emission trading scheme. The CGSP acceptance model is based on the technology acceptance model and explores the drivers of the public's participation willingness (PW) in the CGSP scheme. Further, the structural equation model has been adopted to explore the influence paths of each driver by using survey data (N = 1190) collected from Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China. The empirical results demonstrated that the strong and direct drivers are associated with the institutional technical environment, perceived usefulness and participation risk. However, other drivers affect PW through the mediation effect of perceived usefulness. Notably, implementation cost had no significant effect on PW. • An innovative voluntary personal carbon trading scheme in China was introduced. • A conceptual model was proposed to study the determinants of public acceptance. • Structural equation model was used to study the influence path of each determinant. • Both the direct and indirect paths of each determinant have been analyzed in depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the effects of framing a polluting activity in different contexts, i.e. different modes of transportation (bus versus plane) and different travel occasions (holiday versus professional training) on the individual willingness to pay (WTP) for carbon offsetting. For both types of framing, we also study additional contributions from the travel provider (i.e. matching). The empirical analyses with mixed logit and latent class logit models are based on data from discrete choice experiments with a representative sample of about 1000 individuals from Germany. The findings suggest substantial and systematic framing effects resulting from varying the mode of transportation, but not the travel occasion. Furthermore, the individual WTP is significantly higher across all four contexts when offsets are matched by the travel provider at a rate of 100%. In contrast, a lower matching rate of 33% is only relevant for one context, i.e. bus trips to a professional training. In addition, our results indicate that re-/afforestation projects are preferred to renewable energies projects or projects to improve energy efficiency. Likewise, projects carried out in a participant's region are preferred to projects implemented in European countries other than Germany or in developing countries. Finally, the WTP for offsets is found to be significantly higher for individuals with higher income, younger age, and stronger environmental and social preferences, as well as for individuals who believe that offsetting is effective in protecting the climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]