EQUITY AND THE GLOBAL POLICY ON CLIMATE CHANGE: A LAW AND ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE

Andri G Wibisana

doi:10.15742/ilrev.v2n3.23

Abstract

The opponents of the global commitment to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions seem to have shifted their arguments from the one emphasising on the issue of uncertainty to the one focusing on the economic burdens disproportionately placed on the current generation in general, and some developed countries in particular. Inevitably, the issue of equity becomes of highly importance in the recent climate policy debates. This paper attempts to analyze the implementation of equity principles, i.e. intergenerational and intragenerational equity, in the global climate policy. In doing so, it will first briefly outline some prominent economic appraisals on the impacts of climate change. Afterwards, some proposals to incorporate equity into the economic appraisals will be analyzed. Emphasizing on the concepts of equity, this paper will finally offer some recommendations for post-Kyoto negotiations.

Highlights

For several decades, climate change has been considered one of major threats to humans and the global environment
Such a change might only gradually occur over decades or centuries, which could give more time for humans to make adaptations, some authors, such as Alley, have put forward the possibility of non-linear climate change, referred to as the abrupt climate change, in which the climate very rapidly shifts from one equilibrium to another
Because future generations are expected to be richer than the current generation, the discount rate may serve as an expression of diminishing marginal utility resulting from the increase of wealth over time

Summary

Introduction

Climate change has been considered one of major threats to humans and the global environment. It is argued that climate change is still full of uncertainties related to the science of climate change, and to some impacts considered to have low probability but high consequences Due to such uncertainties, various economic studies have concluded that early emissions abatement in general and the Kyoto Protocol in particular are, economically inefficient. Based on such an estimate, they argue that the optimal climate policy will require a 4.8% reduction be- Those impacts are the consequences of linear climate change, which are likely to occur if no actions are taken by the current generation to curb their GHGs emissions. This paper will be directed at discussing the question of why the burdens of emissions reduction should not be distributed In this regard, this paper will present several reasons for differentiating common responsibility in dealing with the climate change issue. Such recommendations are of high importance for the discussions about post-Kyoto commitments

Intergenerational Equity and Discount Rate

Intragenerational Equity

Findings

Conclusion