Carbon Abatement Costs and Climate Change Finance

How much would it cost to meet the carbon abatement pledges made in the December 2009 Copenhagen Accord? Cline (Peterson Institute for International Economics) examines the prospective expenses, both internationally and in the twenty-five largest economies. The cost of achieving the "Copenhagen Convergence" is substantial, but surprisingly lower than expected. Using the regional integrated model of climate and the economy (RICE model), for example, abatement costs amount to 1.2 percent of the world economy by 2050. When international emissions trading and an accelerated time table are employed the amounts get even lower, along with prospective adaptation costs. Overall, this is a detailed examination of the costs of carbon offsetting and mitigation. The book contains forty pages of appendixes covering sources of data, and alternative measurement standards and policies. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

William R. Cline has been a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics since 1981. During 1996–2001 while on leave from the Institute, Dr. Cline was deputy managing director and chief economist of the Institute of International Finance (IIF) in Washington, DC. From 2002 through 2011 he held a joint appointment with the Peterson Institute and the Center for Global Development, where he is currently senior fellow emeritus. Before joining the Peterson Institute, he was senior fellow, the Brookings Institution (1973–81); deputy director of development and trade research, office of the assistant secretary for international affairs, US Treasury Department (1971–73); Ford Foundation visiting professor in Brazil (1970–71); and lecturer and assistant professor of economics at Princeton University (1967–70).