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Slowing global warming is among the most complex economic, political and diplomatic challenges of our time. It requires integrating robust adaptation strategies into development plans and budgets.
CLIMATE CHANGE A SELECTION OF RECENT PUBLICATONS ON THE ECONOMICS OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change
The World Bank is working with seven pilot countries – Bangladesh, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique, Samoa and Vietnam on a new study—the Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change. The study is funded by the Governments of the United Kingdom, Netherlands, and Switzerland and will help inform the international community’s efforts to provide new and additional resources to developing countries through a better understanding of the global costs of adapting to climate change. Read more...
UN WIDER Annual Lecture, The Climate Change Challenge
Despite the setback of the global economic crisis, developing countries have become major drivers of global growth. However, not all developing countries are benefitting equally, and the future prospects of those lagging behind depends crucially on how the world community responds to the challenge of climate change. Read more...
Poverty and climate change: reducing the vulnerability of the poor through adaptation
Despite international efforts, poverty has become more widespread in many countries in the last decade, making poverty reduction the core challenge for development in the 21st century. In the millennium declaration, 189 nations have resolved to halve extreme poverty by 2015 and all agencies involved in this paper are committed to contribute to this aim. However, climate change is a serious risk to poverty reduction and threatens to undo decades of development efforts. This paper focuses on the impacts of climate change on poverty reduction efforts in the context of sustaining progress towards the millennium development goals and beyond. Read more...
International Climate Policy and Regional Welfare Weights
Daiju Narita, Richard S.J. Tol and David Anthoff
Paper advocate a global social welfare function that is consistent with the burden sharing in the Kyoto Protocol and in two proposals for a post-Kyoto treaty. The Kyoto Protocol favored the EU. The Frankel proposal for a post-Kyoto treaty continues the favorable treatment of the EU, while the EU proposal puts more weight on the wellbeing of other OECD countries at the expense of its own residents. Ignoring income differences, the EU proposal for a post-Kyoto treaty favors developing countries. However, if income differences are taken into account, the EU proposal is not at all generous to developing countries. Read more...
Climate Policy and Corporate Behaviour
Commins, N., S. Lyons, M. Schiffbauer and R.S.J. Tol (2009).
The paper studies the impact of energy taxes and the EU ETS on a large number of firms in Europe between 1996 and 2007. Using company level micro-data, how firms in different sectors were affected by environmental policies is examined. Aspects of behaviour and performance studied include total factor productivity, employment levels, investment behaviour and profitability. On the whole, energy taxes increased total factor productivity and returns to capital but decreased employment, with a mixed effect on investment, for the sectors included in our analysis.
World Development Report 2010
Developing countries can shift to lower-carbon paths while promoting development and reducing poverty, but this depends on financial and technical assistance from high-income countries, says World Development Report 2010: Development and Climate Change. Read more...
The World Bank and Climate Change