AN ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT OF USING STATIC GWP'S

摘要

The metric governing the trade-off between different greenhouse gases in the Kyoto Protocol, the Global Warming Potentials (GWPs), has received ample critique from both scientific and economic viewpoints. Here we use an optimization model to estimate the economically efficient trade-off between CO_2, CH_4 and N_2O when meeting a temperature stabilization target. We then estimate the increased cost from using the GWPs when meeting the same temperature target. Although the efficient valuation of the gases differs significantly from the GWPs, the potential economic benefit of valuing them in a more correct way amounts to a few percent of overall costs of meeting a temperature stabilization target.