Elsevier

Energy Policy

Volume 18, Issue 10, December 1990, Pages 927-935
Energy Policy

Reducing conflict in global warming policy: The potential of equity as a unifying principle

https://doi.org/10.1016/0301-4215(90)90127-PGet rights and content

Abstract

International agreement on global warming mitigation is likely to prove difficult. Efficiency-based policies will result in disparate costs and benefits among nations and thus hinder cooperation. This paper suggests that consideration be given to an equitable sharing of the economic impacts of global warming policy. Acknowledging that there is no universally-held concept of equity, the policy implications of several alternatives are explored. Because there is considerable variation in these implications, it will be important for decision-makers to clarify their preferred concepts of equity during the course of their negotiations on policies to address global warming.

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    This paper was presented at the Fifteenth International Conference of the International Association for Energy Economics, Copenhagen, Denmark, 20 June 1990. The author wishes to thank John Dutton and Brandt Stevens for their helpful comments on an earlier draft. The research assistance of Amit Mor is also acknowledged.

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