Ebook: Cost-Benefit Analyses of Climate Change: The Broader Perspectives

The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) was founded in 1992 as a "Blue List" research institute, with the Federal Ministry for Education, Science, Research and Technology and the Ministry for Science, Research and Culture of the federal state of Brandenburg each provid­ ing half ofthe funding. PIK currently has a staff of 100 (1997), including about 75 scientists and guest scientists, as well as a number of students and temporary assistants. Further expansion is taking place at the institute site in the "Albert Einstein" Science Park in Potsdam. The interdisciplinary nature of climate impact research, especially the interface between the natural scientific and socioeconomic dimensions of environmental research, is reflected at PIK in the close cooperation with partner institutes at national and international level. The flexible frame­ work created for the institute enables new problems and issues to be taken up as they arise. As a center of scientific innovation, PIK also coordinates international activities in the fields of climate impact research and Earth System analysis. The institute houses project offices for the IGBP international research programs, for example. Simulations of Global Change are performed on PIK's supercomputer using models and data drawn from various disciplines. The parallel compu­ ter (an IBM-SP2) boasts 20 gigaflops of computing power, making it one of the most powerful research computers in Germany. The Workshop on Cost-Benefit Analyses of Climate Change was jointly organized by PIK and the Wuppertal Institute for Energy, Climate, and Environment (WI).

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This book focuses on different items in integrated cost-benefit models of climate change in three major areas: modeling regional climate sensitivity, impacts, and adaptation; emissions reduction targets, associated costs, and possible instruments for implementation; and finally, the broader national and international policy contexts for using these models and their results. Topics cover a broad range from the implications of including sulphate aerosols in target-based scenarios of climate change to impacts of global warming on the insurance industry. On the policy side, the contributions refer to costs and expected results of various greenhouse-gas stabilization strategies, as well as to the dynamics of policy instruments, and to the role of advanced energy technologies in those stabilization targets and strategies. In all these areas, possible research directions are discussed that might help to alleviate current shortcomings in global cost-benefit analyses and, more broadly, in integrated climate-economy assessment models. The book is intended for researchers in various areas of global environmental change as well as for a broader but informed general audience interested in the scientific complexity and the policy dilemma associated with the climate change problem.

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This book focuses on different items in integrated cost-benefit models of climate change in three major areas: modeling regional climate sensitivity, impacts, and adaptation; emissions reduction targets, associated costs, and possible instruments for implementation; and finally, the broader national and international policy contexts for using these models and their results. Topics cover a broad range from the implications of including sulphate aerosols in target-based scenarios of climate change to impacts of global warming on the insurance industry. On the policy side, the contributions refer to costs and expected results of various greenhouse-gas stabilization strategies, as well as to the dynamics of policy instruments, and to the role of advanced energy technologies in those stabilization targets and strategies. In all these areas, possible research directions are discussed that might help to alleviate current shortcomings in global cost-benefit analyses and, more broadly, in integrated climate-economy assessment models. The book is intended for researchers in various areas of global environmental change as well as for a broader but informed general audience interested in the scientific complexity and the policy dilemma associated with the climate change problem.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages I-X
Front Matter....Pages XI-XI
Beyond costs and benefits of climate change: A workshop overview....Pages 1-16
First principles and the economic comparison of regulatory alternatives in global change....Pages 17-28
Dynamics of policy instruments and the willingness to participate in an international agreement....Pages 29-39
Global warming and the insurance industry....Pages 41-56
Front Matter....Pages 57-57
European stabilization targets: What do they bring, how much do they cost?....Pages 59-66
Climate protection and the economy of prevention....Pages 67-86
The value of advanced energy technologies in stabilizing atmospheric CO2 ....Pages 87-104
Policy context: Follow-up of the Berlin climate conference....Pages 105-109
The implications of including sulfate aerosols on scenarios of admissible greenhouse gas emissions....Pages 111-120
The tolerable windows approach to climate control: Optimization, risks, and perspectives....Pages 121-139
Back Matter....Pages 141-148

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This book focuses on different items in integrated cost-benefit models of climate change in three major areas: modeling regional climate sensitivity, impacts, and adaptation; emissions reduction targets, associated costs, and possible instruments for implementation; and finally, the broader national and international policy contexts for using these models and their results. Topics cover a broad range from the implications of including sulphate aerosols in target-based scenarios of climate change to impacts of global warming on the insurance industry. On the policy side, the contributions refer to costs and expected results of various greenhouse-gas stabilization strategies, as well as to the dynamics of policy instruments, and to the role of advanced energy technologies in those stabilization targets and strategies. In all these areas, possible research directions are discussed that might help to alleviate current shortcomings in global cost-benefit analyses and, more broadly, in integrated climate-economy assessment models. The book is intended for researchers in various areas of global environmental change as well as for a broader but informed general audience interested in the scientific complexity and the policy dilemma associated with the climate change problem.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages I-X
Front Matter....Pages XI-XI
Beyond costs and benefits of climate change: A workshop overview....Pages 1-16
First principles and the economic comparison of regulatory alternatives in global change....Pages 17-28
Dynamics of policy instruments and the willingness to participate in an international agreement....Pages 29-39
Global warming and the insurance industry....Pages 41-56
Front Matter....Pages 57-57
European stabilization targets: What do they bring, how much do they cost?....Pages 59-66
Climate protection and the economy of prevention....Pages 67-86
The value of advanced energy technologies in stabilizing atmospheric CO2 ....Pages 87-104
Policy context: Follow-up of the Berlin climate conference....Pages 105-109
The implications of including sulfate aerosols on scenarios of admissible greenhouse gas emissions....Pages 111-120
The tolerable windows approach to climate control: Optimization, risks, and perspectives....Pages 121-139
Back Matter....Pages 141-148
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