The 2008 WITCH model: New model features and baseline

WITCH is an energy-economy-climate model developed by the climate change group at FEEM. The model has been extensively used in the past 3 years for the economic analysis of climate change policies. WITCH is a hybrid top-down economic model with a representation of the energy sector of medium complexity. Two distinguishing features of the WITCH model are the representation of endogenous technological change and the game-theoretic set-up. Technological change is driven by innovation and diffusion processes, both of which feature international spillovers. World countries are grouped in 12 regions which interact with each other in a setting of strategic interdependence. This paper describes the updating of the base year data to 2005 and some new features: the inclusion of non-CO2 greenhouse gases and abatement options, the new specification of low carbon technologies and the inclusion of reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation.