The abatement of carbon emissions in industrial and developing countries

"The global environment is a matter of great importance to all nations.... Yet differences of opinions prevail about the main problems, and about the institutions to manage cooperation....The problem of finding carbon abatement policies is complicated by the scientific uncertainty about the impact of carbon emissions on the climate....In order to implement global policies successfully it seems crucial to develop a clear evaluation of the facts, of the different positions, and of the economic issues at stake...The conceptual formulation of markets and the economic data provided by the OECD economic model GREEN could prove very valuable, and will be used in this paper.... A good starting point is provided by the paper "Implementing Global Environmental Policy" by J. Coppel of the OECD Resource Allocation Division.... This paper was commissioned to discuss Coppel's, and to address the same issues while formulating a cooperative approach to carbon emission abatement policy, which takes into consideration the position of developing as well as industrial countries.... I will discuss Coppel's paper, and evaluate his proposal for a carbon abatement tax using basic economics and the data offered by GREEN and other sources such as the IEA. I will propose a complementary set of economic policies, including a modified carbon tax, and other associated policies for containing environmental damage in the context of international trade, and of financial policies y the World Bank and the IMF."