As the world’s second largest carbon emitter, China has long been criticised as a “free-rider” enjoying benefits from other countries’ efforts to abate greenhouse gas emissions but not taking due responsibilities of its own. China has been singled out as one of the major targets at the...

With countries from around the world set to meet in Copenhagen to try to hammer out a post-2012 climate change agreement, no one would disagree that a U.S. commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions is essential to such a global pact. However, despite U.S. president Obama’s recent announcement...

The Kyoto Protocol is the first international environmental agreement that sets legally binding greenhouse gas emissions targets and timetables for Annex I countries. It incorporates emissions trading and two project-based flexibility mechanisms, namely joint implementation and the clean...

With countries from around the world set to meet in Copenhagen to try to hammer out a post-2012 climate change agreement, no one would disagree that a U.S. commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions is essential to such a global pact. However, despite U.S. president Obama's recent announcement...

This paper describes a model, implemented in an Excel spreadsheet, for evaluating a wide range of fiscal and regulatory instruments policymakers might consider for implementing their Paris mitigation pledges. Policies are evaluated against a range of metrics, including impacts on carbon dioxide...

This paper describes a model, implemented in an Excel spreadsheet, for evaluating a wide range of fiscal and regulatory instruments policymakers might consider for implementing their Paris mitigation pledges. Policies are evaluated against a range of metrics, including impacts on carbon dioxide...

The U.S. and China are the world’s largest and second largest CO2 emitters, respectively, and to what extent the U.S. and China get involved in combating global climate change is extremely important both for lowering compliance costs of climate mitigation and adaptation and for moving...

With countries from around the world set to meet in Copenhagen to try to hammer out a post-2012 climate change agreement, no one would disagree that a U.S. commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions is essential to such a global pact. However, despite U.S. president Obama’s recent announcement...

Duke University organized the International Conference on Reconstructing Climate Policy: Moving Beyond the Kyoto Impasse, May 2003. The organizer invited me to specifically address the following two issues at the conference: 1) Whether is the proposal for joint accession by the U.S. and China in...

Many economic studies suggest that China would reap significant benefits from participating in a global cap-and-trade regime. The question then is that even if such a regime is so beneficial to China, why China has consistently refused in international negotiations even to discuss its...