In 2009, the promise of a comprehensive federal cap and trade bill to address climate change fell apart. At least in part, this was due to the fears that exotic 'carbon' financial instruments might cause more financial crises. As California launches it economy wide carbon trading system, and...

Naturwissenschaftliche Fragen rund um den Klimawandel sind von Naturwissenschaftlern zu beantworten. Ökonomen und Wirtschaftsethiker können jedoch dazu beitragen, den Klimawandel und mögliche Gegenmaßnahmen zu bewerten. Dabei ist ein einheitlicher Preis für die Emission von Treibhausgasen...

This paper analyses aspects of environmental policy in Denmark, including, among others, policy on surface water quality, clean air and support for renewable energy, waste disposal and transport policy. Environmental policies are an important priority in Denmark, with implementation often highly...

This document analyses German environmental policies, including, among others, discussion of air and water quality policy, use of the waste management hierarchy approach and of voluntary agreements. The German public has been highly sensitive to environmental concerns, leading to many policy...

We explore the history and current status of green energy finance in Australia and New Zealand. Although both countries have enviable renewable energy resources with a 100% renewable mix considered feasible, the two countries present highly contrasting contexts for energy finance. Currently, and...

Cap-and-trade systems have emerged as the preferred national and regional instrument for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases throughout the industrialized world, and the Clean Development Mechanism' an international emission-reduction-credit system' has developed a substantial constituency,...

Because of the global commons nature of climate change, international cooperation among nations will likely be necessary for meaningful action at the global level. At the same time, it will inevitably be up to the actions of sovereign nations to put in place policies that bring about meaningful...

Emissions of greenhouse gases linked with global climate change are affected by diverse aspects of economic activity, including individual consumption, business investment, and government spending. An effective climate policy will have to modify the decision calculus for these activities in the...

Carbon budgets have emerged as a robust metric of warming, but little is known about the usefulness of regional carbon budgets as indicators of policy. This article explores the potential of regional carbon budgets to inform climate policy. Using the large database of scenarios from IPCC AR5...

It has been shown that international cooperation in achieving renewable energy targets, e.g., via a common tradable green certificate market, increases overall welfare. However, cooperation in the support of electricity from renewable energy sources also leads to regional price effects, from...