Ideally, carbon offset programs issue each project a number of offset credits equal to the number of reductions in carbon emissions it achieves. Realistically, any one project likely receives more or less offset credits than the emissions it reduces. Therefore, the net emissions impact of offset...

We model countries' choice of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as a dynamic game. Emissions generate immediate benefits to the emitting country but also increase atmospheric GHG concentrations that negatively affect present and future welfare of all countries. Because there are no international...

We develop a model of international agreements to price a transboundry externality and provide a new heuristic to aid in interpreting negotiation behavior. Under conservative assumptions a country's net benefits will be positive under an efficient pollution price if its share of global damages...

We describe three essential elements of an effective post-2012 international global climate policy architecture: a means to ensure that key industrialized and developing nations are involved in differentiated but meaningful ways; an emphasis on an extended time path of targets; and inclusion of...

We empirically analyze the formation of international environmental agreements within a political economy framework. We develop a theoretical model of state dependent net benefits of ratification that predicts strategic behavior with respect to the timing of ratification and allows us to relate...

A global target of stabilising greenhouse gas concentrations at between 450ppm CO2e and 550ppm CO2e has proven robust to recent developments in the science and economics of climate change. Retrospective analysis of the Stern Review indicates that the risks were underestimated, suggesting a...

This article assesses the European Union's positive performance in achieving its own Kyoto Protocol target, differently from the other Annex I countries. The analysis highlights a quite heterogeneous situation across Member States. The simultaneous contribution of both the EU Emission Trading...

The issue of US ratification of international environmental treaties is a recurring obstacle for environmental multilateralism, including the climate regime. Despite the perceived importance of the role of the US to the success of any future international climate agreement, there has been little...

The US has repeatedly criticized the lack of meaningful participation of developing countries in the Kyoto Protocol. I discuss the course of negotiations on developing country participation between the conferences at Kyoto in 1997 and Marrakech in 2001. The reluctance of developing countries to...

Results derived from empirical analyses on the stability of climate coalitions are usually very sensitive to the large uncertainties associated with the benefits and costs of climate policies. This paper provides the methodology of Stability Likelihood that links uncertainty about benefits and...