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Time is Running Out: The 2°C Target and Optimal Climate Policies

Author

Listed:
  • Chen, Yu-Fu
  • Funke, Michael
  • Glanemann, Nicole
Abstract
The quintessence of recent natural science studies is that the 2 degrees C target can only be achieved with massive emission reductions in the next few years. The central twist of this paper is the addition of this limited time to act into a non-perpetual real options framework analysing optimal climate policy under uncertainty. The window-of-opportunity modelling setup shows that the limited time to act may spark a trend reversal in the direction of low-carbon alternatives. However, the implementation of a climate policy is evaded by high uncertainty about possible climate pathways.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Yu-Fu & Funke, Michael & Glanemann, Nicole, 2012. "Time is Running Out: The 2°C Target and Optimal Climate Policies," SIRE Discussion Papers 2012-17, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    • Handle: RePEc:edn:sirdps:320
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10943/320
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Climate policy; CO2 scenarios; non-perpetual real options;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty

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