Economics and the Challenge of Global Warming

A balanced, rigorous and comprehensive exploration of the economics of climate change.

Charles S. Pearson (Author)

9781107649071, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 19 September 2011

244 pages
22.8 x 15 x 1.4 cm, 0.34 kg

'Charles Pearson is a widely respected and senior figure in the international relations field and he has produced an authoritative and up-to-date volume of great relevance to debate on one of today's leading global issues: climate change. He focuses on the role of economics, including cost-benefit analysis and the cost effectiveness of different strategies and policies. His book will be welcomed and widely read.' John Whalley, University of Western Ontario

Economics and the Challenge of Global Warming is a balanced and comprehensive analysis of the role of economics in confronting global warming, the central environmental issue of the twenty-first century. It avoids a technical exposition in order to reach a wide audience and is up to date in its theoretical and empirical underpinnings. It is addressed to all who have some knowledge of economic concepts and a serious interest in how economics can (and cannot) help in crafting climate policy. The book is organized around three central questions. First, can benefit-cost analysis guide us in setting warming targets? Second, what strategies and policies are cost-effective? Third, and most difficult, can a global agreement be forged between rich and poor, North and South? While economic concepts are foremost in the analysis, they are placed within an accessible ethical and political matrix. The book serves as a primer for the post-Kyoto era.

Introduction and a roadmap
1. Climate change: background information
2. The role of cost benefit in climate policy
3. Discounting and social weighting (aggregating over time and space)
4. Empirical results: a tasting menu
5. Strategic responses
6. Targets and tools
7. Trade and global warming
8. The challenge of international cooperation
9. Beyond Kyoto
10. A summing up.

Subject Areas: Environmental science, engineering & technology [TQ], International business [KJK], Political economy [KCP], Environmental economics [KCN], Research methods: general [GPS]