IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v55y2016icp899-908.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A review of greenhouse gas emission liabilities as the value of renewable energy for mitigating lawsuits for climate change related damages

Author

Listed:
  • Heidari, Negin
  • Pearce, Joshua M.

Abstract

Anthropogenic global climate change has large and mounting negative economic impacts. Companies and nations responsible for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are thus acquiring considerable potential liabilities. If litigation becomes widespread, renewable energy technologies (RETs) potentially offer emitters reduced liability for climate change. This benefit has been ignored because of the lack of knowledge of potential liabilities. To overcome this information deficit, this paper reviews recent literature on the potential for climate change litigation and methods to quantify liability for climate change. Next, the top 10 emitters in the U.S. are identified and their potential liability is quantified using standard GHG emission costs. Potential liabilities are explored in depth with a single case study company comparing the results of the fractional liability from only natural disasters within the U.S. for a single year to a sensitivity of the future costs of carbon emissions from other sources of emission-related liability. Then classes of potential climate change litigants are identified and their capacity to bring such lawsuits is evaluated. The results show that the net income available to shareholders of large companies could see a significant reduction from the emissions liability related to only natural disasters in the U.S. from a single coal-fired power plant. Finally, a rough estimate of the economic risk associated with future scenarios and existing organized international potential litigants is quantified. The results show that potential liability for climate change for the Alliance of Small Island States is over $570 trillion. It is concluded that as emitters begin to be held liable for damages resulting from GHG emissions resulting in climate change, a high value for liability mitigation would provide additional powerful incentives for deployment of renewable energy technologies.

Suggested Citation

  • Heidari, Negin & Pearce, Joshua M., 2016. "A review of greenhouse gas emission liabilities as the value of renewable energy for mitigating lawsuits for climate change related damages," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 899-908.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:55:y:2016:i:c:p:899-908
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2015.11.025
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032115012770
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2015.11.025?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kessides, Ioannis N. & Wade, David C., 2011. "Towards a sustainable global energy supply infrastructure: Net energy balance and density considerations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 5322-5334, September.
    2. El-Fadel, M. & Chedid, R. & Zeinati, M. & Hmaidan, W., 2003. "Mitigating energy-related GHG emissions through renewable energy," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 28(8), pages 1257-1276.
    3. Kenny, R. & Law, C. & Pearce, J.M., 2010. "Towards real energy economics: Energy policy driven by life-cycle carbon emission," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 1969-1978, April.
    4. Wipo, 2014. "Global Innovation Index 2014," WIPO Economics & Statistics Series, World Intellectual Property Organization - Economics and Statistics Division, number 2014:gii, April.
    5. Pizer, William A., 2002. "Combining price and quantity controls to mitigate global climate change," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(3), pages 409-434, September.
    6. Longo, Alberto & Markandya, Anil & Petrucci, Marta, 2008. "The internalization of externalities in the production of electricity: Willingness to pay for the attributes of a policy for renewable energy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 140-152, August.
    7. O.E. Frihy, 2003. "The Nile delta-Alexandria coast: vulnerability to sea-level rise, consequences and adaptation," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 115-138, June.
    8. Lenzen, Manfred & Murray, Joy & Sack, Fabian & Wiedmann, Thomas, 2007. "Shared producer and consumer responsibility -- Theory and practice," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 27-42, February.
    9. Timothy Cason, 2003. "Buyer Liability and Voluntary Inspections in International Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading: A Laboratory Study," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 25(1), pages 101-127, May.
    10. Acquaye, Adolf & Duffy, Aidan & Basu, Biswajit, 2011. "Embodied emissions abatement--A policy assessment using stochastic analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 429-441, January.
    11. Geller, Howard & Schaeffer, Roberto & Szklo, Alexandre & Tolmasquim, Mauricio, 2004. "Policies for advancing energy efficiency and renewable energy use in Brazil," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(12), pages 1437-1450, August.
    12. Panwar, N.L. & Kaushik, S.C. & Kothari, Surendra, 2011. "Role of renewable energy sources in environmental protection: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 1513-1524, April.
    13. Oecd, 2014. "Progress towards a global nuclear liability regime," Nuclear Law Bulletin, OECD Publishing, vol. 2014(1), pages 9-23.
    14. Myles Allen, 2003. "Liability for climate change," Nature, Nature, vol. 421(6926), pages 891-892, February.
    15. Branker, K. & Pathak, M.J.M. & Pearce, J.M., 2011. "A review of solar photovoltaic levelized cost of electricity," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(9), pages 4470-4482.
    16. Ulf Riebesell & Ingrid Zondervan & Björn Rost & Philippe D. Tortell & Richard E. Zeebe & François M. M. Morel, 2000. "Reduced calcification of marine plankton in response to increased atmospheric CO2," Nature, Nature, vol. 407(6802), pages 364-367, September.
    17. Wei, Max & Patadia, Shana & Kammen, Daniel M., 2010. "Putting renewables and energy efficiency to work: How many jobs can the clean energy industry generate in the US?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 919-931, February.
    18. Bastianoni, Simone & Pulselli, Federico Maria & Tiezzi, Enzo, 2004. "The problem of assigning responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 253-257, July.
    19. Richard H. Moss & Jae A. Edmonds & Kathy A. Hibbard & Martin R. Manning & Steven K. Rose & Detlef P. van Vuuren & Timothy R. Carter & Seita Emori & Mikiko Kainuma & Tom Kram & Gerald A. Meehl & John F, 2010. "The next generation of scenarios for climate change research and assessment," Nature, Nature, vol. 463(7282), pages 747-756, February.
    20. ., 2014. "Global + local logistics: Asian-Pacific Rim perspectives," Chapters, in: Asian-Pacific Rim Logistics, chapter 1, pages 1-24, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    21. Alafita, T. & Pearce, J.M., 2014. "Securitization of residential solar photovoltaic assets: Costs, risks and uncertainty," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 488-498.
    22. Tsoutsos, Theocharis & Papadopoulou, Eleni & Katsiri, Alexandra & Papadopoulos, Agis M., 2008. "Supporting schemes for renewable energy sources and their impact on reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases in Greece," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 12(7), pages 1767-1788, September.
    23. Edward Vine, 2012. "Adaptation of California’s electricity sector to climate change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 111(1), pages 75-99, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rui Cao & Yanling Xiao & Fengxue Yin, 2023. "Spatio-Temporal Evolution of High-Quality Development and the Impact of Carbon Emissions Trading Schemes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-18, February.
    2. Atif Maqbool Khan & Jacek Kwiatkowski & Magdalena Osińska & Marcin Błażejowski, 2021. "Factors of Renewable Energy Consumption in the European Countries—The Bayesian Averaging Classical Estimates Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-24, November.
    3. Joshua M. Pearce, 2019. "Towards Quantifiable Metrics Warranting Industry-Wide Corporate Death Penalties," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-13, February.
    4. Joseph Akpan & Oludolapo Olanrewaju, 2023. "Towards a Common Methodology and Modelling Tool for 100% Renewable Energy Analysis: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-42, September.
    5. Chelsea Schelly & Aparajita Banerjee, 2016. "Soft Energy Paths Revisited: Politics and Practice in Energy Technology Transitions," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-10, October.
    6. IqtiyaniIlham, Nur & Hasanuzzaman, M. & Hosenuzzaman, M., 2017. "European smart grid prospects, policies, and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 776-790.
    7. Sadat, Seyyed Ali & Hoex, Bram & Pearce, Joshua M., 2022. "A Review of the Effects of Haze on Solar Photovoltaic Performance," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    8. Maammeur, H. & Hamidat, A. & Loukarfi, L. & Missoum, M. & Abdeladim, K. & Nacer, T., 2017. "Performance investigation of grid-connected PV systems for family farms: case study of North-West of Algeria," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1208-1220.
    9. Natasha Hazarika, 2021. "R&D Intensity and Its Curvilinear Relationship with Firm Profitability: Perspective from the Alternative Energy Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-17, April.
    10. Alexis S. Pascaris & Joshua M. Pearce, 2020. "U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emission Bottlenecks: Prioritization of Targets for Climate Liability," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-28, August.
    11. Chelsea Schelly & Don Lee & Elise Matz & Joshua M. Pearce, 2021. "Applying a Relationally and Socially Embedded Decision Framework to Solar Photovoltaic Adoption: A Conceptual Exploration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-18, January.
    12. Jihyun Kim & Sukjae Jeong, 2017. "Economic and Environmental Cost Analysis of Incineration and Recovery Alternatives for Flammable Industrial Waste: The Case of South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-16, September.
    13. Mundada, Aishwarya S. & Prehoda, Emily W. & Pearce, Joshua M., 2017. "U.S. market for solar photovoltaic plug-and-play systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 255-264.
    14. Norhan Bayomi & John E. Fernandez, 2019. "Towards Sustainable Energy Trends in the Middle East: A Study of Four Major Emitters," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-20, April.
    15. Joshua M. Pearce & Emily Prehoda, 2019. "Could 79 People Solarize the U.S. Electric Grid?," Societies, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-27, March.
    16. Joshua M. Pearce & Richard Parncutt, 2023. "Quantifying Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Human Deaths to Guide Energy Policy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-20, August.
    17. Iqbal, Shahid & Wang, Ying & Ali, Sharafat & Haider, Muhammad Afaq & Amin, Nabila, 2023. "Shifting to a green economy: Asymmetric macroeconomic determinants of renewable energy production in Pakistan," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 234-241.
    18. Hayibo, Koami Soulemane & Pearce, Joshua M., 2021. "A review of the value of solar methodology with a case study of the U.S. VOS," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    19. Kumar, Vikash & Murmu, Ramesh, 2021. "Experimental investigation for thermal performance of inclined spherical ball roughened solar air duct," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 1365-1392.
    20. Mohammad Dehghani Madvar & Mohammad Alhuyi Nazari & Jamal Tabe Arjmand & Alireza Aslani & Roghayeh Ghasempour & Mohammad Hossein Ahmadi, 2018. "Analysis of stakeholder roles and the challenges of solar energy utilization in Iran," International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(4), pages 438-451.
    21. Song, Younho & Cho, Eun Jin & Park, Chan Song & Oh, Chi Hoon & Park, Bok-Jae & Bae, Hyeun-Jong, 2019. "A strategy for sequential fermentation by Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia stipitis in bioethanol production from hardwoods," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 1281-1289.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dinesh, Harshavardhan & Pearce, Joshua M., 2016. "The potential of agrivoltaic systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 299-308.
    2. Joshua M. Pearce & Emily Prehoda, 2019. "Could 79 People Solarize the U.S. Electric Grid?," Societies, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-27, March.
    3. Tomosk, Steve & Haysom, Joan E. & Wright, David, 2017. "Quantifying economic risk in photovoltaic power projects," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 422-433.
    4. Krishnan, R. & Pearce, J.M., 2018. "Economic impact of substituting solar photovoltaic electric production for tobacco farming," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 503-509.
    5. Pringle, Adam M. & Handler, R.M. & Pearce, J.M., 2017. "Aquavoltaics: Synergies for dual use of water area for solar photovoltaic electricity generation and aquaculture," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 572-584.
    6. Alexis S. Pascaris & Joshua M. Pearce, 2020. "U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emission Bottlenecks: Prioritization of Targets for Climate Liability," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-28, August.
    7. Avri Eitan, 2021. "Promoting Renewable Energy to Cope with Climate Change—Policy Discourse in Israel," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-17, March.
    8. Ahmed, Sumair Faisal & Khalid, M. & Rashmi, W. & Chan, A. & Shahbaz, Kaveh, 2017. "Recent progress in solar thermal energy storage using nanomaterials," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 450-460.
    9. Oh, Yunjung & Park, Junhong & Lee, Jong Tae & Seo, Jigu & Park, Sungwook, 2016. "Development strategies to satisfy corporate average CO2 emission regulations of light duty vehicles (LDVs) in Korea," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 121-132.
    10. Chelsea Schelly & Don Lee & Elise Matz & Joshua M. Pearce, 2021. "Applying a Relationally and Socially Embedded Decision Framework to Solar Photovoltaic Adoption: A Conceptual Exploration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-18, January.
    11. Hayibo, Koami Soulemane & Pearce, Joshua M., 2021. "A review of the value of solar methodology with a case study of the U.S. VOS," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    12. Şişman, Muhammet Yunus, 2017. "An Economic Welfare Analysis Of Agricultural Subsidies And Inventory Holdings: An Application To The Hazelnut Industry1," International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics (IJFAEC), Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Department of Economics and Finance, vol. 5(4), October.
    13. Airebule, Palizha & Cheng, Haitao & Ishikawa, Jota, 2023. "Assessing carbon emissions embodied in international trade based on shared responsibility," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    14. Joshua M. Pearce, 2012. "Limitations of Nuclear Power as a Sustainable Energy Source," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 4(6), pages 1-15, June.
    15. Hao Cai & Ling Liang & Jing Tang & Qianxian Wang & Lihong Wei & Jiaping Xie, 2019. "An Empirical Study on the Efficiency and Influencing Factors of the Photovoltaic Industry in China and an Analysis of Its Influencing Factors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-22, November.
    16. Karl Steininger & Pablo Munoz & Jonas Karstensen & Glen Peters & Rita Strohmaier & Erick Velazquez, 2017. "Austria’s Consumption-Based Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Identifying sectoral sources and destinations," EcoMod2017 10472, EcoMod.
    17. Christian Lininger, 2013. "Consumption-Based Approaches in International Climate Policy: An Analytical Evaluation of the Implications for Cost-Effectiveness, Carbon Leakage, and the International Income Distribution," Graz Economics Papers 2013-03, University of Graz, Department of Economics.
    18. Rui Xie & Chao Gao & Guomei Zhao & Yu Liu & Shengcheng Xu, 2017. "Empirical Study of China’s Provincial Carbon Responsibility Sharing: Provincial Value Chain Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-16, April.
    19. Li, Jia Shuo & Zhou, H.W. & Meng, Jing & Yang, Q. & Chen, B. & Zhang, Y.Y., 2018. "Carbon emissions and their drivers for a typical urban economy from multiple perspectives: A case analysis for Beijing city," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 226(C), pages 1076-1086.
    20. Rawat, Rahul & Kaushik, S.C. & Lamba, Ravita, 2016. "A review on modeling, design methodology and size optimization of photovoltaic based water pumping, standalone and grid connected system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1506-1519.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:55:y:2016:i:c:p:899-908. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.