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Climate Change Policy for India

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  • Warwick J. McKibbin

Abstract

While the global environment waits for the world to reach some form of agreement on climate policy, developing countries such as India are entering a phase of higher economic growth. The decisions on investment in energy systems that will be made in India in coming years will have an important impact on global climate change over the coming century. This paper explores how action could be undertaken in India today, in a way that commits India to longer run goals for greenhouse emissions but does not raise the short run cost to the development process in India. The approach proposed is a modification of the McKibbin- Wilcoxen Blueprint for climate policy which relies on establishing property rights and markets in both short term and long term emission permits. The goal is to encourage long term investment decisions to move towards less carbon intensive activities. This approach could be unilaterally implemented in India. If successful it would not only reduce Indian carbon emissions but it would be an example for the entire developing world to follow and it might remove a key obstacle preventing the United States from implementing policies based on the argument that developing countries are not committed to taking action to reduce greenhouse emission. This paper outlines the recent history and prospects for carbon emissions in India. It also explores the various alternative economic instruments that might be used. The paper presents illustrative results for the consequences of a rise in the price for carbon in India based on a new version of the G-Cubed multi-country model that includes India. This simulation illustrates that an immediate increase in the price of carbon either through taxes or from entering a Kyoto style permit trading market could be very costly for India. Thus a credible commitment such as would be possible under the Blueprint is the best way to change investment incentives in India while at the same time give India time to develop before contributing to the cost of global greenhouse abatement.

Suggested Citation

  • Warwick J. McKibbin, 2004. "Climate Change Policy for India," ASARC Working Papers 2004-03, The Australian National University, Australia South Asia Research Centre.
    • Handle: RePEc:pas:asarcc:2004-03
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gupta, Sujata & Hall, Stephen, 1997. "Stabilizing energy related CO2 emissions for India," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 125-150, March.
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    5. Andreas Löschel & Zhong Zhang, 2002. "The economic and environmental implications of the US repudiation of the kyoto protocol and the subsequent deals in Bonn and Marrakech," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 138(4), pages 711-746, December.
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    11. Warwick J. McKibbin & Peter J. Wilcoxen, 2002. "The Role of Economics in Climate Change Policy," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(2), pages 107-129, Spring.
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    Cited by:

    1. Zhongxiang Zhang, 2007. "Why has China not embraced a global cap-and-trade regime?," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(2), pages 166-170, March.
    2. Wood, Peter John & Jotzo, Frank, 2011. "Price floors for emissions trading," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 1746-1753, March.
    3. Zhang, ZhongXiang, 2003. "Reconstructing climate policy: how best to engage China and other developing countries?," MPRA Paper 12830, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. McKibbin, Warwick J. & Wilcoxen, Peter J., 2004. "Estimates of the costs of Kyoto: Marrakesh versus the McKibbin-Wilcoxen blueprint," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 467-479, March.
    5. Frank Jotzo, 2004. "Developing countries and the future of the Kyoto Protocol," Economics and Environment Network Working Papers 0406, Australian National University, Economics and Environment Network.
    6. Warwick J. McKibbin & Peter J. Wilcoxen, 2003. "Climate Policy and Uncertainty: The Roles of Adaptation versus Mitigation," Economics and Environment Network Working Papers 0306, Australian National University, Economics and Environment Network.
    7. Kingwell, Ross S., 2006. "Climate change in Australia: agricultural impacts and adaptation," Australasian Agribusiness Review, University of Melbourne, Department of Agriculture and Food Systems, vol. 14.
    8. Frank Jotzo & John C. V. Pezzey, 2006. "A better Kyoto: options for flexible commitments," Economics and Environment Network Working Papers 0610, Australian National University, Economics and Environment Network.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    India; Climate change; Kyoto Protocol; Gcubed; model; Blueprint;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East
    • C50 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - General
    • C68 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Computable General Equilibrium Models
    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics
    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics

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