Are Sub-National Agreements for Carbon Abatement Effective?

Although national commitments to the Paris Climate Accord have waned, carbon mitigation by sub-national entities is on the rise globally. We examine the effectiveness of sub-national jurisdictions (e.g., states, provinces, cities) in collectively enacting greenhouse gas abatement strategies. We deve...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Terrence W. Iverson, Joanne C. Burgess, Edward B. Barbier
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-07-01
Series:Energies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/14/3675
Description
Summary:Although national commitments to the Paris Climate Accord have waned, carbon mitigation by sub-national entities is on the rise globally. We examine the effectiveness of sub-national jurisdictions (e.g., states, provinces, cities) in collectively enacting greenhouse gas abatement strategies. We develop a simple model to explore the conditions under which an agreement among sub-national jurisdictions within a country may lead to substantial carbon abatement relative to a national policy determined through majority rule. We find that, in the absence of a functional national policy response, a coordinated sub-national agreement can generate meaningful abatement. This could form an important stopgap measure in the absence of better alternatives.
ISSN:1996-1073