Climate Change Economics

The South Korean government aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Here, this study analyzed the economic efforts of the net-zero policy by integrating top-down and bottom-up models; The UNIfied Climate Options Nexus (UNICON) within this study aims to create a link between the 26 sectors from the bottom-up model and the 85 sectors of the top-down model. Positive mathematical programming methods were used to ensure consistency between the top-down and bottom-up models within the base year. The study found that the total reduction rate was slightly higher in the integrated model than in the computable general equilibrium (CGE) stand-alone model. In both models, the reduction rate increased when the carbon tax increased, but the marginal reduction rate was considerably lowered, and the reduction rate did not exceed 80% even with the high level of a carbon tax. The technological change of the linked industries in the integrated model showed that the steel industry had the highest emission reduction. When estimating costs for reducing GHGs, results can vary based on the technological changes under consideration.

Brazil is a major agricultural producer and exporter, with agribusiness accounting for 26.6% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). The growth of agriculture is the result of increased agricultural productivity and expansion over native vegetation. Deforestation causes direct and indirect changes in land use and increases in gross greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Brazil has ambitious GHG mitigation and deforestation reduction goals, facing a possible tradeoff between environmental conservation and economic growth. The main objective of this research was to analyze the economic and environmental impacts of “Green Growth” scenarios in the main Brazilian biomes. The model built and used for this analysis, the Brazilian Biomes, Land Use and Emissions Economic Model (BLUME), brings important methodological advances for integrated economic modeling with environmental aspects in Brazil. The results indicate that simulated policies would be able to avoid part of national emissions at a relatively small cost compared to national GDP.

This study examines the impacts of temperature and precipitation on crop yield in Palestine. With GLS analysis and Hausman test, the research delves into how weather factors relate to crop yield in different regions and for various crops (tomato, grapes and olives). These findings have significant implications for agricultural practices and climate change adaptation strategies. The study reveals that temperature has a positive correlation with tomato crop yield up to a threshold of 21^∘C, while olives respond negatively to higher temperatures.

This study examines the effect of weather on outdoor recreation and specifically leisure farms in Taiwan. We find that temperature has a complex effect on visits, revenues, and occupancy rates. Cool temperatures are the least desirable, very cold temperatures and warm temperatures are the most beneficial, and hot temperatures are less beneficial. Sites designed for winter activities benefit the most from cold temperatures whereas sites designed for walking and boating do best in warm temperatures. Global warming is likely to harm the sites suited for winter activities but should prolong the outdoor season for most leisure farms in Taiwan. But leisure farms may want to find ways to cope with hot temperatures.

Energy efficiency label policy has been implemented worldwide as a means to address the rise in residential carbon emissions resulting from the growing quantity and intensity of air conditioner (AC) usage triggered by climate change. Using data from the China General Social Survey, this study explored whether households that purchased energy-efficient AC (with energy efficiency labels) consumed less electricity and its mechanisms. We find that households purchasing energy-efficient AC consume 17.2% more electricity annually and 21.9% more during the summer compared to those who do not. This effect is particularly pronounced for younger households and those in warmer or hotter regions, but is constrained by older households and those with awareness of energy saving. The reasons are that the purchase of energy-efficient AC changes households’ AC usage behavior under climate change, including increased usage times, lower usage temperatures, and preferred standby settings. The findings above provide useful recommendations for policy formulation in collaboration with energy efficiency labels to reduce carbon emissions while ensuring human welfare under climate change.

Natural climate solutions offer the promise of low-cost carbon mitigation together with the provision of additional ecosystem services. We provide new estimates of the cost of increasing carbon storage in the forests of Western Oregon and Washington using forest management. Relative to previous studies that focus on lengthening timber rotations, we emphasize the importance of silvicultural treatments, in particular, pre-commercial and commercial thinning. We find the lowest average costs — in the range of $13–18/MT CO₂e — when commercial thinning is combined with longer rotations and discount rates are relatively low. Across the ranges of management scenarios and discount rates we consider, the majority of forest lands in the region can generate carbon offsets at prices below $40/MT CO₂e, the current allowance price in California’s carbon market. When carbon flows are valued at the Social Cost of Carbon, benefits from forest management greatly exceed the costs.