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Multiple carbon accounting to support just and effective climate policies

Nature Climate Change volume 6, pages 35–41 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

Negotiating reductions in greenhouse gas emission involves the allocation of emissions and of emission reductions to specific agents, and notably, within the current UN framework, to associated countries. As production takes place in supply chains, increasingly extending over several countries, there are various options available in which emissions originating from one and the same activity may be attributed to different agents along the supply chain and thus to different countries. In this way, several distinct types of national carbon accounts can be constructed. We argue that these accounts will typically differ in the information they provide to individual countries on the effects their actions have on global emissions; and they may also, to varying degrees, prove useful in supporting the pursuit of an effective and just climate policy. None of the accounting systems, however, prove 'best' in achieving these aims under real-world circumstances; we thus suggest compiling reliable data to aid in the consistent calculation of multiple carbon accounts on a global level.

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Figure 1: Countries' emissions per capita according to different accounting principles (in the year 2011).

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Acknowledgements

The research was supported by research grants from the Austrian Climate and Energy Fund within the Austrian Climate Research Programme (projects INNOVATE and RE-ADJUST). We thank D. Crawford-Brown, G. Kirchengast and A. Richter for comments on earlier versions, and S. Tschuertz for her work on the figures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, University of Graz, Universitaetsstrasse 15, Graz, A-8010, Austria

    Karl W. Steininger

  2. University of Graz, Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change, Brandhofgasse 5, Graz, A-8010, Austria

    Karl W. Steininger, Christian Lininger & Thomas Schinko

  3. Department of Philosophy, University of Graz, Attemsgasse 25/II, Graz, A-8010, Austria

    Lukas H. Meyer

  4. United Nations University, Vice Rectorate in Europe (UNU-ViE), Platz der Vereinten Nationen 1, Bonn, D-53113, Germany

    Pablo Muñoz

  5. International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Schlossplatz 1, Laxenburg, A-2361, Austria

    Thomas Schinko

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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study design. K.W.S. and C.L. took the lead in writing the paper and L.H.M. did so for the section on responsibility. P.M. and T.S. assisted the writing of the whole paper. T.S. and P.M. collected and processed data and P.M. analysed data, with assistance from K.W.S. and T.S. K.W.S. edited the paper.

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Correspondence to Karl W. Steininger.

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Steininger, K., Lininger, C., Meyer, L. et al. Multiple carbon accounting to support just and effective climate policies. Nature Clim Change 6, 35–41 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2867

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