September 30th, 2010

New PESD Working Paper details challenges of designing carbon offsets for the transportation sector

Programs to enlist developing countries in climate change mitigation by granting credits for carbon emissions reductions across entire sectors like transportation are quite appealing in principle. However, as researcher Adam Millard-Ball shows in PESD Working Paper #97, "Adverse Selection in an Opt-In Emissions Trading Program: The Case of Sectoral Crediting for Transportation," any practical implementation of such schemes would entail thorny trade offs between economic efficiency, environmental effectiveness, and political acceptability. Read more »