REDD and Clean Technologies Innovations: Is There a Trade-Off?
A key policy question when discussing REDD is how to balance low-cost forestry emission reductions, available in the near term, with investments to drive technological innovation in energy, industry, and other sectors over the longer period. In this article we report a research effort showing that the link of REDD to an international carbon market is, as expected, economically efficient. In addition, provided that the climate policy is stringent (we explore here a 535 ppmv CO2e concentration target), the cost savings due to REDD should entail only a modest tradeoff in terms of reduced clean energy innovation. Reduced clean energy innovation could in principle handicap future efforts to reduce global emissions. However, this analysis suggests that the availability of REDD, in particular when combined with the possibility of banking emission allowances, could provide a head start on climate mitigation that is an aggregate hedge against uncertain future costs. Integrating REDD into global carbon markets could thus lower policy costs and facilitate more ambitious climate policies now and in the future.
Reducing carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation: issues for policy design and implementation
There is a new international policy focus on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD), as well as promoting forest conservation, the sustainable management of forests and the enhancement of forest carbon stocks (REDD-plus). The recent Conference of Parties meeting of 196 countries of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Cancun, Mexico (December 2010) was able to advance initiatives on REDD-plus even while there was limited progress on fossil fuel related aspects of an international climate change agreement. The Cancun meeting recognised that there was strong and broad support for REDD-plus and was able to agree to the development of a formal Mechanism under the UNFCCC for incentivizing REDD-plus activities. Implementing the Mechanism is another matter, and will require the development and coordination of country REDD-plus readiness and financing, including detailed consideration of country reference levels, measurement, reporting and verification methodologies, and sub-national and national program coordination.
Bentham's Equality-Sensitive Utilitarianism
Rosen argues that Bentham's utilitarian doctrine was sensitive to distributive concerns and would not countenance sacrifice of fundamental individual interests for aggregate gains in happiness in society. This essay seeks to extend and deepen Rosen's argument. It is argued that Bentham's equality-sensitive principle of utility is an expression of an individualist conception of human happiness which contrasts sharply with the orthodox utilitarian abstract conception. Evidence for this interpretation of the basic motivation of Bentham's doctrine is drawn from his view of the relationship between happiness and expectations, from various expressions of his ‘each to count for one’ formula, and from his reformulations of the principle of utility itself late in his career.