Replication data for: Fair Shares: Crediting Poor Countries for Carbon Mitigation

This paper computes national carbon mitigation costs using two simple principles: (1) Incremental costs for low-carbon energy investments are calculated using the cost of coal-fired power as the benchmark. (2) All low-carbon energy sources are counted, because reducing carbon emissions cannot be separated from other concerns: reducing local air pollution from fossil-fuel combustion; diversifying energy sources to reduce political and economic risks; and building competitive advantage in emerging clean-energy markets. The paper estimates energy growth and incremental costs for biomass, solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, and nuclear in 174 countries from 1990 to 2008. Then it compares national mitigation burdens using per-capita mitigation expenditures as shares of per-capita incomes. The results undermine the conventional view of North-South conflict that has dominated global climate negotiations, because they show that developing countries, whether by intention or not, have been critical participants in carbon mitigation all along. Furthermore, they suggest that developing countries have borne their fair share of global mitigation expenditures. But they also show that expenditures for both developed and developing countries have been so modest that low-carbon energy growth could accelerate greatly without undue strain.

本研究基于两项简明原则核算各国碳减排成本：(1) 低碳能源投资的增量成本以燃煤发电成本作为核算基准。(2) 需纳入所有低碳能源品类，原因在于碳减排并非孤立目标，需同时兼顾三项核心诉求：减少化石燃料燃烧引发的局地空气污染、优化能源结构以降低政治与经济风险，以及在新兴清洁能源市场打造竞争优势。本研究估算了1990至2008年间，全球174个国家的生物质能、太阳能、风能、地热能、水能及核能的能源增长规模与增量成本。随后以人均减排支出占人均国民收入的比重为指标，对比各国的减排负担。研究结果颠覆了主导全球气候谈判的南北对立传统认知，结果显示，无论是否出于主动意愿，发展中国家始终是碳减排进程中的关键参与方。此外，研究表明发展中国家已公平承担了全球减排支出的相应份额。但研究同时发现，发达国家与发展中国家的减排支出均处于较低水平，因此低碳能源发展可在无需承受过度压力的前提下大幅提速。