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Emission metrics under the 2 °C climate stabilization target

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  • Katsumasa Tanaka
  • Daniel Johansson
  • Brian O’Neill
  • Jan Fuglestvedt

Abstract

In multi-gas climate policies such as the Kyoto Protocol one has to decide how to compare the emissions of different greenhouse gases. The choice of metric could have significant implications for mitigation priorities considered under the prospective negotiations for climate mitigation agreements. Several metrics have been proposed for this task with the Global Warming Potential (GWP) being the most common. However, these metrics have not been systematically compared to each other in the context of the 2 °C climate stabilization target. Based on a single unified modeling framework, we demonstrate that metric values span a wide range, depending on the metric structure and the treatment of the time dimension. Our finding confirms the basic salient point that metrics designed to represent different aspects of the climate and socio-economic system behave differently. Our result also reflects a complex interface between science and policy surrounding metrics. Thus, it is important to select or design a metric suitable for climate stabilization based on an interaction among practitioners, policymakers, and scientists. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Katsumasa Tanaka & Daniel Johansson & Brian O’Neill & Jan Fuglestvedt, 2013. "Emission metrics under the 2 °C climate stabilization target," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 117(4), pages 933-941, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:climat:v:117:y:2013:i:4:p:933-941
    DOI: 10.1007/s10584-013-0693-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Jessica Strefler & Gunnar Luderer & Tino Aboumahboub & Elmar Kriegler, 2014. "Economic impacts of alternative greenhouse gas emission metrics: a model-based assessment," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 125(3), pages 319-331, August.
    2. Weiwei Xiong & Katsumasa Tanaka & Philippe Ciais & Daniel J. A. Johansson & Mariliis Lehtveer, 2022. "emIAM v1.0: an emulator for Integrated Assessment Models using marginal abatement cost curves," Papers 2212.12060, arXiv.org.
    3. Dharik S. Mallapragada & Bryan K. Mignone, 2020. "A theoretical basis for the equivalence between physical and economic climate metrics and implications for the choice of Global Warming Potential time horizon," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 158(2), pages 107-124, January.
    4. Lelde Timma & Elina Dace & Marie Trydeman Knudsen, 2020. "Temporal Aspects in Emission Accounting—Case Study of Agriculture Sector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-21, February.
    5. Silva Herran, Diego & Tachiiri, Kaoru & Matsumoto, Ken'ichi, 2019. "Global energy system transformations in mitigation scenarios considering climate uncertainties," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 243(C), pages 119-131.

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