Wealth, Responsibility, and Equity: Exploring an Allocation Framework for Global GHG Emissions

The need to develop a framework for allocating national GHG emissions based on ‘rights to the atmosphere’ is increasingly pressing since a resolution of the issues surrounding these rights are likely to be a precondition not only for moving beyond the Kyoto Protocol, but even for effective implementation of its Articles. This paper explores some possible variations of a framework that is derived from the principles of the Climate Convention. It takes into account differences among countries in terms of their current and historical greenhouse gas emissions, the attributes that contribute to these differences, and the capabilities for contributing to the achievement of the Convention’s objectives. Furthermore, it is suggested that such a framework should be designed so as to decouple the allocation issue from the deliberations over a suitable GHG concentration stabilization target or global emissions cap. Such an approach could help achieve results in the short to mid-term without waiting for resolution of the complex debate on the desirable level of stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.

Sample explorations with carbon dioxide emissions data indicate that the framework presented here can be particularly favorable to the least-developed countries. This is appropriate since these countries have not contributed substantially to the enhanced greenhouse effect, but may be quite vulnerable to the impacts of a changing climate, and lack the capabilities to mitigate adverse impacts or adapt as needed. Equally importantly, the framework also differentiates between industrialized countries on the basis of their current income and historical emissions. The implementation of such a framework in conjunction with an emissions trading scheme may offer an appropriate path towards meeting the objectives of the Climate Convention.

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