Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T00:29:13.346Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Did the Kyoto Protocol fail? An evaluation of the effect of the Kyoto Protocol on CO2 emissions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 March 2015

Nicole Grunewald  and
Inmaculada Martinez-Zarzoso
Nicole Grunewald
Affiliation:
University of Göttingen, Platz der Göttinger Sieben 3, 37071 Göttingen, Germany. E-mail: [email protected]
Inmaculada Martinez-Zarzoso
Affiliation:
University of Göttingen, Germany and University Jaume I, Spain. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In this paper, we empirically investigate the impact of the Kyoto Protocol on CO2 emissions using a sample of 170 countries over the period 1992–2009. We propose the use of a difference-in-differences estimator with matching to address the endogeneity of the policy variable, namely Kyoto commitments. Countries are matched according to observable characteristics to create a suitable counterfactual. We correspondingly estimate a panel data model for the whole sample and the matched sample and compare the results to those obtained using an instrumental variable approach. The main results indicate that Kyoto Protocol commitments have a measurable reducing effect on CO2 emissions, indicating that a treaty often deemed a ‘failure’ may in fact be producing some non-negligible effects for those who signed it.

Type
Research Article
Information
Environment and Development Economics , Volume 21 , Issue 1 , February 2016 , pp. 1 - 22
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aichele, R. and Felbermayr, G. (2012), ‘Kyoto and the carbon footprint of nations’, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 63(3): 336–354.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ang, B.W. (2005), ‘The LMDI approach to decomposition analysis: a practical guide’, Energy Policy 33(7): 867–871.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CDIAC (2012), Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, [Available at] http://cdiac.ornl.gov/.Google Scholar
Grossman, G.M. and Krueger, A.B. (1991), ‘Environmental impacts of a North American free trade agreement’, NBER Working Paper No. 3914, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grossman, G.M. and Krueger, A.B. (1995), ‘Economic growth and the environment’, Quarterly Journal of Economics 110(2): 353–377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harbaugh, W.T., Levinson, A., and Wilson, D.M. (2002), ‘Reexamining the empirical evidence for an environmental Kuznets curve’, Review of Economics and Statistics 84(3): 541–551.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heston, A., Summers, R., and Aten, B. (2011), ‘Penn World Table Version 7.0’, Center for International Comparisons of Production, Income and Prices at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.Google Scholar
Hirano, K., Imbens, G.W., and Ridder, G. (2003), ‘Efficient estimation of average treatment effects using the estimated propensity score’, Econometrica 71(4): 1161–1189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iwata, H. and Okada, K. (2010), ‘Greenhouse gas emissions and the role of the Kyoto Protocol’, MPRA Paper No. 22299, Munich Personal RePEc Archive, Munich.Google Scholar
Khandker, S.R., Koolwal, G.B., and Samad, H.A. (2009), Handbook on Impact Evaluation: Quantitative Methods and Practices, World Bank Publications, Washington, DC.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mazzanti, M. and Musolesi, A. (2009), ‘Carbon Kuznets curves: long-run structural dynamics and policy events’, SSRN eLibrary, November.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olivier, J.G.I., Peters, J.A.H.W., and Janssens-Maenhout, G. (2012), Trends in Global CO 2 Emissions 2012 Report, PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, The Hague.Google Scholar
Sunstein, C.R. (2007), ‘Of Montreal and Kyoto: a tale of two protocols’, Harvard Environmental Law Review 31: 1.Google Scholar
UNEP (2012), UNEP Risoe Centre on Energy, Climate and Sustainable Development, [Available at] http://uneprisoe.org/ Google Scholar
UNFCCC (2010), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, [Available at] http://unfccc.int/2860.php.Google Scholar
Yang, J. and Chen, B. (2011), ‘Using LMDI method to analyze the change of industrial CO2 emission from energy use in Chongqing’, Frontiers of Earth Science 5(1): 103–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
York, R. (2005), ‘Kyoto Protocol participation: a demographic explanation’, Population Research and Policy Review 24(5): 513–526.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zahran, S., Kim, E., Chen, X., and Lubell, M. (2007), ‘Ecological development and global climate change: a cross-national study of Kyoto Protocol ratification’, Society and Natural Resources 20: 37–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar