Publications
The management of multilateral negotiations: lessons from UN climate negotiations
The 2009 Conference of Parties (COP 15) in Copenhagen, which aimed to deliver a first-ever comprehensive global climate deal, ended without agreement in part because of poor management … read more »
Labeling opinions in the climate debate: a critical review
This paper critically reviews the literature on climate opinion labels, and the efforts taken within an academic context to categorize differences, create new taxonomies of more detailed sub‐labels, or create or argue for the use of new labels such as denier or contrarian. read more »
Why did the knowledge transition occur in the West and not in the East? ICT and the role of governments in Europe, East Asia and the Muslim world
The invention of a new ICT, the printing press, may have been a fundamental turning point in knowledge transition. But did Gutenberg’s printing press succeed in Europe because of, or … read more »
The impact of energy prices on energy efficiency: Evidence from the UK refrigerator market
It is commonly believed that large energy efficiency gaps exist in the energy-using durables markets. We develop a broad analytical framework capturing consumer purchase behavior and suppliers’ pricing and innovation … read more »
Development Aid and Climate Finance
This paper discusses the implications of climate change for official transfers from rich countries (the North) to poor countries (the South) when the motivation for transfers is ethical rather than strategic. read more »
Energy and carbon markets in Europe: Larger or smaller markets?
Presentation given at the Cumberland Lodge Workshop organised by the European Institute at the LSE. read more »
Conservation payments under uncertainty
The decision of whether to retain forest or convert to another land use is affected by uncertainty over future land use returns. This paper examines the design of conservation payments to landowners under uncertainty. Payments are either indexed to the returns from deforestation (agriculture), or to a market value associated with forest nonuse benefits. Payment size depends on the degree of correlation between payments and agricultural returns, and their relative volatility. Market-based payments for reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) are simulated for Brazilian soybean growers. Payments indexed to carbon prices are larger than those indexed to international soybean prices. (JEL Q23, Q24) read more »
Is a Market Stability Reserve likely to improve the functioning of the EU ETS? Evidence from a model comparison exercise
Report explores what market and regulatory failures could inhibit the functioning of the EU ETS and result in deviations from the efficient abatement pathway. read more »
Are corporate carbon management practices reducing corporate carbon emissions?
This paper is the first large scale, quantitative study of the impact of corporate carbon management practices on corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Using data for 2009 and 2010 from the Carbon Disclosure Project survey, we find little compelling evidence that commonly adopted management practices are reducing emissions. read more »
Do international factors influence the passage of climate change legislation?
The number of climate change laws in major economies has grown from less than 40 in 1997 to almost 500 at the end of 2013. The passage of these laws is influenced by both domestic and international factors. This paper reviews the main international factors, drawing on a powerful new dataset of climate legislation in 66 national jurisdictions. We find that the propensity to legislate on climate change is heavily influenced by the passage of similar laws elsewhere, suggesting a strong and so far under-appreciated role for international policy diffusion. read more »
