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This book considers climate change from an economic and international policy perspective. It argues that an emissions trading systems (ETS) should first be adopted in all G20 countries with those national ETS then integrated into a global ETS. The topic of global warming is at the forefront of international discussions, especially given recent environmental policy changes in the US under Presidents Trump and Biden and the emergence of the Fridays For Future movement.
Combatting climate change does not necessitate a trade-off between economic growth and climate policy provided that the latter is consistently linked to new economic policy. Policymakers should support innovation, effective redistribution policies and modern mobility concepts. Moreover, there are crucial links between financial market dynamics and price dynamics in ETS. If measures discussed here are coordinated effectively in the EU/G20, and at the global level, then climate neutrality could be achieved.
List of contents
Part 1. Background to the Climate Problem.- 1. Introduction.- 2. The Climate Challenge and its Consequences.- 3. Climate Protection Problems and Options for Action.- 4. Global Warming Perspectives.- 5. Perspectives on the Climate Debate and International Economic Aspects.- 6. The Wrong Climate Debate?.- Part 2. What Could Policymakers, Business and Consumers Achieve?.- 7. Climate Protection in the EU: Instruments and International Cooperation Aspects.- 8. Reservations about Climate Protection Issues.- 9. Modernization of the Energy Industry and National Interests.- 10. Climate Protection Policy: 2019 Special Report of the German Council of Economic Experts.- 11. Failures in Carbon Certificates and Emissions Trading Systems?.- 12. Macroeconomic Aspects of CO2 Pricing.- 13. Financial Market Aspects of CO2 Certificate Trading in the European Union.- 14. The Housing and Transport Sectors.- 15. A CO2 Tax as a Sensible Climate Policy Instrument.- Part 3. Multilateralism as a Solution to theClimate Problem .- 16. International Perspectives.- 17. G20 Problems in Climate Protection Policy.- 18. Global EIIW-vita Sustainability Indicator and Green Bonds: Opportunities and Problems.- 19. Weaknesses of the EU Emissions Trading System and Prospects of Linking Emissions Trading Systems and Further Development of the WTO.- Part 4. Concepts and Practical Fields for More Sustainability.- 20. Climate Policy Problems: The Concept of a Sustainable Social Market Economy.- 21. Economic Policy Consequences: Innovation, Mobility Policy and Global Cooperation.- 22. Mobility Policy.- 23. Conclusion: International Cooperation and the Climate Protection Concept.
About the author
Paul JJ Welfens is President of the European Institute for International Economic Relations (EIIW) at the University of Wuppertal, Germany, where he holds the Chair for Macroeconomics and Jean Monnet Professorship for European Economic Integration. He is a Research Fellow at IZA, Bonn, and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at AICGS/Johns Hopkins University, Washington DC.
