A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Emissions Reduction (Written in Korean)

Abstract

Reducing the level of greenhouse gas emissions is necessary to mitigate global warming. One of the most feasible methods to reduce emissions would be to conserve energy and substitute fossil fuels. Yet reducing emissions entails huge financial costs, so it is advisable to employ cost-effective economic instruments such as a carbon tax or tradeable emissions permits. Assuming that the proper economic tools will be used in the future, we calculated the optimal level of emissions reduction for Korea. We applied to our cost-benefit analysis Nordhaus' scenario regarding the economic damage from a 3°C rise in global temperatures, which is the calculated result when the greenhouse gas level doubles. The result of our analysis based on the 1990 data indicates that the optimal level of emissions reduction ranges from 2% to 15 % of current emissions depending on the value of damage parameters. We also found that the amount of emissions must be reduced will increase if action is postponed, when the development of climate engineering technology or more efficient use of energy is expected. In addition, we discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the economic instruments available to implement emissions reduction. Tradeable permits and carbon tax are equivalent in their cost-effectiveness, but have different implications in practice.