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 on ly for moving beyond the Kyoto Protocol, but-even for effective implementat ion of its Articles. This paper explores some possible variations of a fram ework that is derived from the principles of the Climate Convention. It tak es into account differences among countries in terms of their current and h istorical greenhouse gas emissions, the attributes that contribute to these differences, and the capabilities for contributing to the achievement of t he Convention's objectives. Furthermore, it is suggested that such,;a frame work should be designed so as to decouple the allocation issue from the del iberations 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 desir able level of stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosph ere. Sample explorations with carbon dioxide emissions data indicate that the fr amework 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 vulnerabl e to the impacts of a changing climate, and lack the capabilities to mitiga te adverse impacts or adapt as needed. Equally importantly, the framework a lso differentiates between industrialized countries on the basis of their c urrent income and historical emissions. The implementation of such a framew ork in conjunction with an emissions trading scheme may offer an appropriat e path towards meeting the objectives of the Climate Convention.