Cost-benefit analysis and the development of acidification policy in Europe

Countries that will ratify the new Protocol to abate acidification, eutroph ication and ground-level ozone, also known as the Goteborg-protocol, are co mmitted to meet national emission ceilings for SO2, NOx, VOCs and NH3 in 20 10. AEA Technology calculated impacts and monetised benefits for four scena rios used during the preparation of the new Protocol, each scenario compare d with the situation 1990. The calculated benefits were compared with the c osts calculated by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) using the RAINS model. The overall conclusion is that the benefits are likely to exceed the costs of implementing the scenarios considered in the study, by a factor of between two and three. Based on the principal se t of assumptions followed in the study, it appeared that impacts on haity a nd materials were negligible. Impacts on ecosystems remained unquantified.