Sivan Kartha
Senior Scientist
Somerville, MA
skartha@sei-us.org
skype: skartha
+1 (617) 627-3786 x5#
Sivan Kartha is a Senior Scientist at SEI-US and co-leader of SEI's institute-wide research theme Managing Climate Risks. His research and publications for the past 15 years have focused on technological options and policy strategies for addressing climate change. Most recently, he has concentrated on equity and efficiency in the design of an international climate regime. He is one of the authors of the Greenhouse Development Rights framework for burden-sharing in the global climate regime, an approach that places the urgency of the climate crisis in the context of the equally dire development crisis afflicting the world's poor majority.
Sivan's work has been supported by international organizations, government agencies, and environmental organizations. He received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Cornell University in 1993.
Recent Publications by Sivan Kartha
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Comparison of Annex 1 and non-Annex 1 pledges under the Cancun Agreements (Policy Brief)SEI Policy Brief Author(s): Kartha, S. ; Erickson, P.Year: 2011 Research Area(s): Climate Equity ; Climate Mitigation Policy Description: This policy brief, which summarizes SEI Working Paper No. 2011-06, of the same title, examines four recent detailed studies of countries' mitigation pledges under the Cancún Agreements, for the purpose of comparing developed (Annex 1) country pledges to developing (non-Annex 1) country pledges. It finds that there is broad agreement that developing country pledges amount to more mitigation than developed country pledges. That conclusion applies across all four studies and across all their various cases, despite the diversity of assumptions and methodologies employed and the substantial differences in their quantification of the pledges. The studies also find that the Annex 1 pledges could be significantly diminished by several factors, such as lenient accounting rules on the use of surplus allowances, double-counting of offsets, and loose accounting methodologies for land use, land-use change, and forestry, and they note that the mitigation pledged globally is consistent with a global temperature rise of greater than 2°C – and possibly as much as 5°C.More information Download PDF |
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Comparison of Annex 1 and non-Annex 1 pledges under the Cancun AgreementsSEI Working Paper 2011-06 Author(s): Kartha, S. ; Erickson, P.Year: 2011 Research Area(s): Climate Equity ; Climate Mitigation Policy Description: This report, based on an analysis conducted for Oxfam International, examines four recent detailed studies of countries' mitigation pledges under the Cancun Agreements, for the purpose of comparing developed (Annex 1) country pledges to developing (non-Annex 1) country pledges. It finds that there is broad agreement that developing country pledges amount to more mitigation than developed country pledges. The studies further note that the mitigation pledged globally is consistent with a global temperature rise of greater than 2°C – and possibly as much as 5°C. Avoiding this much warming would require developed countries to raise their pledges and fulfill them through actual mitigation.Note: This paper was originally published in June 2011 as SEI-US Working Paper WP-US-1107. For a summary of the key findings, download this policy brief. More information Download PDF |
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Comparing climate strategies: Economic optimization versus equitable burden-sharingSEI Working Paper WP-US-1104 Author(s): Ackerman, F. ; Bueno, R. ; Kartha, S. ; Kemp-Benedict, E.Year: 2011 Research Area(s): Climate Economics ; Climate Equity Description: Climate policy addresses a global problem, with costs and benefits distributed unevenly around the world. Questions of efficiency and equity are central to the allocation of costs; they are typically handled either by modeling optimal policies based on economic efficiency, or by setting standards that embody principles of equity. This analysis employs the Climate and Regional Economics of Development (CRED) integrated assessment model to assess the optimal international allocation of effort. The authors compare CRED scenarios to the results of an equity-oriented burden-sharing framework, Greenhouse Development Rights (GDRs), which allocates effort to countries based on their responsibility (emissions) and capacity (income).More information Download PDF |
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The right to development in a climate constrained world: The Greenhouse Development Rights frameworkIn: Der Klimawandel: Sozialwissenschaftliche Perspektiven, ed. Martin Voss (VS Verlag, Wiesbaden, Germany) Author(s): Kartha, S. ; Kemp-Benedict, E. ; Baer, P.; Athanasiou, T.Year: 2010 Research Area(s): Climate Equity ; Climate Mitigation Policy External Link |
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The GDRs Framework: Drawing Attention to Inequality within Nations in the Global Climate Policy DebateDevelopment and Change 40:6, 1121-38 Author(s): Baer, P. ; Kartha, S. ; Kemp-Benedict, E. ; Athanasiou T.Year: 2009 Research Area(s): Climate Equity ; Climate Mitigation Policy Description: The urgency of the climate problem seems to require that stringent emissions reductions begin under the political economic institutions that currently exist. Any global climate treaty must, however, at least not make global inequality worse, and ideally should embody desirable principles of justice. The Greenhouse Development Rights framework (GDRs)is a proposal for such a fair division of the burdens of emissions reductions and adaptation to climate change that won't be avoided, based on an assessment of capacity (ability to pay) and responsibility (contribution to the problem).More information External Link |