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- By Author- Ackerman, Frank Bueno, Ramón Chandler, Chelsea Clark, Victoria de Condappa, Devaraj Dougherty, Bill Erickson, Peter Escobar, Marisa Fencl, Amanda Flores, Francisco Heaps, Charlie Joyce, Brian Kartha, Sivan Kemp-Benedict, Eric Kollmuss, Anja Lazarus, Michael Lee, Carrie Mehta, Vishal Purkey, David Schipper, Lisa Sieber, Jack Smith, Gordon Stanton, Elizabeth A. Swartz, Chris Vicuna, Sebastian von Hippel, David Yates, David Young, Chuck

Recent Publications

		Estimating Regions' Relative Vulnerability to Climate Damages in the CRED Model SEI Working Paper WP-US-1103 Author(s): Stanton, E.A. ; Cegan, J. ; Bueno, R. ; Ackerman, F. Year: 2012 Research Area(s): Climate Economics Description: This article introduces the CRED climate vulnerability index (VI-CRED), developed for use in the CRED integrated assessment model. VI-CRED is an index of vulnerability to climate change, with the advantage of simplicity and transparency as compared to more complicated indices with dozens of components. VI-CRED apportions economic damages from climate change among world regions on the basis of differences in vulnerable sectors' contribution to gross domestic product, share of population living at less than 5 meters above sea level, and access to freshwater resources. Its results are broadly similar to those of other indices, but it assigns a more prominent role to water scarcity and, for this reason, includes the Middle East among the most vulnerable regions. Note: This is an updated version of a paper first published in February 2011. Download PDF
		Development without Carbon as Climate Policy E3 Network working paper Author(s): Stanton, E.A. Year: 2012 Research Area(s): Climate Economics ; Climate Equity Description: Climate-economics models' projections of slow economic growth in the developing world create the expectation that the poorest countries will use up a relatively small share of the global 21st century emissions budget, leaving more "emissions space" for high- and middle-income countries. Making poverty reduction a central goal of climate policy, however, would require considering scenarios in which incomes converged around the world. This article reviews recent literature connecting climate, poverty and energy; establishes equity's critical role in climate policy; demonstrates the importance of economic growth assumptions in climate modeling; and concludes with several policy recommendations for climate-economics modeling. Note: This paper draws on material from the report Development Without Carbon: Climate and the Global Economy through the 21st Century. More information Download PDF External Link
		Can Concerns with CDM Coal Power Projects be Addressed through Revisions to the ACM0013 Methodology? SEI policy note Author(s): Lazarus, M. ; Chandler, C. Year: 2011 Research Area(s): Emissions Trading & Offsets Description: This policy note briefly assesses the ability of potential revisions to address key concerns with the CDM methodology used to evaluate CDM coal power projects, ACM0013, and with such projects in general. It is a follow-up to SEI Working Paper 2011-02, which examined several concerns with awarding offset credits (CERs) to coal power projects under the Clean Development Mechanism. The note reviews key concerns with CDM coal power projects, lists potential remedies for each concern, and comments on whether these remedies are likely to prove feasible and adequate. The authors identify three problems with no clear possible solution: a low signal-to-noise ratio; the ineffectiveness of additionality assessment in the context of multi-billion-dollar coal power projects; and the contradiction of using climate finance in support of long-lived emissions-intensive infrastructure that could undermine the ability to meet 2°C climate stabilization objectives. More information Download PDF
		Confronting the Kaya Identity with Investment and Capital Stocks arXiv:1112.0758v1 [q-fin.GN] Author(s): Kemp-Benedict, E. Year: 2011 Research Area(s): Climate Mitigation Policy Description: Scaling relations, such as the IPAT equation and the Kaya identity, are useful for quickly gauging the scale of economic, technological, and demographic changes required to reduce environmental impacts and pressures; in the case of the Kaya identity, the environmental pressure is greenhouse gas emissions. However, when considering large-scale economic transformation, as with a shift to a low-carbon economy, the IPAT and Kaya identities and their cousins fail to capture the legacy of existing capital, on the one hand, and the need for new investment, on the other. While detailed models can capture these factors, they do not allow for rapid exploration of widely different alternatives, which is the appeal of the IPAT and Kaya identities. This paper presents an extended Kaya identity that includes investment and capital stocks. The identity it proposes is a sum of terms, rather than a simple scaling relation. Nevertheless, it allows for quick analysis and rapid exploration of a variety of different possible paths toward a low-carbon economy. External Link
		Modifying agricultural water management to adapt to climate change in California's central valley Climatic Change 109 (Supplement 1), 299-316; Special Issue: California Second Assessment: New Climate Change Impact Studies and Implications for Adaptation Author(s): Joyce, B. ; Mehta, V. ; Purkey, D. ; Dale, L.L.; Hanemann, M. Year: 2011 Research Area(s): Water Resources Description: Climate change impacts and potential adaptation strategies were assessed using an application of the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) system developed for the Sacramento River basin and Delta export region of the San Joaquin Valley. The authors applied the model to evaluate the hydrologic implications of 12 climate change scenarios as well as the water management ramifications of the implied hydrologic changes. In addition to evaluating the impacts of climate change with current operations, the model also assessed the impacts of changing agricultural management strategies in response to a changing climate. Model simulations suggested that increasing agricultural demand under climate change brought on by increasing temperature will place additional stress on the water system, such that some water users will experience a decrease in water supply reliability. To adequately address the impacts of climate change, adaptation strategies will have to include fundamental changes in the ways in which the water management system is operated. External Link
		Coal Power in the CDM: Issues and Options SEI Working Paper No. 2011-02 Author(s): Lazarus, M. ; Chandler, C. Year: 2011 Research Area(s): Emissions Trading & Offsets Description: This paper examines several issues that arise in awarding emission reduction credits to coal projects in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). It identifies systematic weaknesses in the coal methodology's (ACM0013) design and application. The authors estimate that shortcomings lead to significant over-crediting of Certified Emission Reductions and discuss why a revision of the methodology to more accurately estimate emissions reductions may not be possible because of data constraints and weak signal-to-noise ratio. The paper also examines evidence that suggests the vast majority of these projects would have proceeded in the absence of the CDM, and are thus non-additional. It considers the suitability of coal in the CDM, given the identified flaws in the methodology, and in the light of coal's impact on climate change and its social and environmental burdens. Download the executive summary, or click below for the full report. More information Download PDF
		The Social Cost of Carbon The Environmental Forum 28:6 (November/December 2011), 38-41 Author(s): Stanton, E.A. Year: 2011 Research Area(s): Climate Economics Description: Buried deep in the back pages of a minor, and seemingly unrelated, environmental regulation, the Obama administration has laid out its climate agenda. But estimating the results of greenhouse warming turns on a set of nested assumptions, each of which can sway the ultimate answer. Note: This article is based on the SEI report Climate Risks and Carbon Prices: Revising the Social Cost of Carbon, published by the E3 Network. Download PDF External Link
		Climate Economics: The State of the Art SEI Report Author(s): Ackerman, F. ; Stanton, E.A. Year: 2011 Research Area(s): Climate Economics Description: Economic analysis has become increasingly central to the climate policy debate, but the models and assumptions of climate economics often lag far behind the latest developments in this fast-moving field. This report offers an in-depth review of new developments in climate economics and science since the Stern Review (2006) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Fourth Assessment Report (2007), with more than 500 citations. Drawing on this review, the authors also make several recommendations for aligning climate economics with climate science. More information Download PDF
		Bioenergy Projects and Sustainable Development: Which Project Types Offer the Greatest Benefits? SEI Working Paper No. 2011-04 Author(s): Lee, C. ; Lazarus, M. Year: 2011 Research Area(s): Bioenergy Description: Modern bioenergy sources are often viewed as important components of a low-carbon, energy-secure future. Given the diversity of biomass resources, options, markets and scales, however, a better understanding of how well different bioenergy project types can provide sustainable development is needed. This paper evaluates how the potential for sustainable development benefits differs across 12 bioenergy project types, in order to help identify which project types are best positioned to provide such benefits. It systematically examines the benefits claimed in project design documents for 76 Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) bioenergy projects in India, Brazil and Sub-Saharan Africa. More information Download PDF
		Development without Carbon: Climate and the Global Economy through the 21st Century SEI Report Author(s): Stanton, E.A. Year: 2011 Research Area(s): Climate Economics ; Climate Equity Description: Economic development and the eradication of energy poverty are increasingly seen as key components in a comprehensive strategy to prevent dangerous climate change, along with emission reductions and adaptation measures. But most climate economics models used to guide policymakers assume very little economic growth in the poorest countries. This report reviews the literature regarding the connection between energy, poverty, and emissions mitigation; sets out principles for an equitable climate policy; and explores three scenarios for future economic growth and emissions. It also includes a case study showing the impact of these three scenarios on Latin America and the Caribbean. This report is part of a package that also includes Energy-Water-Climate Planning for Development without Carbon in Latin America and the Caribbean. More information Download PDF
		The CIEL Backgrounder: Understanding the Climate Impact Equity Lens SEI technical report Author(s): Stanton, E.A. ; Bueno, R. Year: 2011 Research Area(s): Climate Economics Description: To provide insight into the wide range of outcomes that climate change will have on individuals, the Climate Impact Equity Lens (CIEL) calculates net gains and losses from a global failure to cut greenhouse gas emissions, viewed not as global or national averages, but instead for individuals. The purpose of the tool is to illustrate both the severity and the diversity of expected impacts from climate change. This backgrounder gives a basic introduction to CIEL tool, written in plain language, and also includes a more technical methodology for the CIEL model. Note: This report is part of a package that also includes Real People, Real Impacts: The Climate Impact Equity Lens and a policy brief of the same title. Download PDF External Link
		Energy-Water-Climate Planning for Development without Carbon in Latin America and the Caribbean SEI Report Author(s): Escobar, M. ; Flores, F. ; Clark, V. Year: 2011 Research Area(s): Water Resources ; Energy Modeling Description: Energy is essential for development, but given the urgent need to mitigate climate change, developing nations are under pressure to keep their carbon emissions low. This leaves them with three options: abandon development; ignore climate concerns; or take a third path: finding energy sources that emit little or no carbon. This report focuses on the third option, which we call "development without carbon" (DWC), looking at the viability of hydroelectric power as a low-carbon energy source for Latin America and the Caribbean in a changing climate. Hydropower supplies 46% of the region's electricity, with great untapped potential, but changes in the water supply due to climate change, competing uses, and population growth could thwart further development plans. This report is part of a package that also includes Development without Carbon: Climate and the Global Economy through the 21st Century. More information Download PDF
		Real People, Real Impacts: The Climate Impact Equity Lens SEI Report Author(s): Stanton, E.A. ; Bueno, R. ; Davis, M. Year: 2011 Research Area(s): Climate Economics Description: The Climate Impact Equity Lens (CIEL) is a new tool for calculating net impacts from climate change in a way that highlights important differences in the distribution of costs and benefits. CIEL looks at climate impacts for real people instead of regional averages by comparing an individual's climate damages in a given year to her savings from not reducing emissions. Using CIEL can help us think about whether we are net winners (savings greater than costs) or net losers (costs greater than savings) today, and how that is likely to change over time. As policymakers negotiate the future of our climate, it is absolutely vital that they have in mind not just the potential impacts on a few "average" people, but the wide diversity of effects that will be felt by every person around the world. The policy report examines discusses this wide range of climate impacts, and includes a special case study on the Caribbean (also available in Spanish). Note: This report is part of a package that also includes a policy brief of the same title and The CIEL Backgrounder: Understanding the Climate Impact Equity Lens. More information Download PDF External Link
		Real People, Real Impacts: The Climate Impact Equity Lens (Policy Brief) SEI Policy Brief Author(s): Stanton, E.A. ; Bueno, R. ; Davis, M. Year: 2011 Research Area(s): Climate Economics Description: The Climate Impact Equity Lens (CIEL) is a new tool for calculating net impacts from climate change in a way that highlights important differences in the distribution of costs and benefits. CIEL looks at climate impacts for real people instead of regional averages by comparing an individual's climate damages in a given year to her savings from not reducing emissions. This policy brief, which summarizes our report of the same title, shows how CIEL helps us think about whether we are net winners (savings greater than costs) or net losers (costs greater than savings) today, and how that is likely to change over time. As policymakers negotiate the future of our climate, it is absolutely vital that they have in mind not just the potential impacts on a few "average" people, but the wide diversity of effects that will be felt by every person around the world. Note: This report is part of a package that also includes a report of the same title and The CIEL Backgrounder: Understanding the Climate Impact Equity Lens. Download PDF External Link
		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