Shared responsibility for post-kyoto

Abstract

The approach of the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is currently production-based only. This means that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are calculated and assigned on the basis of production. Exports and imports as well as international transportation and the potential for carbon leakage are disregarded in the current Kyoto mechanism. The mechanism is considered unfair by an increasing number of Parties of the UNFCCC. Consumption-based accounting (CBA) can possibly be an approach for rebuilding the Kyoto Protocol into a fairer one, accepted by developed as well as by developing countries. CBA moves the responsibility from producers to consumers. The study at hand is aimed at making a contribution to the question of a fair and efficient combination of the two approaches. It develops an indicator that shares the responsibility for emissions embodied in traded goods among producers and consumers. © 2011 WIT Press.