Going Forward by Looking Backwards on the Environmental Kuznets Curve: An Analysis of CFCs, CO2 and the Montreal and Kyoto Protocols

41 Pages Posted: 6 Sep 2014 Last revised: 3 Oct 2014

See all articles by Thomas Longden

Thomas Longden

Macquarie University, Macquarie Business School; CMCC - Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici

Date Written: September 5, 2014

Abstract

The success of the Montreal Protocol in comparison to the stagnation seen in negotiations surrounding the Kyoto Protocol highlights the importance of a supportive industry group, pre-existing legislation and commitment by a lead nation, affordable and available substitutes, as well as acceptance of the underlying scientific explanation of the link between emissions and a key detrimental impact. The focus on these contrasting intergovernmental agreements within this paper is driven, in part, by the intention to establish that successful emission reductions tend to be associated with a concerted policy effort rather than the level of per capita income. This is in contrast to the concept of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) which contends that a significant negative relationship exists between high levels of national income and per capita emissions. While a nation’s level of development and national income are likely to be linked to an ability to make structural changes and/or the implementation of environmental policy, this paper finds no evidence of an EKC consistent quadratic relationship between income and CFC emissions once key considerations, such as biased estimations and policy effort, have been accounted for.

Keywords: Environmental Kuznets Curve, Montreal Protocol, Kyoto Protocol

JEL Classification: Q5, Q50, Q58

Suggested Citation

Longden, Thomas, Going Forward by Looking Backwards on the Environmental Kuznets Curve: An Analysis of CFCs, CO2 and the Montreal and Kyoto Protocols (September 5, 2014). FEEM Working Paper No. 074.2014, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2492020 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2492020

Thomas Longden (Contact Author)

Macquarie University, Macquarie Business School ( email )

New South Wales 2109
Australia

CMCC - Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici ( email )

via Augusto Imperatore, 16
Lecce, I-73100
Italy

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
66
Abstract Views
608
Rank
613,074
PlumX Metrics