Comprehensive National Accounting for Carbon Emissions

34 Pages Posted: 25 Jul 2023

See all articles by Geir B. Asheim

Geir B. Asheim

University of Oslo - Department of Economics; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Rintaro Yamaguchi

National Institute for Environmental Studies

Date Written: 2023

Abstract

We consider the question of how to integrate carbon emissions in comprehensive national accounts for the purpose of indicating whether countries’ development is sustainable. We derive an expression for national saving which includes not only the national effect of current global emissions, but also the future expected paths of emissions nationally and in the rest of the world. We illustrate how the use of our expression for national saving alters the empirical conclusions concerning the sustainability of countries, as compared to the World Bank estimates. Our calculations account for the fact that future prospects of developing countries are more affected by the global carbon emissions than they themselves affect others by their own low per capita emissions. They are thus deemed less sustainable when using our indicator. This information suggests shifting the burden of climate policies away from such countries.

Keywords: climate change, comprehensive national accounting, carbon emissions

JEL Classification: C430, D630, O470, Q010

Suggested Citation

Asheim, Geir B. and Yamaguchi, Rintaro, Comprehensive National Accounting for Carbon Emissions (2023). CESifo Working Paper No. 10562, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4520344 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4520344

Geir B. Asheim (Contact Author)

University of Oslo - Department of Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 1095 Blindern
N-0317 Oslo
Norway
+47-2285 5498 (Phone)
+47-2285 5035 (Fax)

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://www.CESifo.de

Rintaro Yamaguchi

National Institute for Environmental Studies ( email )

16-2 Onogawa
Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506
Japan

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