Chapter Thirteen: Global Environment Flashcards
Determinants of environmental policies
- knowledge about environmental problems
- nature of the environmental good
- nature of collective action problems
- distributional conflicts
- monitoring and enforcement
Types of goods: dimension #1
the good is excludable or non excludable
types of goods: dimension #2
whether or not the good has rivalry consumption
Four possible goods
1) private good is excludable and rival
2) club goods are excludable and non-rival
3) common pool resource is nonexcludable and rival
4) public goods are nonexcludable and non-rival
Collective action problems caused by different types of goods
- temptations to free ride
- complexity and magnitude of problem
- repeated interactions
- privileged groups
Solutions to collective action problems
- making public and common goods private prevents a tragedy of the commons
- bundling public goods with private goods to incentivize public good provision
- market-based approaches
- regulation
How can international institutions be helpful?
- setting standards of behavior
- verifying compliance
- facilitating decision making
- resolving disputes
Montreal Protocol (1987)
international agreement that aims to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances (ODS)
Kyoto Protocol (1997)
International treaty that set legally binding target to reduce greenhouse gasses. Unsuccessful because it depended on the efforts of developed nations and those nations did not sign or ratify
Where is the use of contaminants of concern (COC) most concentrated
developing areas
Why is it difficult to bargain over the future?
the future generations cannot be represented in international bargaining if they don’t exist yet
Why do polluters usually win?
a “dirty” industry enhances its profits by not paying the full cost of production and imposing negative externalities on others
What does economic globalization cause domestic firms to do?
Brings domestic firms into competition with foreign producers. The competition constrains domestic firms to reduce their costs of products as much as possible.
What size of groups lose from strict environmental regulations?
Smaller groups lose but have a strong motive to influence government policy.
Would a powerful political industry accept stricter regulations?
Sure. If the costs of change are small. They would want to level the playing field by seeking stricter regulations on foreign firms too.
What types of industries have employees and stockholders that rely on lax environmental laws?
oil companies and such
What domestic groups have more political power?
groups that would lose from stricter environmental regulations
Since 1950, what regions have released the most CO2?
70% of CO2 emissions come from rich states in Europe and N. America
Who will be the future sources of pollutants?
Developing countries
What country is industrializing, causing an increase in greenhouse gas emission?
China
What is the setback for a clean path to production?
it is costly and would slow developing countries’ rate of economic growth
How are the consequences of a bad bargain intensified?
When there is a greater value placed on the future (e.g. environment)
Paris Agreement (2015) plan
1) limit the increase of global average temperature to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels (ideally 1.5 degrees)
2) intended National Determined Contributions: voluntary pledges to limit greenhouse gasses during the 2020s
3) plan to make countries pledge deeper emission cuts in the future
4) developed countries commit a yearly $100 B until 2025
5) countries will disclose and inventory their emissions and progress
Why has stopping ozone depletion been more successful than preventing climate change?
- costs
- redistributive issues
- collective action problems
