Unburnable fossil fuels and climate finance : Compensation for rights holders
Orta-Martínez, Martí (Universitat de Barcelona. Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals)
Pellegrini, Lorenzo
Arsel, Murat (Erasmus University Rotterdam. International Institute of Social Studies)
Mena, Carlos (Universidad San Francisco de Quito)
Muñoa, Gorka (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)

Date:	2022
Abstract:	To limit the increase in global mean temperature to 1. 5°C, CO2 emissions should be capped at 440 gigatons. To achieve this, about 89 percent, 59 percent, and 58 percent of existing coal and conventional gas and oil reserves, respectively, need to remain unburned. This implies an economic cost for fossil fuel rights owners, and any successful climate policy will rely on resolving the distributional challenge of how to allocate the right to use the remaining burnable reserves. We discuss the possibility of compensating rights holders of unburnable oil and gas reserves, producing the first estimates of the financial resources needed to secure full compensation. We estimate that approximately US $ 5,400 billion (109) would be needed. Despite the vast amounts required, compensation is nevertheless economically feasible. We suggest a Keynesian "whatever it takes" approach for climate action, combining partial compensation for unburnable fuels and investment in low-carbon technologies to drastically reduce emissions in the rapidly closing window of opportunity before 2030.
Grants:	Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación RYC-2016-21366 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación RTI2018-095949-BI00
Note:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M
Rights:	Tots els drets reservats.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Published in:	Global Environmental Politics, Vol. 22, Issue 4 (November 2022) , p. 15-27, ISSN 1526-3800

DOI: 10.1162/glep_a_00688

14 p, 306.3 KB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA)
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Articles > Published articles