Working Paper

Evaluating Policies to Implement the Paris Agreement: A Toolkit with Application to China

Ian Parry, Baoping Shang, Nate Vernon, Philippe Wingender
CESifo, Munich, 2016

CESifo Working Paper No. 6132

This paper describes a model, implemented in an Excel spreadsheet, for evaluating a wide range of fiscal and regulatory instruments policymakers might consider for implementing their Paris mitigation pledges. Policies are evaluated against a range of metrics, including impacts on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, revenue, deaths from local air pollution, economic welfare benefits and costs, and incidence across household and industry groups. The model is applied to China, the world’s largest emitter, but could be readily transferred to most other countries.

CESifo Category
Energy and Climate Economics
Resources and Environment
Keywords: Paris Agreement, carbon tax, China, air pollution, coal tax, emissions trading, incidence, welfare effects, spreadsheet model
JEL Classification: Q480, Q540, Q580, H230