Karen Pittel

• Ifo Institute for Economic Research

English: In a climatically and geopolitically heated world, the challenges surround- ing water are becoming substantially more acute. Uncertainty is becoming the norm; the limits of controllability could be exceeded. What is needed is a climate-resilient water-management regime with a long-term view that combines thinking about blue and green water...

The report 'Water in a heated World' comes to the conclusion that national and international water policy must adapt to ongoing, accelerated changes in the global water cycle and respond to them quickly and comprehensively. The effects of climate change, the overexploitation of water resources, the unequal distribution of water, the loss of ecosyst...

There is now a consensus that carbon capture and storage (CCS) should play a role in achieving climate neutrality. Against the background of national and international developments, the question arises as to which emissions should (or may) be reduced via CCS at all. What is meant by “difficult and unavoidable emissions” in the context of CCS and wh...

This paper discusses the economic effects of a potential cut‐off of the German economy from Russian energy imports. We use a multi‐sector open‐economy model and a simplified approach based on an aggregate production function to estimate the effects of a shock to energy inputs. We show that the effects are likely to be substantial but manageable bec...

Only if healthy ecosystems sustainably provide services that are essential for survival can humans also live healthy lives. This requires successful climate protection and biodiversity conservation. In the case of biodiversity, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the new UN Agreement on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction o...

Nur wenn gesunde Ökosysteme nachhaltig überlebenswichtige Leistungen erbringen, kann auch der Mensch gesund leben. Dies setzt den erfolgreichen Schutz von Klima und Biodiversität voraus. Für Biodiversität bietet das Kunming-Montreal Globale Rahmenabkommen zusammen mit dem neuen UN-Abkommen zum Schutz der Bio- diversität auf Hoher See ein einmaliges...

Unsere Lebensweise macht krank und zerstört die natürlichen Lebensgrund- lagen. In der Vision „Gesund leben auf einer gesunden Erde“ werden mensch- liche Lebensbereiche – Ernähren, Bewegen, Wohnen – gesund und umweltver- träglich gestaltet sowie planetare Risiken – Klimawandel, Biodiversitätsverlust, Verschmutzung – bewältigt. Gesundheitssysteme nu...

Our lifestyle is making us ill and is destroying the natural life-support systems. In the vision of ‘healthy living on a healthy planet’, human spheres of life – what we eat, how we move, where we live – are designed to be both healthy and environmentally compatible, and planetary risks – climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution – have been ove...

Zusammenfassung Fairness und Eigeninteresse prägen die internationalen Verhandlungen und Maßnahmen zum Klimaschutz, ohne dabei immer klar trennbar zu sein. Anhand der im internationalen Handel mit Deutschland enthaltenen CO 2 -Emissionen zeigt sich, auf welche Länder und Regionen sich im Eigeninteresse begründete Schutzmaßnahmen der EU besonders st...

Fossile Kapitalanlagen entlang der gesamten Wertschöpfungskette – von Reserven bis zu Infrastruktur und Unternehmenswerten – werden durch die Transformation des Energiesystems in den nächsten Jahrzehnten massiv an Wert verlieren, also zu „Stranded Assets“ werden. Die Erfassung dieser Verluste hilft, Einzelinteressen in der Klimapolitik besser zu ve...

Um die globale Erwärmung auf unter 2°C oder besser auf 1,5°C zu begrenzen, müssen wir einen Teil des ausgestoßenen Kohlendioxids (CO2) wieder aus der Atmosphäre entfernen. Das zeigt die Auswertung von Klimamodellen des Weltklimarates. Diese CO2-Entnahme wird auch als „negative Emissionen“ bezeichnet. Aufforstung ist eine erprobte Methode, der Atmos...

Sanctions and their effectiveness are at the centre of the discussion about an appropriate response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. At the latest since the atrocities of the war became evident and payment for gas supplies in roubles was brought into play, voices calling for a natural gas embargo have been growing. In the discussion a...

Die neue Bundesregierung hat die einmalige Chance, aber auch die Verpflichtung, der Klima- und Energiepolitik einen dringend benötigten Neustart zu geben. Dieser muss konsequent am Ziel der Treibhausgasneutralität ausgerichtet sein. Folgende Leitlinien sollten diesen Aufbruch prägen: • Zuvorderst gilt es, den Klimaschutz beim nationalen politischen...

Die Klimakrise und die durch die Covid-19-Pandemie bedingten Krisen müssen gemeinsam bewältigt werden. Viele Staaten arbeiten an Strategien zur Umsetzung des Pariser Übereinkommens. Auf der Klimakonferenz in Glasgow gilt es daher, kurz- und langfristige Ziele und Maßnahmen in Einklang zu bringen. Das Bundesverfassungsgericht hat den deutschen Geset...

The climate crisis and the crises caused by the COVID-19 pandemic must be tackled together. Many countries are working on strategies to implement the Paris Agreement. At the climate conference in Glasgow, therefore, it will be imperative to reconcile short- and long-term goals and measures. German legislators have been obliged by the Federal Consti...

This chapter addresses economic aspects of international actions to combat the threat of climate change. In doing so, the authors first present some key elements of past international climate policy efforts starting in the year 1992 when the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At th...

Only if there is a fundamental change in the way we manage land we can reach the targets of climate-change mitigation, avert the dramatic loss of biodiversity and make the global food system sustainable. The German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) proposes five multiple-benefit strategies illustrating ways of overcoming competition between...

Nur wenn sich unser Umgang mit Land grundlegend ändert, können die Kli-maschutzziele erreicht, der dramatische Verlust der biologischen Vielfalt abgewendet und das globale Ernährungssystem nachhaltig gestaltet werden. Der WBGU schlägt fünf exemplarische Mehrgewinnstrategien vor, um Konkurrenzen zwischen Nutzungsansprüchen zu überwinden. Diese sollt...

Deutschland hat im Rahmen der EU-Ratspräsidentschaft die Chance, einen neuen Aufbruch der europäischen Klimapolitik einzuleiten. Die völlige Umstellung unserer Energiesysteme mit dem Ziel der Treibhausgasneutralität bis Mitte des Jahrhunderts ist dabei ein wichtiges und richtiges gesamtgesellschaftliches Projekt. Das Ziel ist leicht zu beschreiben,...

With its upcoming presidency of the EU Council, Germany has the opportunity to set European climate policy on a new path. The complete transformation of our energy systems with the aim of greenhouse gas neutrality by the middle of the century is an important and appropriate project involving our entire society. While it is easy to state the target,...

In the report “Towards Our Common Digital Future”, the WBGU makes it clear that sustainability strategies and concepts need to be fundamentally further developed in the age of digitalization. Only if digital change and the Transformation towards Sustainability are synchronized can we succeed in advancing climate and Earth-system protection and in m...

Die neue EU-Kommissionspräsidentin hat einen Green Deal für Europa angekündigt. Dieser kann nur gelingen, wenn Chancen und Risiken der Digitalisierung für eine grundlegende Transformation von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft berücksichtigt werden. Der WBGU entwickelt hier Eckpunkte eines europäischen Wegs in eine gemeinsame digitale Zukunft: In ihrer qu...

The new European Commission president has announced a Green Deal for Europe. This can only succeed if opportunities and risks of digitalization for a fundamental transformation of the economy and society are taken into account. In this paper, the WBGU develops cornerstones of a European way to a common digital future. The EU’s cross-cutting sustain...

Am 20. September hat die Bundesregierung die Einführung eines nationalen CO2-Preises beschlossen. Sie hat sich dabei für eine Preisregulierung entschieden, die ab dem Jahr 2026 weitgehend durch eine Mengenregulierung ersetzt wird. Der vorliegende Artikel schlägt vor, Preis- und Mengenziel von Anfang an zu kombinieren und so Planungssicherheit zu sc...

Das WBGU-Gutachten „Unsere gemeinsame digitale Zukunft“ macht deutlich, dass Nachhaltigkeitsstrategien und -konzepte im Zeitalter der Digitalisierung grundlegend weiterentwickelt werden müssen. Nur wenn der digitale Wandel und die Transformation zur Nachhaltigkeit konstruktiv verzahnt werden, kann es gelingen, Klima- und Erdsystemschutz sowie sozia...

Das Hochrangige Politische Forum für Nachhaltige Entwicklung der Vereinten Nationen ist die entscheidende UN-Plattform zur Koordinierung der globalen Nachhaltigkeitspolitik und ein wichtiger Adressat für den Umgang mit den Potenzialen und Risiken des digitalen Wandels für die Erreichung der UN-Nachhaltigkeitsziele. Digitalisierung verändert die Mög...

The United Nations’ High-Level Political Forum for Sustainable Development is the UN’s key platform for coordinating global sustainability policy and an important addressee for issues relating to the potential benefits and risks of digital change for achieving the UN sustainability goals. Digitalization fundamentally changes the range of options av...

This chapter discusses economic aspects of international efforts to curb the global warming threat. The first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol expired in 2012, which has until then been the dominant climate agreement although competing – or allegedly complement – international climate protection schemes like the Asia-Pacific Partnership on C...

The paper analyzes the implications of local and global pollution when two types of abatement activities can be undertaken. One type reduces solely local pollution (e.g., use of particulate matter filters) while the other mitigates global pollution as well (e.g., application of fuel saving technologies). In the framework of a 2-country endogenous g...

Zusammenfassung Die Bedeutung, die der zukünftigen Entwicklung von Wirtschaft und Umwelt zugemessen wird, ist eine der entscheidenden Determinanten dafür, ob Nachhaltigkeit erreicht werden kann. Entsprechend wird der Art und Weise, wie Wirtschaftssubjekte die Zukunft diskontieren, in der Umweltökonomik viel Aufmerksamkeit gewidmet. Die Debatte konz...

How important is the Green Paradox? We address this question in three ways. First, we present a simple model explaining how announcing a future climate policy may increase carbon emissions today – the Green Paradox effect. This effect is a result of fossil fuel producers increasing their extraction today as a response to a reduction in future resou...

A large strand of literature investigates the effects of transfers on the provision of international public goods and on the welfare of donor and recipient. We consider the special case where transfers are conditional on the recipient's contribution to the public good. Transfers take the shape of specific private good transfers which, however, also...

This chapter sets out what the Green Paradox is and also discusses its limitations. Although too rapidly rising carbon taxes and renewable subsidies may accelerate global warming, they also incite fossil fuel owners to leave more fossil fuel in the crust of the earth which curbs global warming in the long run. The chapter briefly discusses the cont...

A detailed and rigorous analysis of the effect of climate policies on climate change that questions the empirical and theoretical support for the “green paradox.” Recent developments suggest that well-intended climate policies—including carbon taxes and subsidies for renewable energy—might not accomplish what policy makers intend. Hans-Werner Sinn...

Recent developments suggest that well-intended climate policies–including carbon taxes and subsidies for renewable energy – might not accomplish what policy makers intend. Hans-Werner Sinn has described a "green paradox," arguing that these policies could hasten global warming by encouraging owners of fossil fuel reserves to increase their extracti...

In order to overcome the underprovision of global public goods various different policy approaches have been proposed. In the climate policy arena, international transfers are frequently seen as an effective means to raise the provision of the global public good ‘climate change mitigation’. This paper focuses on a specific type of international tra...

This paper provides a theoretical analysis of suicide attacks and defection. First, decision processes of potential attackers are examined from an economist’s perspective. The results are then applied to insights from behavioural economics and psychology. We derive conditions under which agents decide to become suicide bombers—or to announce an att...

Die Energiewende wird eine der größten Herausforderungen an die deutsche Volkswirtschaft in den kommenden Jahrzehnten darstellen. Um die zwei Hauptziele der Energiewende zu realisieren – die CO2-Emissionen bis zum Jahr 2050 um 80% zu reduzieren und die verbleibenden Atomkraftwerke bis 2022 abzuschalten –, soll unter anderem der Anteil erneuerbarer...

This chapter sheds some light on the international efforts to curb the global warming threat. The dominant climate agreement to date is the Kyoto Protocol, although competing – or allegedly complement – international climate protection schemes like the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate also exist. After describing the main f...

Besides costs and benefits, fairness aspects tend to influence negotiating parties’ willingness to join an international agreement on climate change mitigation. Fairness is largely considered to improve the prospects of success of international negotiations and hence measures raising fairness perception might – in turn – help to bring about effecti...

Das diesjährige 500-jährige Jubiläum des Weihnachtsbaums gibt Anlass, einige allgemeine Fakten, vor allem unter dem Gesichtspunkt des Umweltschutzes, der C02-Emissionen und des Stromverbrauchs, über Weihnachtsbäume und -beleuchtung zu vermitteln.

The paper analyzes the implications of local and global pollution when two types of abatement activities can be undertaken. One type (e.g., use of particulate matter filters) reduces solely local pollution while the other (e.g., application of fuel saving technologies) mitigates global pollution as well. In the framework of a 2-country endogenous g...

In this paper we analyze the dynamic implications of recycling for resource use, the level of economic activity and the long-run development of the economy. In contrast to former approaches, we take explicit account of the circulation of matter in the economy. We consider virgin resources and recycled wastes as essential inputs to production. These...

Frequently, international environmental negotiations have been analyzed in two-agent (2×2) games. Yet, in order to involve additional strategies, (3×3) games gained attention recently. We employ such a (3×3) game setting in order to depict international negotiations on climate change and integrate both the prisoner’s dilemma and the chicken games i...

The paper provides an introduction to energy, respective resource, use within the framework of endogenous growth models. We provide an overview of different modeling approaches as well as intuition with respect to the results obtained. We consider the source problem, i.e. the supply of energy, as well as the sink problem, i.e. pollution generated b...

We analyze the long-term dynamics of an economy in which sectors are heterogeneous with respect to the intensity of natural resource use. It is shown that heterogeneity induces technical change to be biased towards resource-intensive sectors. Along the balanced growth path, the sectoral structure of the economy is constant as the higher resource de...

New policy approaches to facilitate the co-existence of wildlife and livestock are needed for situations where predation incidents greatly impact households’ income and retaliatory killing threatens endangered carnivore species’ survival. In this paper, models are developed to assess how two alternative policy approaches impact a herder’s decisions...

Scholars of terrorism studies have long struggled to agree on a common understanding of what terrorism is. To date, they have agreed on little more than the fact that terrorism is difficult to define. As a consequence, more than 100, if not more than 200 modern definitions of terrorism have been formulated. Within those definitions, different aspec...

This paper provides a theoretical analysis regarding the rationality of suicide attacks from an economist’s point of view. It is argued that although a terrorist gives up future utility from consumption by committing a suicide attack, this loss can be overcompensated by the utility he derives from the attack. Some individual cases of suicide bomber...

It is now generally agreed that the prediction of long-run development has to include natural resource use. To focus on the long run is, however, not equivalent to the use of balanced growth assumptions. It should be kept in mind that reaching a long-run equilibrium might take considerable time. Transition phases often exhibit characteristics which...

We analyze an economy in which sectors are heterogeneous with respect to the intensity of natural resource use. Long-term dynamics are driven by resource prices, sectoral composition, and directed technical change. We study the balanced growth path and determine stability conditions. Technical change is found to be biased towards the resource-inten...

This paper analyzes the effects of technological risk on long–run growth when labor supply is elastic and production gives rise to a pollution externality. For the social planner as well as for the market economy we show that the randomness of production as well as the endogeneity of labor supply matter with respect to the equilibrium solution. The...

Currently informal and formal international negotiations on climate change take place in an intensive way since the Kyoto Protocol expires already in 2012. A post-Kyoto regulation to combat global warming is not yet stipulated. Due to rapidly increasing greenhouse-gas emission levels, industrialized countries urge major polluters from the developin...

The paper aims at extending the debate on Environmental Kuznets Curves to the case of non-renewable resources and to discuss the driving forces that might give rise to EKC's in this case. The paper at hand deviates from the standard EKC analysis in two ways: First, mostly EKC's are analyzed for flow variables. In this paper we argue that EKC's may...

Terrorist models often focus on one kind of agent as well as one motive to pursue terrorism. Our model diverges from such standard approaches by taking account of the reasoning of the terrorist-organization leader as well as the reasoning of the individual terrorist. This allows us to observe the influence of the leader on the individual terrorist....

This paper explores implications that arise for growth and environmental policy when discount rates are endogenous. Standard growth models usually assume discount rates to be independent of any economic or environmental considerations. In our paper we argue that discount rates depend upon the state of the environment. We develop a simple linear eco...

We analyse long-term consumption paths in a dynamic two-sector economy with overlapping generations. Each young generation saves for the retirement age, both with private savings and pension funds. The productivity of each sector can be raised by sector-specific research, while the essential use of a non-renewable natural resource poses a threat to...

Analyzing the rationale for climate policy, one utility category is often neglected: secondary benefits. This is surprising because the consideration of secondary benefits would increase the attractiveness of climate policies from a national point of view. It would however also affect the behavior of states in international negotiations on climate...

Die Bedeutung, die der zukünftigen Enticklung von Wirtschaft und Umwelt zugemessen wird, ist eine der entscheidenden Determinanten dafür, ob Nachhaltigkeit erreicht werden kann. Entsprechend wird der Art und Weise, wie Wirtschaftssubjekte die Zukunft diskontieren, in der Umweltökonomik viel Aufmerksamkeit gewidmet. Die Debatte konzentriert sich all...

This paper provides a survey on studies that analyze the macroeconomic effects of intellectual property rights (IPR). The first part of this paper introduces different patent policy instruments and reviews their effects on R&D and economic growth. This part also discusses the distortionary effects and distributional consequences of IPR protection a...

In many countries the government supports individuals' and companies' donations dedicated to charity organizations or { more general { to public goods. Yet the effects of governmental support with respect to the provision of public goods has been and still is subject to an extensive debate in the economic literature. Starting from Warr's (1982, 198...

The main purpose of this introductory chapter is to be briefly review the ongoing debate in the field of sustainability and economic growth. First we provide an introduction to current empirical research. Results of empirical analyses as well as methodological problems concerning the analysis of the interrelation between income growth and environme...

In our paper, we analyse the prospects for sustainable growth offered by recycling promoting environmental policies where the main objective of the government is to assure for sustainability in the sense of a non deteriorating state of the environment. The environment is important for economic production in a twofold way: firstly, it supplies resou...

This paper deals with the design of incentive compatible regulatory mechanisms for natural monopolies to provide for quality of service when quality cannot be observed by consumers and cost information is asymmetric. In particular, we are concerned with the creation of incentives for process innovations as a means to compensate for the quality indu...

Am 5. März 2012 veranstaltete das ifo Institut gemeinsam mit dem Bayerischen Handwerkstag ein Symposium unter dem Titel »Energiewende – an die technologische Spitze oder ins wirtschaftliche Abseits?«. Die Veranstaltung unter der Moderation von Ursula Heller, Bayerischer Rundfunk, bot mehreren ausgewiesenen Experten aus Politik und Wissenschaft Gele...

This paper deals with optimal regulatory policies to provide for quality of service and innovations in abatement technology by water supply utilities. The main focus of the analysis is on the relationship among price, quality, pollution and abatement technology. Allowing for asymmetric information about abatement costs and costs of quality service...

In this paper we analyze the implications of recycling for long-run economic devel- opment. In contrast to former approaches, we take explicit account of the circula- tion of matter in the economy. Building upon a Romer (1990) type growth model we consider virgin resources and recycled wastes as essential inputs to production. These material inputs...