sectoral economic costs and benefits of ghg mitigation - IPCC

Preface
Preface
Assessment of the sectoral economic costs and benefits of greenhouse gas mitigation policies is a
new feature of the IPCC Third Assessment Report (TAR). This topic is important because while
macro-economic analyses of the impacts of greenhouse gas mitigation policies tend to show
relatively modest effects, they may hide significantly larger effects for specific industries and/or
regions. Since the literature on this topic is sparse, IPCC Working Group III decided to hold an
expert meeting to elicit new, previously unpublished information.
The Expert Meeting on the Sectoral Economic Costs and Benefits of GHG Mitigation was held
in Eisenach, Germany, on 14 - 15 February 2000. We would like to thank the German Federal
Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Technology, the IPCC Trust Fund and the
Netherlands Government through the Technical Support Unit of the IPCC Working Group III for
their financial support, and the programme committee and local organisers for all their efforts to
make this meeting a success. While acknowledging the contribution of the others, Terry Barker,
Lenny Bernstein, Helmut Kühr, Jiahua Pan and Rob Swart have taken the lion's share of the
work. Thanks also go to José Hesselink and Rutu Dave for their help with proofreading of the
proceedings.
This report consists of a summary of the meeting sessions and the full papers covering the
presentations at the meeting. A few papers that were submitted late to or distributed at the
meeting are also included in this volume as additional input for information and wider coverage,
as they address some sector specific issues related to costs and benefits from mitigation
measures. The proceedings have gone through the following review process: (a) papers were
revised by the authors based on the debate at the meeting sessions; (b) the summary report and
revised papers were sent to all the participants for comments before publication; and (c) speakers
and discussants revised their papers based on the comments received. In addition, some
participants submitted their comments in writing after the meeting. These written comments are
also incorporated in the appropriate parts of this volume.
We believe that the findings from the meeting documented herein are highly relevant to the
assessment of sectoral economic costs and benefits. We are sure that the materials will be used as
valuable input to the Third Assessment Report. While this activity was held pursuant to a
decision of Working Group III of the IPCC, such decision does not imply the Working Group or
Panel endorsement or approval of the proceedings or any recommendations or conclusions
therein. In particular, it should be noted that the views expressed in this volume are those of the
authors and not those of IPCC Working Group III or other sponsors.
Ogunlade Davidson
Bert Metz
Co-Chairs, IPCC Working Group III
i