Fernández-Amador Octavio, Oberdabernig Doris A, Tomberger Patrick
World Trade Institute, University of Bern, Hallerstrasse 6, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.
University of Innsbruck, Universitätsstraße 15, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
Empir Econ. 2022;63(2):877-900. doi: 10.1007/s00181-021-02162-9. Epub 2021 Dec 9.
Methane emissions are the second most important contributor to global warming. Knowledge about the dynamics of methane emissions facilitates the formulation of climate policies and the understanding of their consequences. We investigate whether methane emissions released from production and embodied in consumption converge within and across regions. Our estimates rely on global panel data on methane per capita and methane intensities over 1997-2014. We find that emissions converge within countries. The short half-lives show that the emissions of countries are close to their steady states. There is no evidence for international convergence of aggregate emissions. Yet, convergence of emissions across regions occurs in a number of economic sectors. Our results highlight the difficulties to achieve methane abatement in the medium run. The formulation of climate policies should take into account the sectoral specificity of the dynamics of methane emissions.
The online version supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00181-021-02162-9.
甲烷排放是全球变暖的第二大重要促成因素。了解甲烷排放动态有助于制定气候政策并理解其后果。我们研究生产过程中释放并体现在消费中的甲烷排放在区域内和区域间是否趋同。我们的估计依赖于1997 - 2014年期间全球人均甲烷和甲烷强度的面板数据。我们发现排放物在国家内部趋同。较短的半衰期表明各国的排放接近其稳定状态。没有证据表明总排放量存在国际趋同。然而，一些经济部门的排放物在区域间出现了趋同。我们的结果凸显了在中期实现甲烷减排的困难。气候政策的制定应考虑甲烷排放动态的部门特殊性。
在线版本的补充材料可在10.1007/s00181 - 021 - 02162 - 9获取。
