The significance of fairness principles for successful cooperation - an analysis of choice and impacts of distribution rules in international climate negotiations

The significance of fairness principles for successful cooperation - an analysis of choice and impacts of distribution rules in international climate negotiations

Due to its manifold impacts on humanity and nature, global warming poses one of the most crucial challenges for our society in the present and the future. However, national abatement measures for anthropogenic climate change are insufficient. It is vital to reach international agreements concerning the reduction of greenhouse gases, especially lowering CO2 emissions. It is evident that adoption, implementation and compliance of agreements are very difficult to achieve. Thus, such agreements require coordination and cooperation among many heterogeneous actors, i.e. countries. It can be assumed that sovereign states will only cooperate in climate negotiations, if each participating country can reap economic benefits or if resulting disadvantages can be balanced out by positive effects in other political fields. Since costs and benefits of emission reductions, economic capability and historical responsibility for CO2 emissions strongly differ on the regional level, being aware of fairness and justice plays a key role. That is why this project analysed standards of justice and their impacts on the allocation of CO2 emission rights in international climate negotiations, an aspect that has rarely been analysed from an economic point of view. In particular, there were only few empirical analyses. The main objective was to analyse the acceptance of fairness principles as a basis for voluntary cooperation. One approach focused on the question to what extent the heterogeneity of participants according to different characteristics (e.g. economic capability, costs and benefits of emission reduction, population) allow for effective international climate agreements. Another question was which parties to negotiations would agree to cooperate in a particular scenario.

Project members

Andreas Löschel

Andreas Löschel

Project Coordinator
Research Associate

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Martin Kesternich

Martin Kesternich

Research Associate

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Andreas Lange

Andreas Lange

Research Associate

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Bodo Sturm

Bodo Sturm

Research Associate

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Carlo Gallier

Carlo Gallier

Junior Research Associate

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Christiane Reif

Christiane Reif

Senior Researcher

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Contact

Martin Kesternich
Research Associate
Prof. Dr. Martin Kesternich
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