Die Implementierung nationaler Ausgleichsprojekte in der Klimaschutzpolitik der Bundesrepublik aus ökonomischer Perspektive: Working Paper

This paper examines national projects (NP) in climate protectionaccording to their environmental effectiveness, their static and their dynamic economic efficiency, their transaction costs and their social and political feasibility. NP are defined as voluntary, unilateral climate protection projects in a country with a binding greenhouse gas emission target, which lead to additional reductions in emissions compared to the business-as-usual scenario for which project developers are issued - according to the baseline-and-credit method - tradable emissions reduction credits by the responsible national institution. NP are closely related to the international flexible instruments of the Kyoto Protocol and the planned EU emissions trading system. For that reason the paper analyses these instruments. A comparison of NP with the clean development mechanism (CDM) and joint implementation (JI) highlights differences and similarities of these flexible mechanisms. The economic analysis shows that NP should be introduced into the German policy mix. This recommendation leads to the discussion of some questions regarding the implementation of NP in Germany: the European and international emissions trade are identified as potential markets for national emissions reduction credits. Project cycle, project design document, determination of additionality and the baseline of emission reductions can be implemented in accordance with the provisions for JI and CDM. The aspect of policy additionality is analysed in detail. Next to the proposition of a testing scheme and a general analysis of the different types of instruments regarding their policy additionality for NP, the German climate change policy is systematically arranged in a policy-matrix according to its relevance for NP. Possible project types fulfilling the policy additionality test are suggested