Benefits, costs, and cooperation in greenhouse gas abatement

Abatement cost and benefit projections through 2100 are computed, assembled and interpreted with respect to various levels of emission reduction. Mathematical expressions describing regional costs and benefits as a function of abatement strategy are developed. Using these data and expressions, optimal abatement strategies are defined for noncooperative and cooperative (Pareto optimal) policies. The cooperative solution calls for an average emissions reduction of 16.6 percent over the 1990-2100 period, as compared to 5.8 percent in the noncooperative case. Achieving the cooperative solution would require side payments to China and potentially to the U.S., as well as stringent (though beneficial) restrictions on non-OECD countries. It is argued that Pareto optimality is technically achievable but possibly infeasible in the real world.