Since the onset of economic reforms in 1978, China has been remarkably successful in reducing the carbon dioxide intensities of gross domestic product and industrial production. Most analysts correctly attribute the rapid decline in the carbon dioxide intensity of industrial production to rising...

Energy intensity has declined significantly in four Chinese industries -- pulp and paper; cement; iron and steel; and aluminum. While previous studies have identified technological change within an industry to be an important influence on energy intensity, few have examined how industry-specific...

The paper discusses challenges in analyzing the costs of household cooking methods (fuels and associated stove technologies) in lower-income countries, and sources of divergence between observed and true social costs. The challenges in assessing social costs include valuation of household time,...

Improving the resilience of the economy in the face of uncertain climate change damages involves irreversible investments to scale up new technologies that are less vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The benefit of having such options includes the avoided welfare cost of diverting...

This paper provides field experiment–based evidence on the potential additional forest carbon sequestration that cleaner and more fuel-efficient cookstoves might generate. The paper focuses on the Mirt (meaning “best”) cookstove, which is used to bake injera, the staple food in Ethiopia....

The South Asia region is lagging behind many regions in the world in regional electricity cooperation and trading, despite the huge anticipated benefits. This study uses an electricity planning model that produces optimal expansion of electricity generation capacities and transmission...

South Asian countries, facing challenges in efficiently meeting growing electricity demand, can benefit from increased cross-border electricity cooperation and trade by harnessing complementarities in electricity demand patterns, diversity in resource endowments for power generation, and gains...

A significant portion of the world’s forests that are eligible for Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, known as REDD , payments are community managed forests. However, there is little knowledge about preferences of households living in community managed forests for...

This paper informs the national and international policy discussions related to the adoption of the United Nations Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Programme. Effective program instruments must carefully consider incentives, opportunity costs, and community...

Information on ecosystem characteristics as well as economic statistics is needed to more fully inform decision makers on the impacts of climate change on human well-being. Climate change risks involve potentially large and irreversible as well as highly uncertain impacts that need to be...