Cross-country polarisation in CO2 emissions per capita in the European Union

We analyse the degree of polarisation in the international distribution of CO2 emissions per capita in the European Union. It is analytically relevant to examine the degree of instability inherent to a distribution and, in the analysed case, the likelihood that the distribution and its evolution wil...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Duro, Juan Antonio|||0000-0002-1106-5251, Padilla, Emilio|||0000-0002-9510-8262
Format: article
Publication Date:2013
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repository:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:247654
Online Access:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/247654
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1007/s10640-012-9607-x
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Distribution of emissions
European Union
Mitigation agreements
Polarisation
SDG 13 - Climate Action
Description
Summary:We analyse the degree of polarisation in the international distribution of CO2 emissions per capita in the European Union. It is analytically relevant to examine the degree of instability inherent to a distribution and, in the analysed case, the likelihood that the distribution and its evolution will increase or decrease the chances of reaching an agreement on climate policy. Two approaches were used to measure polarisation: the endogenous approach, in which countries are grouped according to their similarity in terms of emissions, and the exogenous approach, in which countries are grouped geographically. Our findings indicate a clear decrease in polarisation since the mid-1990s, which can essentially be explained by the fact that the different groups have converged (i. e. antagonism among the CO2 emitters has decreased) as the contribution of energy intensity to between-group differences has decreased. This lower degree of polarisation in CO2 distribution suggests a situation more conducive to the possibility of reaching EU-wide agreements on the mitigation of CO2 emissions. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.