ABSTRACT
This chapter shows what economic analyses of climate policy have contributed in the context of distribution and fairness. The chapter discusses some issues that require a deeper theoretical examination before they can be addressed adequately by economic analyses. Economists feel more comfortable when they can consider the distribution as given, or exogenous, and concentrate on the allocation of resources. Sometimes burden can be interpreted as any kind of resistance resulting from initiatives taken to mitigate climate change, for instance political resistance against carbon charges or in terms of measurable economic costs. The chapter discusses a distribution according to the net costs may be related to a principle where similar economic circumstances have similar emission rights and burden-sharing responsibilities. Burden-sharing has become a catchword for issues related to distributing commitments of climate policy targets among nations. The concept of burden will, however, be used with different content depending upon the context in which it is used in economic analysis.
