If You Act Locally and Compute Globally What Is the Optimal Comprehensiveness of the Reference Carbon System? A Note on Decision Making under Changing Properties of Total System Errors of Full Carbon Accounting (FCA) and Partial Carbon Accounting (PCA)

Obersteiner, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6981-2769, Jonas, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1269-4145, Nilsson, S., Shvidenko, A., & Gluck, M. (2000). If You Act Locally and Compute Globally What Is the Optimal Comprehensiveness of the Reference Carbon System? A Note on Decision Making under Changing Properties of Total System Errors of Full Carbon Accounting (FCA) and Partial Carbon Accounting (PCA). IIASA Interim Report. IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria: IR-00-065

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Abstract

Kyoto fails to recognize the institutional vacuum to verify countries uncertain carbon accounts and there is a strong debate on the potentials of carbon systems other than fossil fuels to contribute to curbing the increases in the atmospheric carbon content. In this paper we develop an analytical framework to address the issue of 'how comprehensive should a countrys reference carbon system be (not) ignoring the interaction of the particular system with the rest of the global carbon system under the clause of (non-) verification?' To solve this problem we first develop a concept to understand the trade-off between the range of potential carbon emission reduction/carbon sequestration and the degree of uncertainty under Full Carbon Accounting (FCA) and Partial Carbon Accounting (PCA). We then provide a formal description of the properties of uncertainty under FCA and PCA. Finally, we suggest a model that allows us to compute the optimal degree of comprehensiveness of a reference carbon system that should be eligible for the mutual recognition of emission reductions. The model is general enough to be applicable on both the project level as well as on global scales.

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