The role of technological availability for the distributive impacts of climate change mitigation policy

The impacts of the availability of low‐carbon technologies on the regional distribution of mitigation costs are analyzed in a global multi‐regional integrated assessment model. Three effects on regional consumption losses are distinguished: domestic measures, trade of fossil energy carriers and trade of emission permits. Key results are: (i) GDP losses and a redirection of investments in the energy system towards capital‐intensive technologies are major contributions to regional consumption losses. (ii) A devaluation of tradable fossil energy endowments contributes largely to the mitigation costs of fossil fuel exporters. (iii) In case of reduced availability of low‐carbon technologies, the permit market volume and associated monetary redistributions increase. The results suggest that the availability of a broad portfolio of low‐carbon technologies could facilitate negotiations on the permit allocation scheme in a global cap‐and‐trade system.