Testing 100-year global warming potentials: Impacts on compliance costs and abatement profile

Abstract

The comprehensive approach adopted in the Kyoto Protocol relies on the use of 100-year Global Warming Potentials (GWPs) to convert emissions of various gases to 'carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalents'. This particular set of weights, or metric, has a limited capacity to handle the large variations in atmospheric adjustment times, and emissions of various gases that are equal in terms of 'CO2 equivalents' wil not result in equal climatic effects.