India and Global Climate Change : Perspectives on Economics and Policy from a Developing Country

Contents: Preface. 1. Introduction/Michael A. Toman. I. Economic drivers of greenhouse gas emissions: 2. Future energy trends and greenhouse gas emissions/P.R. Shukla, Debyani Ghosh, and Amit Garg. 3. Developmental sustainability implications of the economic reforms in the energy sector/Ramprasad Sengupta and Manish Gupta. 4. Economic policy reforms: implications for energy consumption/Subir Gokarn. 5. Some issues in greenhouse gas emissions from the informal energy-using sector/Gautam Gupta. 6. Endogenous substitution of energy resources: theory and application to the energy sector/Ujjayant Chakravorty. II. Options for greenhouse gas mitigation: 7. Policies for Carbon abatement in the presence of regulatory distortions: the electricity-generating sector/Madhu Khanna. 8. Carbon sequestration in forests: potential and incremental costs/Haripriya S. Gundimeda. 9. Evaluating greenhouse gas control strategies using multicriteria approaches/R. Ramanathan. 10. Energy economy model applications: long-term greenhouse gas emissions trends and mitigation costs/P.R. Shukla and Ashish Rana. 11. Incentive-based approaches for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions: issues and prospects/Shreekant Gupta. III. International climate policy: 12. A noncooperative theory of emissions-cap determination/Sudhir A. Shah. 13. The Kyoto protocol and developing countries: strategy and equity issues/Parkash Chander. 14. Allocation of greenhouse gas emissions: an example of short-term and long-term criteria/Sujata Gupta and Preety M. Bhandari. 15. The clean development mechanism: issues and options/P.G. Babu, K.S. Kavi Kumar, and Bibhas Saha. IV. Conclusions: 16. India's efforts to minimize greenhouse gas emissions: policies, measures, and institutions/Jyoti Parikh. 17. Global climate change: Indian perspective revisited and restated/R.K. Pachauri. Afterword. Climate change impacts on India/K.S. Kavi Kumar. Index.

"With a population of more than one billion and an economy that is undergoing substantial restructuring after years of stagnation, India has a pivotal role to play in the debate on climate change policy. This comprehensive set of essays addresses climate change economics and policy issues from India's perspective.

"The volume is divided into four parts:

Part I deals with the broader factors influencing greenhouse gas emissions in India-economic growth, modernization, and reforms, both economy-wide and in the energy sector.
Part II analyses a host of issues related to greenhouse gas mitigation in India. A deeper understanding of the tradeoffs and institutional prerequisites for more formal emission policies is provided in this sector.
Part III addresses issues that arise in the context of international negotiations to limit global greenhouse gas emissions. Incentives for India and other developing countries to participate in an international mitigation target are discussed.
Part IV presents the views of leading Indian policy analysts and advisors on the global impact of greenhouse gas emissions and the developing country perspective. 
    "This timely volume offers authoritative analyses on the micro and macro parameters influencing patterns of energy use in India; institutional as well as national policies required to drastically reduce emission levels; and means by which emission policies in India can be brought in line with global policies.

"Rich in content and backed by empirical evidence and case studies, this book is an essential read for researchers in economics, environmental studies, and sociology. Academics and students of environmental economics will also find this volume contemporary reference material."  (jacket)