India and Global Climate Change

CHAPTER 7

Policies for Carbon Abatementin the Presence of RegulatoryDistortions: The Electricity-Generating Sector

Madhu Khanna

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES typically have been concerned about equitable sharing of the burden and timing of carbon abatement with the developed countries and reluctant to commit to any abatement targets during international negotiations such as the Kyoto Protocol. Targets to control carbon emissions are generally viewed by these countries as requiring a reduction in energy services (such as electricity generation) rather than an increase in energy efficiency. This view makes carbon abatement targets unacceptable to these countries because their consumption of energy services is already low, both absolutely and relative to ...