Research to assess impacts on developing countries of measures to address emissions in the international aviation and shipping sectors

The report finds that while global economic impacts of market-based measures (MBMs) for international aviation and shipping are small, effects vary significantly by country. Small, remote island states dependent on air tourism, such as Samoa, face the highest GDP risks, while large economies like China and India experience minimal impacts. The study concludes that MBM revenues and increased demand for Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) offsets can be used to mitigate these undesired economic effects.

• The overall economic impacts of Market Based Measures (MBMs) for international shipping and aviation are small globally and for the case study countries, with average GDP reductions of less than 0.01% and less than 0.2% for most case study countries.
• Aviation MBMs generally cause larger economic impacts than shipping schemes because aviation has a greater effect on tourism, while shipping is less carbon intensive and less responsive to price increases.
• Small island developing states and countries with high dependency on trade and tourism are most vulnerable to negative economic impacts. Samoa is identified as the most affected case study country, with potential GDP losses up to 1%.
• The primary driver of GDP reduction in small island states is the decline in international tourist expenditure caused by higher flight costs and reduced passenger numbers.
• Developing countries that host Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects, such as China and India, can see negative MBM impacts reduced or converted into benefits due to increased demand for offsets.
• Some countries with significant trade deficits, such as Togo and Kenya, may experience small positive GDP impacts because MBMs reduce the volume of imports more than exports, thereby improving the trade balance.
• Undesired economic impacts can be mitigated through a combination of measures, including route exemptions, national collection of revenues, lump-sum rebates, and investments in port and airport efficiency.
• Using MBM revenues for climate adaptation finance is particularly effective for the most impacted countries, as these are often the states most vulnerable to climate change.
• The total revenues generated by the studied MBMs are significantly larger than the monetary GDP losses experienced by developing countries.

APA

Anger, A., Faber, J., Koopman, M., van Velzen, A., Long, K., Pollitt, H., Comberti, C., Barker, T., Fazekas, D., & Błachowicz, A. (2013). Research to assess impacts on developing countries of measures to address emissions in the international aviation and shipping sectors. Climate Strategies. https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/final-report-june21-cover1.pdf

Chicago

Anger, Annela, Jasper Faber, Marnix Koopman, Andre van Velzen, Katy Long, Hector Pollitt, Claudia Comberti, et al. Research to assess impacts on developing countries of measures to address emissions in the international aviation and shipping sectors. Climate Strategies, 2013. https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/final-report-june21-cover1.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{anger2013research, author = {Anger, Annela and Faber, Jasper and Koopman, Marnix and van Velzen, Andre and Long, Katy and Pollitt, Hector and Comberti, Claudia and Barker, Terry and Fazekas, Dora and Błachowicz, Andrzej}, title = {{Research to assess impacts on developing countries of measures to address emissions in the international aviation and shipping sectors}}, institution = {Climate Strategies}, year = {2013}, month = feb, url = {https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/final-report-june21-cover1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }