How Environmental Pollution from Fossil Fuels can be included in measures of National Accounts and Estimates of Genuine Savings

Citation

Kunnas J, McLaughlin E, Hanley N, Oxley L, Greasley D & Warde P (2012) How Environmental Pollution from Fossil Fuels can be included in measures of National Accounts and Estimates of Genuine Savings. Stirling Economics Discussion Paper, 2012-16.

Abstract
In this paper, we examine means to incorporate the environmental effects of fossil fuel use into national accounts and genuine savings estimates. The main focus is on the rationales for the inclusion of carbon dioxide, and its appropriate price tag. We do this in the context of the pricing of historic carbon emissions in United Kingdom over the long run (from the onset of the industrial revolution to the present). Furthermore, we examine the reasonableness of taking into account other greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide. The global effects of carbon dioxide are compared to the local detrimental effects of the production and consumption of coal in the UK.

Keywords
Genuine Savings; National accounts; Fossil Fuels; Carbon Dioxide; Global Warming; Economic History; Britain

JEL codes

• Q01: Sustainable Development
• Q51: Valuation of Environmental Effects
• Q54: Climate; Natural Disasters and Their Management; Global Warming
• N53: Economic History: Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment, and Extractive Industries: Europe: Pre-1913
• N54: Economic History: Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment, and Extractive Industries: Europe: 1913-