WIATEC: A World Integrated Assessment Model of Global Trade Environment and Climate Change

Abstract

This paper describes the structure of the World Integrated Assessment model of global Trade, Environmental, and Climate change (WIATEC).The model consists of a multi-regional multi-sectoral core CGE model linked to a climate model. The core CGE is based on an existing global trade and environment model called GTAP-E (Truong, 1999; Burniaux and Truong, 2002). A suite of different and interchangeable 'modules' are then built around this 'core' to enable the model to be able to handle a range of different policy issues such as CO2 emissions, abatement, trading, non-CO2 (CH4 and N2O) emissions, land use land use change and forestry (LULUCF) activities, and changing technologies in the electricity generation sector. The approach which uses a core model structure with different additional modules built around this core structure allows the overall model to be flexible and can be adapted to a range of different policy issues. We illustrate the usefulness of this approach in a policy experiment which looks at the interaction between emissions trading scheme and the promotion of renewable energy targets in the European Union climate policy.

Keywords: Integrated Assessment Model, Technological Change, Climate Policy

JEL Classification: Q55, O38, C68