Climate Crossroads
Autumn 2025
Problem Set 1
[30 points]
Due: Thursday, October 16th. Required for students who are not part of a group presenting in class on that day.
Answers may be typed or neatly handwritten. Collaboration is welcome on concepts, but answers must be in your own words.
Topics and Reading References
• WMO: Weather & climate impacts report
• NASA: Evidence — Climate Change
• IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report: Summary for Policymakers
• The Road to Dubai (The New Yorker)
• Adaptation Gap Report 2024 (UNEP)
• Emissions Gap Report 2024 (UNEP)
• Overshoot Commission Report
• Marjorie Taylor Greene wants to stop them from making it rain (The Economist)
• The Real China Model (Foreign Affairs)
• The Lessons of a Glacier’s Collapse (The New Yorker)
1. Comparative Country Risk & Perspective
Select two countries from different negotiation blocs (see list at end). Using data or findings from the WMO, NASA, or IPCC reports:
a. Summarize each country’s main climate risks and vulnerabilities. Cite specific statistics or findings. [4 points]
b. Describe how differences in historical emissions and economic status shape their climate negotiation priorities. [4 points]
2. Diplomacy, Finance, and North-South Tension
Drawing on the AR6 Synthesis Report, UNEP Adaptation/Emissions Gap reports, and The Road to Dubai:
a. Identify and explain one major source of tension between the Global North and South in climate negotiations. Reference a reading. [3 points]
b. Propose one policy or financial reform. that could help bridge this divide. Briefly discuss feasibility. [3 points]
3. Pathways Forward: Technology and Overshoot
Using the Overshoot Commission Report and at least one technology case study (e.g., solar radiation modification, AI, glacier collapse):
a. Describe the concept of climate overshoot and a key associated risk. [3 points]
b. Argue for or against one specific technology solution, as if you are a delegate from a vulnerable country. Support your argument with evidence from the readings. [3 points]
4. Negotiation Block Perspective
From any bloc (Developed, Emerging, LDC, SIDS, Other Developing), respond using a specific country as your perspective:
a. What is this country’s top “red line” in negotiations? Why is it significant? [3 points]
b. What is one realistic compromise that could advance negotiations for this coun- try? Reference a multilateral negotiation or case from the readings. [3 points]
5. Synthesis—Ambition vs. Equity Debate
Based on country examples and negotiation blocs, discuss the tension between cli- mate ambition (emissions reduction) and equity (development needs). Use at least two readings as evidence. [4 points]
Negotiation Blocs for Reference:
1. Developed Countries (Annex I/OECD): United States, Germany, Japan, UK, Canada, Australia, France
2. Large Emerging Economies: China, India, Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia, Mexico
3. Least Developed Countries (LDCs): Bangladesh, Chad, Malawi, Haiti, Nepal, Mozambique
4. Small Island Developing States (SIDS/AOSIS): Maldives, Barbados, Fiji, Tuvalu, Marshall Islands, Seychelles
5. Other Developing Countries (Non-LDC, Non-SIDS): Pakistan, Egypt, Philippines, Turkey, Argentina, Thailand
Additional Question for Standard Track Economics
[10 points]
6. Economics Tools for Climate Negotiation—Externalities, Efficiency, and Policy
For students with intermediate microeconomics: Use your economic tools to analyze the climate policy negotiation challenges described in lecture. Answers may be hand- drawn or typeset, but supply/demand/MB/MC curves must be clear.
a. Consider a market for fossil fuel electricity. Draw supply and demand curves showing equilibrium price and quantity (Qmarket , Pmarket ). Add a marginal ex- ternal cost (MEC) curve to reflect the social cost of carbon pollution. On the graph, label the competitive market equilibrium and the socially efficient out- come. [2 points]
b. Analytically derive the equilibrium quantity and price under both (i) the market outcome and (ii) the socially efficient outcome (where MB = MCsocial ). Assume P = 60 - Q (demand), P = 20 + Q (supply), and MEC = 0.5Q. [2 points]
c. Calculate the deadweight loss to society from the externality if no policy is imposed. Illustrate it on your graph, and explain briefly in words. [2 points]
d. Suppose a carbon tax is imposed that is exactly equal to the marginal external cost (Pigovian tax). Show and explain how this restores efficiency using your diagram and/or equations. [2 points]
e. Reflecting on climate negotiations, discuss in 1—2 paragraphs why it is much harder to implement the “efficient” solution globally (as opposed to a single market). Use terms like public goods, free rider, equity, and negotiation incen- tives from lecture and readings. [2 points]