Climate Policy in Light of Climate Science: The ICLIPS Project

The paper introduces the Tolerable Windows Approach (TWA) asa decision analytical framework for addressing global climatechange. It is implemented as an integrated assessment model (IAM)developed in the project on Integrated Assessment of ClimateProtection Strategies (ICLIPS). The background and the main objectivesof the project are described and its relationships to other currentintegrated assessment efforts are elucidated. Key features ofthe TWA are compared with those of cost-benefit and cost-effectivenessframeworks. An overview of the ICLIPS IAM framework is providedtogether with its methodological foundations. Main features ofthe individual models are presented, covering the climate, theaggregated economic, and the impact models. Additional componentsof the framework include dynamic mitigation cost functions andan agriculture/land-use model (both incorporated into the fullyintegrated ICLIPS climate-economy model) as well as a globalmulti-region, multi-sector, dynamic general equilibrium model.