Die hohen unbekannten CO2-Vermeidungskosten ordnungsrechtlicher Klimaschutzmaßnahmen: Empirische Beispiele aus Deutschland und Europa
Diskussionspapier
An effective and cost-efficient climate protection policy should primarily rely on the price mechanism and emissions trading. This has existed in the European Union since 2005, but only covers a few sectors such as the energy sector and industry. In other sectors, attempts are instead being made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by means of regulatory measures, particularly in Germany. This article estimates the emission avoidance costs of regulatory measures such as EU emission standards for cars or a general speed limit on motorways. While the costs of regulatory measures are notoriously opaque, the sample calculations for speed limits or the promotion of electromobility show that they can entail high hidden costs. This shows that a speed limit is a rather unsuitable climate policy measure in terms of cost efficiency if the opportunity costs of car drivers, usually measured by the hourly wage, are high. In order to avoid making climate protection more expensive than absolutely necessary, policymakers should therefore rely far more heavily on the proven instrument of emissions trading and its expansion in future and largely dispense with regulatory measures.