Embodied emissions policies—design options and political mobilisation potential

Abstract

The topic of greenhouse gas emissions embodied in products is gaining in prominence and the possibilities for measuring and verifying them are improving. This provides fertile ground for those who demand that climate policy should address such embodied emissions. There are different design options for policies targeting embodied emissions. Such differences affect which groups can be mobilised in their favour. This paper shows that procurement standards which target intermediate products can mobilise the support of relatively low carbon producers of high carbon materials, while product standards which target final products can mobilise the support of producers of relatively low carbon materials and knowledge-intensive service providers.