The Greenhouse Development Rights Calculator
This page introduces the Greenhouse Development Rights (GDRs) online calculator. You can go directly to the calculator (basic version, see below). The calculator assumes that you already know something about the GDRs framework. If you do not, please visit the GDRs homepage. Documentation for the calculator itself is available by clicking the Help button on the calculator page.
The Greenhouse Development Rights Calculator is a web-based application that allows you to explore the quantitative aspects of the Greenhouse Development Rights framework. It offers an interactive interface for changing key parameters, such as the development threshold or the relative weighting of Responsibility and Capacity, and viewing the implications for the core GDRs indicator — the Responsibility and Capacity Index (RCI). Other indicators are derived from the RCI and displayed in a table, such as emissions rights (relevant for a cap-and-allocate model) and “tax bills” (which would apply in a tax-based model). Additional information can be obtained by downloading data and calculation results as comma-separated variable (CSV) files.
There calculator is available in a basic version and two full versions:
Basic version
The basic version can be accessed without a password. It allows you to change the core parameters within a pre-selected set of values. This is the version we mean when we say “the calculator”. If it appears to not be working for you, please look at the notes below in “What to expect when you open the calculator”. If those notes do not help, please contact us at calculator@gdrights.org
Full versions
The two full versions require a password for access. If you have the password already, you can go to one of the two full versions. Details about what you will find in the full calculator are given farther down on this page.
Access to either of the full versions is restricted partly because it cannot handle a large number of users at the same time, and partly because it is where we do our own development. For these reasons, it may not be fully usable at any moment. If you want access to the full version of the calculator, please e-mail us at calculator@gdrights.org.
We welcome your questions and comments. Please send them to calculator@gdrights.org.
What to expect when you open the calculator
Documentation for the calculator is available by clicking the Help button on the calculator page.
The calculator can take some time to load the first time and to update after you change the parameters or display. A wait of 15 seconds is typical when you first load the calculator. Recalculation times vary but can be expected to be similar.
Three sequential messages appear in the upper left corner when the program is loading: “Loading data,” “Calculating RCI,” and “Building tables.” If the program does not show any message at the top left, but just a spinning wheel, or does not proceed through all three stages, restart the calculator by clicking the “Reload Page” button on your web browser. This happens if the connection to the server is lost. It is particularly likely to happen if you do not make any changes for an hour or more, or put your computer to sleep.
After the calculator has finished, it will display a table with results. The results can also be downloaded as a comma-separated variable (CSV) file by clicking on the Download tab.
Additional features in the full version
The full version of the calculator includes some additional parameters and download options. It also displays additional outputs, including reporting allocations under schemes other than GDRs, for purposes of comparison. If you want access to the full version, please e-mail us at calculator@gdrights.org.
There are four tabs in the full version of the calculator:
The Display Options tab offers three additional options beyond what the basic version of the calculator offers. The Decimals drop-down allows you to show results to more decimal places. Checking “Show all columns” will show a larger set of outputs variables. Finally, “Calculate Suits index” will calculate a standard measure of tax progressivity, the Suits index. See the article on this index in The Encyclopedia of the Earth.
The GDRs Parameters tab allows GDRs-specific parameters to be set. There is essentially only one additional feature on this tab beyond what is offered in the basic calculator. The basic calculator allows for a single development threshold, which is also the approach taken in the GDRs publications. However, multiple thresholds are consistent with the GDRs philosophy, and so this tab allows two thresholds to be defined, with a different “marginal tax” rate at each threshold.
The Other Parameters tab allows for the emissions elasticity to be changed. In the standard GDRs calculation it is assumed that, within countries, emissions per capita are proportional to income. This corresponds to an emissions elasticity of 1.0. However, it is possible that emissions per capita will change either more rapidly than or less rapidly than income as income increases, corresponding to an emissions elasticity greater than or less than 1.0, respectively. This parameter allows you to explore the implications of emissions elasticity.
The Other Parameters tab also offers two parameters for the Contraction & Convergence (C&C) algorithm. These can be set in order to compare GDRs allocations with the C&C allocations.
The Download tab on the full version includes the same files as for the basic version, with some additions. First, the download for the output table includes additional columns, beyond those reported in the basic version of the calculator. Second, allocations for schemes other than GDRs are included, for purposes of comparison.