Richard Tol

Infobox_Scientist
name = Richard S.J. Tol


caption =
birth_date = birth date|1969|12|2|mf=y
birth_place = Hoorn
death_date =
death_place =
residence =
nationality =
field = Economics
work_institution = Economic and Social Research Institute
alma_mater = Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
doctoral_advisor = Pier Vellinga Harmen Verbruggen Aart de Vos
doctoral_students =
known_for = Economics of climate change
prizes =
religion =
footnotes =

Richard S.J. Tol (b. 1969, Hoorn, the Netherlands) is a Research Professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin, Ireland, where he is responsible for the research areas [http://www.esri.ie/research/research_areas/energy/ energy] and [http://www.esri.ie/research/research_areas/environment/ environment] . He is also the Professor of the Economics of Climate Change at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; an Adjunct Professor at the Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh (PA, USA), and an Associate of the Research Unit Sustainability and Global Change, Hamburg University and Centre for Marine and Atmospheric Science, Hamburg, Germany.

Tol has an MSc (1992) in Econometrics and obtained a PhD in Economics from the Vrije Universiteit (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) in 1997. In 1998, he contributed with some other 19 scientists to a joint project of the UNEP and his home university. [cite book|last=Feenstra|first=J.F. et al.|date=1998 print|title=Handbook on Methods. for Climate Change Impact Assessment and Adaptation Strategies|url=http://dare.ubvu.vu.nl/bitstream/1871/10440/1/f1.pdf|accessdate=2008-10-10] Alongside hundreds of other experts from around the world, Tol collaborated with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the Nobel Peace Prize 2007 with Al Gore. He regularly participates in studies of the Energy Modeling Forum and is an editor of "Energy Economics".

Tol specialises in energy economics and environmental economics, with a particular interest in climate change. He is known for his work on the social cost of carbon and integrated assessment modelling, having developed the [http://www.fund-model.org FUND model] . He is a GTAP Research Fellow "in recognition of his innovative applications of the GTAP Data Base in the field of environmental economics", partly for his work on virtual water. The Web of Science lists 99 journal publications, which together have been cited over 750 times, leading to an h-index of 15.

Views on climate change

Tol appears regularly in the media, arguing in favour of keeping the economic costs of climate policy in proportion to its benefits. [ [http://www.fnu.zmaw.de/fileadmin/fnu-files/staff/tol/hb-umweltoekonomen.pdf Handelsblatt, Dec 28, 2007] ] [ [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/c5b9efaa-c52e-11dc-811a-0000779fd2ac.html Financial Times, Jan 17, 2008] ] [ [http://www.fnu.zmaw.de/FNU-in-the-News.5672.0.html Tol's scrapbook] ] [ [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/801df604-a698-11db-937f-0000779e2340,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F801df604-a698-11db-937f-0000779e2340.html&_i_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ft.com%2Fsearch%3FqueryText%3Drichard+tol Financial Times, Jan 18, 2007] ] [ [http://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/mg19626324.000-economics-demands-action-on-climate-change.html New Scientist, Dec 5, 2007] ]

Notably, he has published against the 2ºC target adopted by the European Union. [cite journal|last=Tol|first=Richard S. J.|date=January 2006 online; January 2007 print|title=Europe's long-term climate target: A critical evaluation|journal=Energy Policy|publisher=Elsevier|volume=35|issue=1|pages=424-432|language=English|url=http://www.fnu.zmaw.de/fileadmin/fnu-files/publication/tol/RM7208.pdf|accessdate=2008-07-20] Tol does not advocate another target, but has recommended a specific carbon tax. [ [http://www.economics-ejournal.org/economics/journalarticles/2008-25 | R.S.J. Tol (2008), The Social Cost of Carbon: Trends, Outliers and Catastrophes, Economics the E-Journal, 2008-25] ] He argues that compliance may affect the coal and oil industries and the people they employ. [Ibid., pp. 425 and 428.] In an interview with Der Spiegel in 2005, he argued that temperature rises between 2-4°C would also have advantages. North of a line drawn from Paris to Munich, people would benefit, e.g., from reduced energy bills. However, south of it, people would be overall "losers" of climate change. [ [http://www.fnu.zmaw.de/fileadmin/fnu-files/news/spiegel-Tol-interview.pdf Spiegel, Feb 21, 2005] ]

In 2007, Tol predicted a reduction in growth from 2.9% to 2.5% in the Republic of Ireland caused by a 3% emission reduction per year. [ [http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/finance/2007/1220/1197997063183.html Irish Times, Dec 20, 2007] ] .

References

External links

* [http://www.fnu.zmaw.de/Prof-Dr-Richard-S-J-Tol.5725.0.html Home page]
* [http://www.fnu.zmaw.de/Biography.5753.0.html Biog]
* [http://ideas.repec.org/e/pto90.html IDEAS/RePEc]
* [http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=richard+tol&hl=en&lr=&btnG=Search Google Scholar]
* [http://en.scientificcommons.org/richard_tol Scientific Commons]