An Asian Development Bank (ADB) comprehensive study on the economics of climate change in four Northeast Asian countries – China, Japan, South Korea and Mongolia – will help regional and country-level decision makers address the issue of climate change and to develop low-carbon growth strategies in their countries and the region. The study is being financed by a USD1 million technical assistance grant from the ADB, and a USD800,000 grant from South Korea.

It will complement parallel climate change studies being carried out by the ADB in South Asia and Pacific developing member countries, as well as draw on findings from ongoing and planned climate change initiatives in participating countries. It is set to run for 24 months, ending in November 2011.

The study will cover four distinct phases. First, it will map out and assess current climate policy and adaptation measures in the four countries and at the regional level. Second, it will involve the preparation of marginal abatement cost curves to analyze the greenhouse gas mitigation potential of technology options. Third, a climate policy simulation tool will be developed to generate economic indicators to conduct quantitative and qualitative assessments and eventually show the economic consequences of different packages of climate policies. Last, a final report will be prepared covering all the findings.