Economy & carbon markets

White House mentions letter and papers authored by EAERE members in its document Final Guidance to Improve Regulatory Analysis

5 August 2024By

The Biden-Harris administration mentions letter and papers authored by EAERE members in its document “Final Guidance to Improve Regulatory Analysis“:

READ MORE
Impacts, risks, adaptations

EAERE POC Session on resilient economies and institutions to mitigate and adapt to climate change

5 August 2024By

The 14th edition of The State of the Union took place in Florence last 23 and 24 May 2024. This year, the conference had a special emphasis on the core themes of democracy and the rule of law, the digital and green transition, the future enlargements of the European Union, all of which will play a crucial role in the run-up to the European elections in June 2024.
A policy session on “Resilient economies and institutions to mitigate and adapt to climate change” was jointly organised by FSR Climate and the EAERE Policy Outreach Committee. The frequency of natural disasters due to climate change is increasing, and institutions across different geographic areas are not equally ready to cope with such events. In fact, the lack of adequate institutional responses is likely to exacerbate the consequences of these events. Making the EU and developing countries more able to cope with the devastating consequences of climate change requires an articulated policy mix around carbon price, and resilient and reactive institutions and processes. In the policy session, feasible manners to enhance resiliency to climate change were explored. The event also addressed how to better prepare agriculture, biodiversity, the health system and our economies in general to cope with climate change and how to protect the most vulnerable populations in developing countries and in Europe. More information here.

READ MORE
Emissions & mitigation

Delivering a Climate Neutral Europe: A new book from Jos Delbeke

5 August 2024By

Delivering a Climate Neutral Europe summarises the achievements of 25 years of EU Climate Policy, with a specific focus on the measures and impacts of the Green Deal and a list of the most pressing climate-related issues on the table for EU policy makers in the forthcoming policy cycle 2024-2029. The work is edited by Professor Jos Delbeke and it is available in Open Access.

READ MORE
Impacts, risks, adaptations

External review of the IPBES business and biodiversity assessment

5 August 2024By

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has announced the external review of the methodological assessment of the impact and dependence of business on biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people. During this external review, the first draft of the chapters and the first draft of the summary for policymakers will be made available for review for a period of 8 weeks, from 24 July to 17 September 2024. To ensure the highest scientific quality and policy relevance of the assessment, the Multidisciplinary Expert Panel is seeking peer review from the widestpossible participation of experts from all relevant disciplines and backgrounds. Click here to know how to participate as an expert reviewer.

READ MORE
Other

EAERE 2024 Policy Session on the contribution of environmental economists to the IPCC process

5 August 2024By

The policy session “The forthcoming 7th IPCC Assessment Report. What role is there for environmental economists?“, held during EAERE 2024 and chaired by Simone Borghesi, aimed at discussing modalities and strategies to stimulate more economic research to be embedded in the IPCC 7th Assessment Cycle and more in general in IPCC processes, including covering research innovation gaps. The session featured Philippe Tulkens (EU Commission – DG Research and Innovation) as well as the EAERE members Jos Delbeke, Phoebe Koundouri, Xavier Labandeira, Jan Minx and Massimo Tavoni. Read the session’s notes and watch the video recording on the EAERE YouTube channel.

READ MORE
Impacts, risks, adaptations

EAERE participation in the Fifty-fifth Session of the IPCC (IPCC-55) and Twelfth Session of Working Group II (WG II-12), Electronic Session, 14 – 25 February 2022

1 March 2022By

Between February 14 and February 25 2022, the IPCC held its Fifty-fifth Session (IPCC-55) and Twelfth Session of Working Group II (WG II-12) in a virtual format with the support of Germany. The main agenda items of WGII-12 were the approval of the Summary for Policymakers (SPM) of the Working Group II contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) and acceptance of the underlying scientific technical assessment. EAERE President Phoebe Koundouri and EAERE Vice-President Enrica De Cian participated in the Sessions as EAERE representatives.

You can read their note here.

READ MORE
Economy & carbon markets

IPCC opens registration for the Government and Expert review of the Draft of Synthesis Report of the Sixth Assessment Report

20 January 2022By

GENEVA, Jan 3 – The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has opened registration for the Government and Expert Review of the Draft of the Summary for Policymakers and longer report of the Sixth Assessment Synthesis Report.

As of today, interested experts can register for participation in the review here: https://apps.ipcc.ch/comments/ar6syr/fod/register.php. The Government and Expert Review of the Synthesis Report of the Sixth Assessment Report will take place from 10 January to 20 March 2022, 23:59 (GMT+1).

Registration of experts closes on 13 March 2022, 23:59 (GMT+1), one week before the end of the review.

The Synthesis Report is the final product of the Sixth Assessment Report to be approved in September 2022. It synthesises and integrates  the findings of all three Working Group contributions to the Sixth Assessment Report and the special reports that have been produced in this cycle.

“The Synthesis Report will bring together all the findings and work of the IPCC during the entire Sixth Assessment Cycle. This is why the review and scrutiny by both governments and experts is such a crucial and critical part of the process. The review will further firm up policy relevance, the scientific integrity and robustness of this closing chapter of the Sixth Assessment Cycle,” said Hoesung Lee, the Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

In August 2021, the IPCC released the approved Working Group I report which assessed the state of physical science, showing that climate change is widespread, rapid and intensifying. The second and third instalments from Working Group II and III are scheduled to be released at the end of February and early April respectively in 2022.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought its challenges with the Synthesis Report Core Writing Team having to work entirely virtually to produce this draft.

“We have a dedicated and hardworking Core Writing Team that has developed a solid and strong  Draft of the Synthesis Report that experts and governments can comment on. After the review, the Core Writing Team will continue to work hard and address the comments received, despite the challenging circumstances of the pandemic, to prepare  the  revised Draft ready for the Final Government Distribution,” said Hoesung Lee.

More than 50 scientists and experts worldwide have dedicated their time and contributed their knowledge and expertise to the  Draft of the Synthesis Report..

For experts to register for the review, a self-declaration of expertise is required. Once the registration is complete, and before accessing the draft, reviewers agree to the terms of the review, including the confidentiality of the draft and review materials, which are provided solely for the purpose of the review. The drafts may not be cited, quoted or distributed.

The government and expert review is a formal component of the Synthesis Report development process. The drafts submitted for review, the review comments, and the subsequent responses by the authors will become publicly available once the report is published. In line with IPCC practice, review comments are not anonymous.

Source: IPCC Website

READ MORE
Ecosystems & biodiversity

Responses to UK Government’s response to the Dasgupta Review

27 September 2021By

For reference: UK Government’s response to the Dasgupta Review

The first response stems from a meeting with the UK Treasury on the issue of environmental discounting, chaired by Ben Groom. The workshop included presentations by EAERE President Christian Gollier, Moritz Drupp and Anthony Millner. After hearing arguments on both sides, Treasury opted to recommend a review of environmental pricing rather than having an environmental discount rate across the board. New guidance on this will be written in this regard in the coming months for the Green Book refresh in Spring 2022. This conclusion responds to this comment in the UK Government response to the Dasgupta review on page 22: “The Green Book continues to be updated in line with emerging evidence and best practice. For example, HM Treasury is conducting an expert review into the application of the discount rate for environmental impacts, on which Professor Dasgupta will be consulted, and which will be concluded this year”.

The conclusion can be found here

Second response: biodiversity net gain guidance.

The UK Government response to the Dasgupta Review states on page 22:

“To this end, HM Treasury has convened a group of experts, including academic economists and scientists as well as practitioners, to produce supplementary guidance on Biodiversity Valuation for the Green Book, in addition to the guidance on natural capital. This world-leading guidance is expected to be published later this year and will complement the Environment Bill’s biodiversity net gain provisions in supporting better consideration of biodiversity in decision-making.”

Ian Bateman, Ben Groom, EJ Millner Gulland and Rosie Hails are all part of this group, together with economists from Treasury, Defra Forestry Department team. The team is hoping to provide guidance on biodiversity for the Treasury Green Book on CBA.

READ MORE
Economy & carbon markets

Carbon tax in Israel: better imperfect than nothing at all – Note by Ruslana Rachel Palatnik

27 September 2021By

In September 2021 the Israeli parliament – the Knesset – gave its approval to the 2021-2022 state budget in its first reading. For the first time in the history of Israel, the budget introduces a carbon tax. The carbon tax is far from reflecting efficient emissions pricing: excise duty will gradually increase until 2028, reflecting the full price of carbon (which is also updated annually), but the tax on gasoline and diesel will reflect only 30% of the carbon price. In contrast, the excise tax on fuel oil will reflect not only the price of carbon but also the price of SOX depending on the Sulfur content. 

There is a lot to criticize in the tax outline. But, in my humble opinion, this is a real revolution in Israeli policy. I have been studying energy & climate change economics for almost two decades and can testify that until recently, policymakers in Israel have refrained from dealing with environmental issues, arguing that in our small economy the priority should be given to other urgent issues such as unemployment, inflation, or geopolitical tension. Until a year ago, a carbon tax was absent from the agenda of the Israeli academy as well as the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry of Energy vehemently opposed it. 

A combination of recent processes contributed to the dramatic change: 

First, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the government debt. The Ministry of Finance understood that raising VAT or income tax during the ongoing crisis means political suicide. Accordingly, the carbon tax backed by social-environmental rational suddenly became a feasible option for raising government income. 

Second, for the first time in Israeli politics, the climate crisis has come out of the esoteric corner: the topic was included in the government’s guidelines thanks to the left-wing Meretz party that pushed to raise the issue upon joining the fragile coalition; carbon tax hit the Central Bank’s agenda thanks to the Governor Prof. Amir Yaron. Furthermore, the State Comptroller opened an investigation on how Israel copes with risks imposed by climate change. In parallel, the professional staff of the Ministry of Environmental Protection managed to collaborate with the other relevant Government Ministries, academics, and stakeholders in the process of formulating recommendations for carbon tax policy. The policy recommendations were based on research findings mediated to the various levels. 

The outline of the carbon tax, planned for a long-term increase, has also an important role in providing certainty about Israel’s long-term policy as it sends an incentive for markets, entrepreneurs, and firms to effectively use various means to reduce emissions and invest in new technologies, processes and ideas to further reduce emissions. 

The critics of the proposed tax are right – it is not optimal. I hope that decision-makers will be able to continue to update it, as well as to accompany it with supportive policies so that the State of Israel joins the global effort of reaching Net Zero at minimal cost for the economy and the society. 

Ruslana Rachel Palatnik,

Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics and Management, The Max Stern Yezreel Valley College, Israel

Senior Researcher, NRERC- Natural Resource and Environmental Research Center, University of Haifa, Israel 

Senior Guest Research Scholar at the Energy, Climate, and Environment (ECE) Program at IIASA- International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Austria 

READ MORE
Policy

EAERE representatives in the approval of the IPCC’s WG1 Summary for Policymakers

27 September 2021By

Two members of the Policy Outreach Committee, Xavier Labandeira and Aldo Ravazzi, participated as EAERE observers in the approval process of the Summary for Policy Makers (SPM) of the IPCC’s Working Group on the physical science basis of climate Change (WG1) that took place between 28 July and 8 August 2021. This SPM is a non-technical synopsis that condenses into about 40 pages the contribution of WG1 to the Sixth Assessment Report of the IPCC, a document of about 3000 pages in which some 200 authors from all over the world have participated during the last three years. The approval of SPMs is carried out line by line by delegates from the approximately 200 governments that are part of the IPCC, with the presence of the report’s co-chairs of the working group and author representatives from all its chapters.

The WG1 SPM, presented in public on 11 August, points out that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, the ocean and the land, causing changes in the climate system that are unprecedented in many centuries. The document indicates that global surface temperature will continue to rise until at least mid-century under all the considered emission scenarios, such that during the 21st century global warming of 1.5-2ºC will be exceeded unless there are deep reductions in GHG emissions in the coming decades.

The gloomy conclusions of the WG1 SPM were widely echoed by the media, which highlighted the inevitability of the devastating impacts of global warming, although noting that there is still a small window to prevent the worse outcomes. Environmental organizations, also present as observers in the SPM approval process, claimed that while this is not the first generation of world leaders to be warned by scientists of the severity of the climate crisis, they are the last who can afford to ignore it.

Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the UN, indicated that the report is a red code for humanity and assured that the viability of our societies depends on the actions of governments, companies and citizens to limit the increase in temperature to 1.5ºC. Alok Sharma, president of COP 26, underlined that the impacts of the climate crisis can be seen throughout the world and that, unless immediate action is taken, we will see how the worst effects impact lives, livelihoods and natural habitats.

WG2 (Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability to climate change) and WG3 (Mitigation of climate change) of the IPCC are in the process of completing their reports and will present their SPMs within the next few months.

READ MORE