Carbon pricing

Date: 16 November
Time: 15h00-16h30
Location: Green Zone
Organizers: French Environment Ministry, General Directorate for Energy & Climate (DGEC)

Event Summary

In the aftermath of the Paris Agreement carbon pricing has become a priority to initiate the transition to a low-carbon economy. In view of this, Ségolène Royal, President of the COP, has commissioned Pascal Canfin, Gérard Mestrallet and Alain Grandjean to formulate proposals for carbon pricing. The report submitted in July 2016 underlines the need to strengthen the European carbon market, as the price fell more than 50% since the end of 2015 to around €4 in 2016. Drawing from the experience of international carbon markets that have price control mechanisms (California and Quebec, for example), introducing a carbon price corridor could enhance the stability of carbon prices, making them more effective and predictable.

This side-event will discuss about key findings of this report and of the latest OECD report on carbon pricing published September 26, 2016 which shows that there is a significant gap between the current policies pricing carbon and the necessary price to match even the lowest estimate of climate costs (€30 per tonne of CO2). It will open the debate on major international examples of carbon markets which regulated prices, with particular experience in California and Quebec returns.

Moderator:

• Laurent MICHEL | French Environment Ministry

Speakers:

• Gérard MESTRALLET | Chairman of the board of directors, ENGIE
• Richard BARON | Expert and Project Coordinator: Aligning Policies for a Low-Carbon Transition, OECD
• Emily WIMBERGER | Chief Economist, California Air Resources Board
• Emilie ALBEROLA | Program Director Industry and Energy, I4CE – Institute for Climate Economics