Lessons from first campus carbon-pricing scheme

Gillingham, Kenneth; Carattini, Stefano; Esty, Daniel C.

doi:10.1038/551027a

Cited by 24 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 3 publications

(2 reference statements)

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“…However, the stringency of these policies varies widelywith prices ranging from less than a dollar to hundreds of dollars -and only 37 firms have disclosed that the carbon price has actively changed decision-making (Bartlett et al, 2016), with limited detail on how. Little academic work exists to explain these patterns (Chang, 2017;Gillingham et al, 2017;Aldy and Gianfrate, 2019), in part due to the inherently sensitive nature of internal business decisions.…”

Section: Carbon Pricing In Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Internal carbon price policies can help institutions meet multiple goals, including managing transitions to a lowcarbon future, incentivizing innovation, reducing regulatory risk, building social capital, and enabling their mission (Chang, 2017;Ecofys et al, 2017;Gillingham et al, 2017;Gajjar and Vivek, 2018). At its core, an ICP represents emissions in dollar terms, which can help institutions integrate their climate goals into economic decisions.…”

Section: Practice Bridgementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Both would affect operating costs of long-lived infrastructure like buildings. New buildings and energy infrastructure represent important decision points that can "strand" assets in a lower-carbon future by committing to a trajectory of high fossil energy use (Caldecott, 2017;Gillingham et al, 2017). For example, a college might spend significant funds on a new fossilfuel fired boiler, only to discover that an electricity-based system would have been cheaper to operate under a newly passed carbon price.…”

Section: Practice Bridgementioning

confidence: 99%

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Carbon pricing approaches for climate decisions in U.S. higher education: Proxy carbon prices for deep decarbonization

Barron

Parker

Sayre

et al. 2020

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

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Given the slow policy response by governments, climate leadership by other institutions has become an essential part of maintaining policy momentum, driving innovation, and fostering social dialogue. Despite growth in carbon pricing in government and the private sector, our review suggests low, but growing, adoption of internal carbon prices (ICPs) by higher education institutions (HEIs), who may be uniquely suited to implement and refine these tools. We analyze the range of ICP tools in use by eleven U.S. HEIs and discuss tradeoffs. Our analysis identifies several reasons why proxy carbon prices may be especially well-suited to decisions (especially at the system-scale) around carbon neutrality at a wide range of institutions. Using a unique dataset covering 10 years of real-world analysis with a proxy carbon price, we analyze the interaction of ICPs with life cycle cost analysis to start to identify when and how internal carbon pricing will be most likely to shift decisions. We discuss how schools and other institutions can collaborate and experiment with these tools to help drive good climate decision-making and inform climate policy at larger scales.

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Section: Carbon Pricing In Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Practice Bridgementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Practice Bridgementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Carbon pricing approaches for climate decisions in U.S. higher education: Proxy carbon prices for deep decarbonization

Barron

Parker

Sayre

et al. 2020

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Emissions trading has been also used by private companies, such as BP, to price carbon within the firm (Victor and House 2006). As internal carbon pricing becomes increasingly popular among companies (CDP 2017; Gillingham et al 2017), additional schemes may be implemented in the private sector. At the federal level in the United States, a proposal to implement an emissions trading scheme (Waxman-Markey Bill) was approved by the House in 2009, but never made it to the Senate floor.…”

Section: An Overview Of Cap and Trade In Real-world Policy Makingmentioning

confidence: 99%

For want of a chair: Teaching price formation using a cap and trade game

Carattini

Fenichel

Gordan

et al. 2019

The Journal of Economic Education

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The tradable or transferable permit system, "cap and trade", is one of the most innovative policy options developed by environmental economists. Over the last 40 years, cap and trade programs have been used around the globe by some of the world's biggest economies. By placing a cap on a bad, whether a pollutant or excess fish mortality, and then allowing firms to buy and sell the right to generate it, policy makers combine government intervention with market-based incentives in order to improve welfare and internalize the externality. Such programs represent a great opportunity for economics instructors to show students how economic theory can be used in the real world by policy makers while teaching foundational economic concepts. By using an in-class game that utilizes a mobile app or paper-based interaction to create a market for a pollutant (or another rival but non-excludable resource), students can learn several important tenants of economics. These include how prices are formed and how price-based incentives lead to voluntary, as if cooperative, behavior by agents. This active learning method engages students while improving their comprehension of price formation, gains from trade, voluntary response to incentives, and an important environmental economics policy.

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“…91 In addition, many businesses and even some universities are undertaking carbon-pricing experiments, generally delivering positive experiences. 92,93 With regard to the level of ambitions, in the case of a carbon tax, we would propose to negotiate a carbon-pricing schedule starting with a global carbon price that is at least as high as the minimum of the carbon taxes or carbon market prices in the member economies. It would be desirable to aim for the highest of these prices, if the members were able to negotiate such an outcome.…”

Section: Track 2: Four Challenges For Unfccc Negotiationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parallel Tracks Towards a Global Treaty on Carbon Pricing

et al. 2018

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We argue that a global carbon price is the only way to effectively tackle free riding in international climate policy, required to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We briefly review the main reasons behind the essential role of carbon pricing, address common misunderstandings and scepticism, and identify key complementary policy instruments. Negotiating global carbon pricing is argued to be much easier than negotiating binding country-level targets, especially if it includes equitable revenue recycling. Moreover, a global carbon price can be more readily adapted to new data and insights of climate science. We propose a political strategy towards a global carbon price that consists of two tracks. The first entails assembly of a carbon-pricing club, a specific case of a climate club, to gradually move towards a full participatory agreement on carbon pricing. The second track involves putting time and energy into re-focusing UNFCCC negotiations on a carbon-pricing agreement. The two tracks reinforce one another, increasing the likelihood of a successful outcome.

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Lessons from first campus carbon-pricing scheme

Cited by 24 publications

References 3 publications

Carbon pricing approaches for climate decisions in U.S. higher education: Proxy carbon prices for deep decarbonization

Carbon pricing approaches for climate decisions in U.S. higher education: Proxy carbon prices for deep decarbonization

For want of a chair: Teaching price formation using a cap and trade game

Parallel Tracks Towards a Global Treaty on Carbon Pricing

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