Prospects for Carbon Pricing in Europe and the United States

A Research Workshop Co-Hosted by: 

Harvard Project on Climate Agreements

Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics, Sciences Po Paris

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Background and Motivation:

With the inauguration of Joseph R. Biden, Jr., the United States has re-committed to the Paris Agreement and to ambitious domestic efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. More broadly, the Biden Administration will re-engage more constructively with the world, including Europe. The hosts of this workshop wish to take advantage of an opportunity for renewed transatlantic academic dialogue on climate change policy. In particular, researchers from the two universities wish to exchange insights on carbon pricing – a topic of mutual interest – from the disciplinary perspectives of both economics and political science. The agenda includes a normative assessment of carbon pricing – examining the relative merits of alternative carbon pricing systems, and of carbon pricing and policy instruments relying on uniform standards. Participants will then examine prospects for carbon pricing in Europe and the United States – focusing in part on sub-national carbon-pricing systems in the latter.

Workshop Agenda and Participant List

*The presentations posted below are for workshop participant reference ONLY. Please do not distribute without permission from the author*

Session 1: Normative Assessment of Carbon-Pricing and Other Policy Instruments

Relative Merits of Alternative Carbon-Pricing Systems: Robert Stavins, Harvard University

Relative Merits of Carbon Pricing and Uniform Standards: Aurélien Saussay, London School of Economics

Session 2: Positive Political Economy and Politics of Carbon Pricing

Status of and Prospects for Carbon Pricing in Europe: Meriem Hamdi-Cherif and Paul Malliet, Sciences Po

Status of and Prospects for Carbon Pricing in the United States: Joseph Aldy, Harvard University and Nathaniel Keohane, Environmental Defense Fund

Resources:

Stavins, Robert. “The Future of U.S. Carbon-Pricing Policy.” National Bureau of Economic Research. Working Paper 25912, June 3, 2019. https://doi.org/10.3386/w25912; slightly revised version: Environmental and Energy Policy and the Economy 1 (January 1, 2020): 8–64. https://doi.org/10.1086/706792. For PDF without subscription: https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/stavins/files/stavins_eepe_2020_journal_article.pdf