Around a dozen of EfD affiliated researchers presented their work during the annual EAERE conference in Zürich this year. EfD was also represented in the conference exhibition area.
On Friday June 24, there was a policy session on “CLIMATE AND ENERGY POLICY AFTER THE PARIS AGREEMENT” chaired by Herman Vollebergh and organized by Lucas Bretschger. The speakers also included Thomas Sterner , Scott Barrett and Laurence Tubiana who could however not attend. Lucas started the debate off by giving an overview of the Paris accord and the current situation. Scott Barrett gave an inspiring although depressing picture that inter alia included a wonderful “timeline” of the climate negotiations in the form of a circle showing how already in 1992 the method used was individual (voluntary) country commitments. After Kyoto with its focus on more binding, centrally assigned commitments we are now back to where we started with INDCs. The lack of progress according to Barrett is largely due to the fact that people have not understood the importance of the participation constraint. As long as countries are free to leave an international treaty when they like, it does not matter if the text contains “binding” elements – the agreement must be designed in such a way that it is incentive compatible – that countries want to remain in the treaty. We should try to formulate treaties that are more like coordination games and perhaps divide the climate issue into smaller areas with specialized (incentive compatible) treaties for individual parts like shipping or air travel, forestry etc. Sterner focused on the instruments needed at the national level and explained the need for carbon pricing either through cap and trade or taxation. He emphasized the relationship between pricing of carbon emissions and fossil fuels saying that the role of the former is to create a wedge so that producers receive low prices and consumers have to pay high prices. The latter is important to stimulate efficiency and renewables, the former is vital in order to avoid opening new mines or wells so that fossil fuels can be left in the ground. The very low prices of fossil fuels today make carbon pricing a particularly attractive policy option just now for all the fossil importing countries in the World. They do not need to worry too much about the consumer reaction and they can help prolong the period of low fossil prices which is good both for their terms of trade and for the environment.
Among other the EfD presenters one could find the following sessions in the program:
June 23:
HOUSEHOLD TIME AND RISK PREFERENCES AND ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE- Francisco Alpízar
June 24:
DRILLING IN THE DROUGHT? THE INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION OF GROUNDWATER - Eswaran Somanathan
EFFECTS OF WEATHER ON DAILY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE DECISIONS AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN RURAL COSTA RICA- Laura Villalobos
TRIGGERING COOPERATION- Gunnar Köhlin
A DYNAMIC ENFORCEMENT STRATEGY TO IMPROVE COMPLIANCE WITH ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS- Xiao-Bing Zhang
June 25
NON-MARKET VALUATION AND PARK PRICING: EVIDENCE FROM SOUTH AFRICA- Edwin Muchapondwa