On June 28 in Montreal, just prior to the World Congress of Environment and Resource Economists (WCERE), Sustainable Prosperity (SP) and Resources for the Future (RFF) brought together leading global scholars in this field for a high level dialogue to compare research, share insights, and identify future policy research priorities on understanding how environmental regulation might enhance innovation and increase competitiveness.
Thomas Sterner, left, Professor of Environmental Economics at the University of Gothenburg, and Chair of the EfD Research Committee, was part of the Scientific Advisory Council and acted also as a discussant of the second session "Effect of Regulatory Instrument Choice".
Sterner says: "Porter has written an eminently sensible article about the design of environmental policy instruments. He expresses strong faith in technical change but he does explicitly NOT say that regulation is always good for a company irrespective of other conditions. Economists should reflect on the way they have exaggerated his opinions turning them into a illogical “straw-man” theory that they have then proceeded to attack time and again."
Dr Carolyn Fischer, RFF Senior Fellow and EfD Research Fellow, also attended and chaired the workshop "Effect of Environmental Regulation on Productivity and Competitiveness".
Growing interest in climate policy and the 20th anniversary of the “Porter Hypothesis” make this an opportune time to assess the state of knowledge and identify future research needs on this important question.
The High-level Experts lunch Panel featured keynote speaker Professor Michael Porter of Harvard University (widely seen as the world’s top competitiveness expert), followed by an International Experts Panel on how environmental regulations can be designed to boost innovation and competitiveness.
Porter argues that strong environmental regulation need not hurt the economy, but can drive innovation and growth. He has written:
“Countries need an entirely new way of thinking about the relationship between environment and industrial competitiveness. No lasting success can come from policies that promise that environmentalism will triumph over industry, [or] that industry will triumph over environmentalism. Instead, success must involve innovation-based solutions that promote both environmentalism and industrial competitiveness.”
For more information, program, a short background paper summarizing the international research on the Porter Hypothesis please visit http://www.sustainableprosperity.ca/event/porter-hypothesis-20-june-27-28-montreal-qc