Thursday, June 10

Panelists
Mr. Simon Black, Economist, Fiscal Affairs Department, International Monetary Fund
Ms. Marissa Santikarn, Climate Change Specialist, World Bank

Moderator
Mr. Laurent Millischer, Economist, Joint Vienna Institute

Following the introductory webinar on April 23 and the webinar on the political economy of climate policy in CEE on May 6, this third webinar of the climate series discussed carbon pricing with a special focus on the JVI region. Ensuring that polluters are charged the external costs of greenhouse gas emissions is commonly considered the first-best climate mitigation policy. This webinar looked at why this is so and what types of carbon pricing schemes exist in theory and in practice.

Simon Black gave an overview of carbon pricing, covering carbon taxes, emission trading schemes, and the role of fuel subsidies. He discussed the best uses of carbon pricing revenues and how carbon border adjustments can avoid regulatory arbitrage, the so-called ‘carbon leakage’. Finally, Simon presented the IMF’s proposal for an international carbon pricing floor. 

The JVI focus on climate change

If greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated, global temperatures will keep on rising at an unprecedented pace, with catastrophic implications for lives and livelihoods worldwide. Economic policy has a pivotal role to play in changing the ways we produce and consume in order to slow climate change.

Countries in the JVI region will not be spared the economic costs of rising temperatures nor the difficult task of transforming their economies within the next thirty years to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, this transformation also holds opportunities for countries in the region, such as public investment-triggered growth, good quality green jobs, and better health from reduced air pollution.

In this context, the JVI will offer two new courses on the economics of climate change. The first one, “Climate Change and Green Finance”, coordinated by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance and the Austrian National Bank, will take place June 14-18, 2021. The second one, “Climate Change Economics”, coordinated by the JVI faculty, will take place September 13-17, 2021. We encourage you to visit the course pages and apply.

Leading up to these two courses, the JVI will organize a webinar series on selected issues in climate change economics. In discussion with experts from the JVI partner organizations, academia, central banks, and other institutions, we will shed light on topics such as the political economy of climate change, carbon taxation, the role of financial sector oversight, and macroeconomic modelling – with a special focus on the JVI region.

Laurent Millischer, Economist, JVI