Carbon Pricing Archives - Page 4 of 33 - Canada's Ecofiscal Commission

Jun 19 2019

Exception to the Rule: Why New Brunswick’s Industrial Carbon Pricing System is Problematic

New Brunswick’s draft carbon pricing plan for big emitters came out last week, and it raises some interesting and important questions. As Ecofiscal has noted before, well-designed “output-based carbon pricing systems” are a good way to reduce emissions and protect businesses’ competitiveness. We’ve argued that providing targeted support for “emissions-intensive and trade-exposed” industries is a […]

Jun 13 2019

How can the West work with China on climate change?

by Brendan Frank

Climate and Energy Carbon Pricing China Competitiveness Oil & Gas Sector

Climate change is a global problem requiring global cooperation. The world’s biggest emitter is making progress, but has much more to do. Given the whole world has a stake in accelerating its decarbonization, how can Canada (and the West) help China reduce emissions? Let’s take a look at our wonderful array of options—from exports to […]

A dragon sits on a hilled landscape, polluting factories to its left and clean technologies to its right

Jun 12 2019

China’s sprawling approach to climate policy

by Brendan Frank

Climate and Energy Cap-and-trade Carbon Pricing China Clean-tech Climate Change Complementary Policies Green Growth

It is indisputable that getting global emissions under control requires getting China’s emissions under control. So what is China doing about it? Not only is the nation of 1.4 billion getting serious about climate change, its policy approach often resembles Canada’s. The details warrant careful unpacking. Here is the present and future of China’s climate […]

Jun 5 2019

Switching GHG accounting systems is not a solution

by Jason Dion

Climate and Energy Carbon Coordination Carbon Pricing Complementary Policies

Is Canada’s greenhouse gas emission problem just an accounting issue? Is the GHG measurement system used by the UNFCCC fundamentally flawed, unfair to Canada, or both? Would switching systems make achieving our targets easier and solve concerns around emissions leakage? Short answer: not so much. The status quo: “territorial-based” GHG inventories Let me start by […]

May 22 2019

Gear shift: Alberta’s climate policies poised for big changes

by Dale Beugin and Brendan Frank

Climate and Energy Alberta Carbon Pricing Provincial Policy Revenue Recycling

Today, Alberta’s newly-elected government will table the Carbon Tax Repeal Act. If the bill proceeds as expected, the carbon levy could be gone as early as next week. However, that doesn’t mean the end of the province’s climate policy discussion. We’ll use this blog to explain what the changes mean within and beyond Alberta. The […]

May 14 2019

Arguments for and against “supply-side” climate policies

by Jason Dion

Climate and Energy Carbon Coordination Carbon Pricing Complementary Policies

Our April blog about supply-side climate policies generated some online discussion. Some comments focused on the bigger, global picture. Others focused on the nuts and bolts. In particular, we got questions about our “leakage” assertion—namely, that if Canada cut back its production of fossil fuels there would just be an offsetting increase elsewhere that more or […]

An Open Letter from Economists on Canadian Carbon Pricing

Carbon Pricing