Carbon Pricing Enters Middle Age

It is difficult to identify another policy tool that has been either more celebrated or dismissed in recent decades as carbon pricing.  Long heralded by advocates as a silver bullet to confront climate change, it has increasingly been panned by critics as a political non-starter that distracts from serious climate mitigation.  This paper reviews the last half-decade of global climate policy and carbon pricing experience.  It examines significant political challenges to pricing adoption in nations including the United States.  However, it also demonstrates that carbon pricing can play an increasingly significant role in supporting decarbonization in such cases as the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Canada, part of an ensemble of policies rather than a solo act.  Such cases may expand in coming years through stronger links between pricing and trade policy, continued shifting of pricing revenues toward green investment programs, and extension of pricing to short-lived climate pollutants such as methane and hydrofluorocarbons.

Related Keywords

World Bank ,District Of Columbia ,United States ,Kyoto ,Japan ,Colombia ,New Zealand ,Costa Rica ,Paris ,France General ,France ,Cambridge ,Cambridgeshire ,United Kingdom ,Ottawa ,Ontario ,Canada ,West Virginia ,Whitehouse ,Taiwan ,Washington ,The Commons ,Michigan ,Jevnaker ,Oppland ,Norway ,Pennsylvania ,Brazil ,China ,Toronto ,Ireland ,Quebec ,Virginia ,Kigali ,W09 ,Rwanda ,Germany ,Montreal ,Russia ,California ,Portugal ,South Korea ,British ,Russian ,America ,American ,Canadian ,Drew Shindell ,Edward Rubin ,Grischa Perino ,William Nordhaus ,Kenneth Wong ,Shinsuke Tanaka ,Christopher Knittel ,Torben Mideska ,Christopher Sands ,Maximilian Willner ,Richardg Newell ,Iselin Stensdal ,Rachel Hampton ,Maosheng Duan ,Isabel Englehart ,Nick Sobczyk ,Douglas Macdonald ,Julius Andersson ,Robere Hall ,Gabrielle Dreyfus ,Frank Jotzo ,Marisa Beck ,Lars Gulbrandsen ,David Victor ,Erick Lachapelle ,Christopher Borick ,Williama Pizer ,Brendan Boyd ,Patricia Fisher ,Matthew Brandon Lee ,Mario Fetet ,Kristin Eberhard ,Brendan Moore ,Paul Burke ,Danny Cullenward ,Claire Kaliban ,Sara Schonhardt ,Barry Rabe ,Jeremy Carl ,Matthew Lewis ,Endre Tvinnereim ,Calvin Trottier Chi ,Andrew Green ,Matto Mildenberger ,Maximilian Auffhammer ,Jan Rosenow ,Giorgio Castagneto Gissey ,Sara Maestre Andr ,Stefan Drews ,Paul Peterson ,Durwood Zaelke ,Frank Wolak ,Laurence Levin ,Catharina Wiese ,Stefano Carattini ,Leigh Raymond ,Dale Beugin ,Daniel Raimi ,Richard Cowart ,Dmitry Taubinsky ,David Fedor ,Woodrow Wilson ,Marissa Santikarn ,Jason Clark ,Michael Mehling ,David Carment ,Maria Cavalho ,Yangyang Xu ,Andrew Jordan ,Canadian Energy ,Global Energy Transition Canadian Climate Institute ,Niskanen Center ,Emissions Trading Systems International Carbon Action Partnership ,Culture Cambridge University ,University Of Michigan ,American Journal Of International Law ,University College London ,Energy Efficiency ,European Union ,Wilson Center ,Canadian Climate Policy University Of Toronto ,Climate Federalism University Of Toronto ,Energy Economics ,Institute For Climate Economics ,Eu Parliament ,American Political Science Association ,Brookings Institution ,Climate Fund ,International Climate ,European Union Emissions Trading System ,Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative ,Climate Policy Work Polity ,International Policy Center ,Pricing Certainty Gap Canadian Climate Institute ,Research Award ,Network Of Schools Public ,Energy Efficiency Subsidies ,Geraldr Ford School Of Public ,Political Stumbling ,Washington State ,Paris Agreement ,Pack Europe ,Emissions Trading System ,Market Stability Reserve ,Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act ,Pan Canadian Framework ,British Columbia ,Green Deal ,Senator Sheldon Whitehouse ,Kigali Amendment ,Montreal Protocol ,Ozone Layer ,Social Climate Fund ,Short Lived Climate ,President Biden ,Global Methane Pledge ,Reduction Act ,American Green New Deal ,Clean Air Act ,Kyoto Protocol ,Arthur Thurnau Professor ,Environmental Policy ,Nicki Harris Family Professor ,Public Policy ,Distinguished Research Award ,Can We Price ,Carbon Captured ,Show Business ,Labor Control Climate Politics ,Deep Decarbonization ,Making Climate Policy Work ,Polity Press ,Review Letters ,Carbon Pricing ,Carbon Market ,Pricing Efficacy ,Cross Country Evidence ,Resource Economics ,Economic Journal ,Economic Policy ,Cooler Planet ,Working Paper ,Frequency Evidence ,Gas Price Elasticities ,Public Economics ,Climate Policy Flagship ,Policy Feedback ,Changing Culture ,Cambridge University Press ,Including Shipping ,Policy Incoherence ,Trading System ,Carbon Province ,Hydro Province ,Climate Federalism ,Toronto Press ,Comparative Canadian ,American Public Opinion ,Climate Change ,Canadian Climate Policy ,Seven Recommendations ,Leverage Public Investment ,Help Canada Compete ,Global Energy Transition ,Canadian Climate Institute ,Carbon Pricing Certainty Gap ,Overcoming Free Riding ,International Climate Policy ,Economic Review ,International Cooperation ,Border Carbon Adjustments ,International Law ,Atmospheric Commons ,New Model ,Emissions Trading ,Climate Economics ,Auction Revenue ,Emissions Trading Systems ,International Carbon Action Partnership ,Sam Fankhauser ,Federalism Works ,State Severance Taxes ,Shale Era ,Policy Research ,State Methane Policy ,New Zealand Sets Out Plans ,Agricultural Emissions Pricing ,Global Agricultural Information Network ,Dark Horse ,Agriculture Methane Governance ,Gas Flaring Tracker Report ,Comes Front ,Climate Change Policy ,Government Subsidies ,Clean Energy ,Design Choices ,Hunt Alcott ,