Design of carbon markets is critical to success—CeraWeek

While a global carbon price would be ideal, political reality means a regional and sectoral approach will be needed to make short- to medium-term progress

Countries and regions should design internal carbon-trading systems built on sound financial principles so progress on decarbonisation can be made quickly without distorting economic activity more than absolutely necessary, experts agreed at a CeraWeek panel this week. The establishment of a global carbon-trading system is the gold standard but would take many years to accomplish and would have a disproportionate impact on certain countries. Therefore, economic blocs should go it alone, in the meantime, with measures such as carbon border taxes to reduce international distortion. “The committee… unanimously agreed that a price on carbon is the best and quickest solution to address clim