Common Resources

RFF Feature: The Past, Present, and Future of Carbon Markets

New research explores lessons learned to date from carbon markets around the world and presents new issues to be examined in the future, such as the linking of existing markets. Click here to read the feature in its entirety.

Aiming Low: The Ambition Deficit in Global Emissions Reductions

As in Durban, a notable concern at this COP is the “ambition deficit”—that is, the significant gap between the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s recommended level of emissions reductions—those required to limit global temperature rise to 2°C—and the level of emissions reductions currently committed to by countries worldwide. In other words, everyone is aiming low [...]

Senate Stares Down Europe on Aviation Carbon

Early last Saturday morning, the U.S. Senate stepped squarely into the debate over global aviation emissions, unanimously passing a bill that would give the Secretary of Transportation the power to prohibit U.S. airlines from complying with a new European law that require all airlines flying to or from Europe to participate in the European cap-and-trade [...]

Linking EU-Australia Carbon Markets Offers New Beginning and Challenges for Global Carbon Pricing

The EU’s announcement that it would link emissions markets with Australia beginning in 2015 brings a breath of fresh air to the prospect of a global price on carbon. In July, Australia introduced a tax that will transition into a cap and trade program in 2015. Currently the policy is under intense political attack. The [...]

Should France Introduce A Carbon Tax?

The European Union has been in the news recently with its proposal for a minimum carbon tax. Australia’s controversial carbon tax proposal has also been grabbing headlines. But most forget that just last year, France also was on the brink of incorporating a carbon tax. It was rejected by France’s constitutional court. However, the proposal [...]

Lessons from the E.U.’s Emissions Trading Program

Since 2005 major power generation and industrial emitters in the European Union have been monitoring their emissions and paying for the right to release CO2 and other greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. While a landmark moment in multi-national environmental cooperation, observers have found that in its early years the E.U.‘s emissions trading scheme (ETS) has [...]

Developing a Trans-Atlantic Climate Strategy: The U.S.-EU Climate Policy Dialogue

Poised to assume presidency of the European Union in July, Sweden will lead European nations into the next international conference on climate change this December in Copenhagen. Looking toward that new role and leadership in crafting a new global climate change mitigation treaty, the Swedish Embassy, with CLIPORE and Resources for the Future, hosted an [...]