On June 15, 2022, the SEAS Environmental and Energy Management Institute served as a co-host, along with the Delegation to the U.S. of the European Union, of a symposium entitled “Effective Public Policy on Carbon Pricing in Support of Climate Objectives: Views from North America and Europe.” The event was held in the French Embassy (Maison de France), in Washington, D.C., under the auspices of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Participating in the event were EEM professors Rachael Jonassen, Jonathan Deason, Joe Cascio, Ed Saltzberg, Jigar Shah, and Alex Beehler, along with almost a dozen graduate students. The symposium brought together experts in carbon policies from both sides of the Atlantic, with policy- and law-makers to assessing policy options available to meet the challenge of managing carbon emissions externalities. The European - North American dialogue, as it was called by the European Commission, featured three sessions of panel-driven discussions, a review of the day’s outcome with comments by distinguished elected officials, and a networking reception.
Professor Jonassen, EEMI Director of Climate Change, directed and served as the moderator of the plenary session on “Promoting climate ambition while managing the risk of carbon leakage” and Master’s student Naomia Suggs-Brigety made a presentation on GW’s next-generation vision on how to best integrate carbon externalities in the future at the closing plenary session.
Additional key speakers at the symposium included the following individuals:
- Justin Worland, Senior Climate correspondent, TIME magazine
- Philippe Etienne, French Ambassador to the United States
- Stavros Lambrinidis, European Union Ambassador to the United States
- Mercedes García Pérez, Head of Global Issues and Innovation at Delegation of the European Union to the United States
- Gervais Coulombe, Ministère des Finances du Canada
- Dagmara Koska, Deputy Head of Section & Counsellor at Delegation of the European Union to the United States
- Judy Meltzer, Ministère de l’environnement et des changements climatiques du Canada
- Jamie Callahan, Deputy Cabinet Secretary, Office of the California Governor
- Venkat Putti, Program Manager for the Partnership for Market Implementation, World Bank
- Sue Biniaz, Deputy Special Envoy for Climate Change, U.S. Department of State
- Laurence Tubiana, European Climate Foundation
- Laurent Michel, Director General for Energy and Climate, French Ministry of Ecological Transition
- Mohammed Chahim, European Parliament rapporteur for the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
- Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, (D-RI)
A copy of the program can be seen at this link: EEMI Symposium on Carbon Pricing.