Keynote I on "Economic policy on climate change" by William Nordhaus
Speaker: William Nordhaus (Yale University)
Moderation: Klaus Schmidt (LMU)
First, there has been little progress in slowing emissions over the last two decades as seen both in carbon pricing and emissions intensity.
Second, one of the major challenges facing the transition to a low-carbon global economy is the development of new low-carbon technologies; and there is a particular challenge of poor incentives for low-carbon technologies because of low private returns to innovation.
Third, a key part of a strong climate policy is a high, rising, and harmonized price of carbon in all sectors and countries.
Fourth, current approaches to international climate policy are failing; indeed they are at dead end. Countries should design and join an international climate club to combat free riding.