11th Annual Workshop on Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading

Background

The IEA-IETA-EPRI Emissions Trading Workshop has been held annually at the headquarters of the International Energy Agency since 2000. This international workshop focuses on developments in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions trading around the world at the international, national and sub-national level.

The 2011 workshop covered topics relevant to the development of global, national and sub-national carbon markets, including scaled-up and new market mechanisms, NAMAs and sectoral crediting policies, MRV and international GHG accounting and 2nd-best trading programmes. As in previous years, the workshop assemblee representatives from government, business and independent research organisations to discuss advances in various national GHG markets, as well as the future of carbon trading and the "shuffle" to the COP 17 meeting in Durban.

Topics included:

• A Roundtable on Emissions Trading Initiatives (including China, Chile, Chinese Taipei, US and Australia)
• The Evolution of Sub-national Carbon Markets and International Linkages
• Carbon Market Developments
• Innovative International Finance Mechanisms to Facilitate "Scaling Up" / NAMAs and Sectoral Crediting Policies
• The Role of 2nd Best Trading Programs to Achieve Carbon Mitigation
• MRV and International GHG Accounting
• The Future Role of Carbon Trading in Achieving Climate Stabilization Goals and the "Shuffle" to Durban

Attendance was by invitation only.

Agenda

Proceedings:

Monday, 3 October, 2011

Opening remarks

Bo Diczfalusy, Director of Sustainable Energy Technology Policy Division, International Energy Agency (IEA)
Henry Derwent, President and CEO, International Emissions Trading Association (IETA)
Tom Wilson, Senior Program Manager, Global Climate Research Program, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)

Session 1 - Regional Roundtable

This session will highlight important recent domestic and regional GHG market developments around the world to set the stage for two days of more in-depth discussions. Brief presentations will be followed by a moderated discussion to facilitate interaction with and between speakers.

Chair:  Richard Baron, Head of Climate Change Unit, IEA

Speakers:

Michael Gibbs, Deputy Secretary for Climate Change, California Environmental Protection Agency (California)
Jeff Huang, Managing Director for Greater China, Intercontinental Exchange, Tianjin (China)
Robert Shih, General Manager, YC Consultants Ltd. (Chinese Taipei)
Ignacio Fernández, Climate Change Professional, Ministry of Energy, Chile (Chile)
Joan MacNaughton, Senior Vice President, Power and Environmental Policies, Alstom Power (Australia)


Session 2 - Evolution of Regional Carbon Markets and International Linkages

This session will explore developing sub-national carbon markets and the evolution of international linkages between them, including:

• Linkages between California’s new GHG cap-and-trade programme, evolving REDD-based sectoral offset programmes, the EU ETS, and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)
• Evolution of the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) in North America, and potential linkages and to the California and RGGI cap-and-trade programs
• Evolving city-based efforts to mitigate climate change using market-based mechanisms

Chair:   Adam Diamant, Manager, Economic Analysis, Global Climate Change, EPRI

Speakers:

Justin Johnson, Deputy Commissioner, Vermont Agency of Natural Resources; Member, Board of Directors, RGGI
Daniel Nepstad, Director, IPAM International
Tim Lesiuk, Executive Director, Climate Action Secretariat, Province of British Columbia, Canada; Chair, WCI Offsets Committee
Yuko Nishida, Planner, Policy Planning Division, Bureau of Environment, Tokyo Metropolitan Government
Vicky Pollard, Policy Officer, European and International Carbon Markets, Directorate General for Climate Action, European Commission


Session 3 - Carbon Market Developments

This session will explore recent carbon market developments with a focus on interactions with new and existing policies; how investments, including CDM expansion and reform, fit into such evolving market structures; and, anticipated future global supply/demand balance. Discussion will focus on the future of the CDM, and will address issues such as potential new technologies to be included, additionality issues associated with HFC, N2O and renewable energy projects, and efforts to streamline the CDM process going forward.

Chair:   Henry Derwent, IETA

Speakers:

Alexandre Marty, Head of Policy-Carbon and Environmental Markets, EDF Trading
Karen Degouve, Marketing Director Alternative Assets, Natixis
Scott McGregor, CEO, Camco
Frank Harris , Manager of Corporate Environmental Policy, Southern California Edison
Claire Dufour, Business Development Director, NYSE Blue


Session 4 - Innovative International Finance Mechanisms to Facilitate "Scaling Up", NAMAs and Sector-based Programmes

This session will focus on efforts to develop new international financial mechanisms to facilitate scaling up of GHG emissions reductions through implementation of NAMAs and emerging sector-based programmes. Discussion will highlight the evolution of new financial structures such as Green NAMA Bonds, innovative financial structures designed to drive investment in REDD, implementation of the United Nation’s Green Climate Fund, and explore the key role of international multilateral financial organisations.

Chair:   Tom Wilson, EPRI

Speakers:

Sean Kidney, Chairman and Co-founder, Climate Bonds Initiative
Joëlle Chassard, Manager, Carbon Finance Unit, World Bank
Maria Netto, Climate Change Specialist, Inter-American Development Bank
Ben Feldman, Chief Operating Officer, Forest Trends
Abyd Karmali, Managing Director and Head of Global Carbon Markets, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Cocktail sponsored by NYSE Blue and BlueNext


Tuesday, 4 October 2011

Session 5 - Role of "2nd" Best Trading Programmes to Achieve Carbon Mitigation

This session will explore the evolving role of 2nd best market-based trading mechanisms designed primarily to achieve other environmental and energy policy goals, but are also expected to provide incentives for investments in climate mitigation technologies. The discussion will focus on the potential benefits and inefficiencies of relying on policies such as Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), and energy efficiency certificates to achieve climate mitigation objectives, as well as the interaction of such policies with existing and evolving carbon markets programmes.

Chair:   David Hunter, US Director, IETA

Speakers:

Christina Hood, Climate Policy Analyst, International Energy Agency (IEA)
Konrad Raeschke-Kessler , Emission Reduction Projects, German Emissions Trading Authority, Federal Environment Authority
Vic Niemeyer, Technical Executive, EPRI
Josh Hale, Fuel Procurement Manager, Southern Company


Session 6 - MRV and International GHG Accounting

This session will highlight current MRV approaches associated with achieving co-ordinated climate action in an evolving international climate policy environment, designed to support both "top-down" and "bottom-up" climate mitigation commitments. Discussion will focus on the key role of MRV in international negotiations, the joint role of MRV and accounting in verifying achievement of NAMAs, the proliferation of accounting standards, and how to integrate MRV activities in the voluntary carbon markets with evolving compliance carbon markets.

Chair:   Henry Derwent, IETA

Speakers:

Andrew Prag, Climate Change Policy Analyst, Environment Directorate, Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
Michael Gillenwater, Executive Director and Dean, Greenhouse Gas Management Institute (GHGMI); and Lecturer, Princeton University, Science, Technology and Environmental Policy Program
Richard Gledhill, Global Leader, Climate Change and Carbon Market Services, Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP
Luc Larmuseau, Head of Climate and Energy, Det Norske Veritas (DNV)


Luncheon sponsored by International Energy Agency (IEA)


Closing Session: The Future Role of Carbon Trading in Achieving Climate Stabilisation Goals and the "Shuffle" to COP-17 in Durban

This session will explore the future evolution and potential role of carbon markets in the evolving international climate policy context. Key players involved in the evolution of international climate change policy and carbon markets will discuss how the carbon markets may evolve in an international policy environment characterised by different countries making different commitments to reduce their GHG emissions.

Chair: Richard Baron, IEA

Speakers:

Jos Delbeke, Director General for Climate Action, European Commission
Hugh Sealy, Energy Advisor to the Govt. of Grenada and Associate Professor, St. George's University (former CDM EB member for GRULAC)
Billy Pizer, Associate Professor, Sanford School of Public Policy and Faculty Fellow Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University; previously, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environment and Energy, United States Department of the Treasury
James L. Connaughton, Executive Vice President, Constellation Energy Group; previously Chairman, United States White House Council on Environmental Quality and Director, White House Office of Environmental Policy


Closing Remarks

Maria van der Hoeven, Executive Director, IEA
Henry Derwent, IETA
Tom Wilson, EPRI