Call for Papers:
Carbon Finance, the Financial Crisis and the Re-regulation of Markets
Carbon & Climate Law Review
A Journal on Climate Regulation and the Carbon Market [CCLR]
Deadline: 15 February 2009Carbon & Climate Law Review is welcoming abstracts for a special issue on
Carbon Finance, the Financial Crisis, and the Re-regulation of Markets
, scheduled for publication inJune 2009. It will be edited by Jacob Werksman and Christina Voigt.Governments and business worldwide are preparing to adjust to a carbon constrained future,in the context of a near term financial crisis. The policy links between combating globalwarming, jump-starting the global economy, and re-regulating markets to prevent futurefinancial crises, demand deeper analysis. Reaching ambitious climate goals will require capson greenhouse gas emissions that may prove politically unpalatable in the midst of aneconomic down turn. Competitiveness concerns already raised by differentiated climate policies may be exacerbated by the fragility of domestic economies and trade-dependentindustries. Nonetheless many governments have signalled that publicly financed “greenrecovery” schemes will be a central part of economic stimulus packages. Many governmentsare also likely to rely on carbon finance – which rewards investors in low carbon alternativeswith carbon offsets – to incentivize and lower the costs of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.However, carbon offsets and allowances are complex financial instruments that are not closelyregulated, and recent experiences with sub-prime mortgages have raised concerns about anover-dependency on “sub-prime carbon.” Finally, the auctioning, sale and taxation of carbonallowances and offsets promise to provide significant new sources of government revenue,and may play a role in controlling government deficits.Contributions should contribute to an understanding of how existing and proposed national,regional or international law and policy can help address such questions as:
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Can climate change concerns be integrated into domestic “green recovery schemes”and stimulus packages?
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Can new sources of finance -- from additional ODA, to the auctioning of emissionsallowances to taxes on aviation and maritime transport, to debt instruments --encourage climate friendly investments while reducing government deficit?
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What role can existing and new international financial institutions such as the WorldBank, the IMF, the Adaptation Fund Board, and the Climate Investment Funds play inresponding to both the financial and climate change crises?
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Can efforts to re-regulate of financial markets provide an opportunity to strengthen theenvironmental integrity of carbon markets? Require the disclosure of climate-relatedrisks?
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