Why Better Functioning Carbon Markets Are Vital for Climate Change Policy

Despite its early troubles, Europe’s Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) has to be recognized as the most ambitious effort to apply market-based pricing to carbon emissions. Now, more than 10 years after the launch of EU-ETS, Europe is reinforcing the integrity of its carbon market alongside the emergence of other regional carbon markets like that in China. Mark Lewis discusses how he believes these efforts will ultimately create a more material carbon price and what it means for the fossil fuel industry and its consumers in the future.

Recording date: 17 May 2018

Mark Lewis

Mark Lewis is Head of Research and a Managing Director at the Carbon Tracker Initiative. For the last 15 years, Mark’s research has focused on the overlap between energy and climate change. Since May 2016 he has been a member of the UK Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. Previously, he was Managing Director and Head of European Utilities Research at Barclays (2015-18), Chief Energy Economist at Kepler Cheuvreux (2014-15), and Managing Director and Global Head of Energy Research at Deutsche Bank, where he worked for 14 years until 2013.