Energy Seminar5 : Issues of Unilateral Action

Introduction

The theme for tthe fifth seminar in this year’s series on “Climate Policy in Crisis”,  was  the questions that arise for policies of unilateral action on emissions and climate issues, in advance of, or additional to, any international or global agreements.  These questions arise both for individual nations such as the UK, and for larger entities such as the EU.  They may cover both domestic concerns over the justifications for unilateral action, and the potential problems of overlapping and conflicting policy initiatives, some of which have been identified in earlier seminars.  There are also substantial issues of national self-interest, often expressed in terms of the cost burden or economic competitiveness, as well as maintaining political impetus and reconciliation with other policy objectives.   Proceedings have been summarised in the  Meeting-Report-5

Agenda

Speakers

David Kennedy Unilateral Policies for a Global Problem.

David Kennedy is Chief Executive of the Committee on Climate Change. Previously he worked on energy strategy at the World Bank, and design of infrastructure investment projects at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. He has a PhD in economics from the London School of Economics. David has been with the CCC since its inception.  He has therefore been at the centre of UK policy in relation to climate issues.

Chris Allsopp CBE The Macro-Economic Context for Energy Policies.

Chris Allsopp is Director of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.  He is also a distinguished macro-economist, a former Member of Court at the Bank of England, as well as the Monetary Policy Committee. He is a Fellow of New College, Oxford, and will be well known to BIEE members for his thought provoking addresses at past conferences.

John Rhys will again be chairing the session.

Venue and Registration

The meeting is being hosted by McKinsey & Company whose offices are at  1 Jermyn Street, London SW1Y 4 UH. For location and tube stations  please see    location map  or map below.  Registration will take place from 14.15 the meeting will start at  14.30.

Previous Seminars in this Series

The first two seminars (January and April)   in this 2013 series dealt in turn with the science and the general economic arguments for action on climate, and on the international and global dimensions of policy. The third (June) dealt with the subject of policy instruments to address the objective of reducing emissions.  The fourth  (October ) focused on the growing gap between the minimum actions deemed necessary to limit risk of disastrous climate change, highlighted inter alia by the recent IEA and IPCC reports, and more conventional projections of the actual likely course of emissions, on the other.  All four are reported in the meeting archive at the top of  this page  , where later comments on the proceedings can be added.