This conference aims to give participants an overview of the main results of the recent book Accounting for Carbon: Monitoring, Reporting, and Verifying emissions in the climate economy, recently published by Cambridge University Press. This book brings together expertise from CDC Climat Research, CITEPA, Southpole and NPL.
Based on the most recent developments in climate science, in combination with deeply-rooted economics theory, the book describes how monitoring, reporting, and verifying (MRV) are currently practiced in 15 important policy frameworks — including notably national greenhouse gas inventories supervised by the United Nations, the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme and the Clean Development Mechanism — and compares them on the basis of key criteria, such as scope, cost, uncertainty and flexibility.
MRV procedures are one of the solid pillars of climate action. Indeed, the need for MRV is a common feature of all the possible future carbon-pricing mechanisms, whether they take the form of carbon taxes, cap-and-trade systems, and environmental labeling or carbon footprint disclosure. Moreover, while national governments have historically been reluctant to commit to emissions caps in an international agreement, they all stand to gain in adopting common methods and procedures to quantify emissions occurring elsewhere – whether internationally or subnationally. This is probably why MRV is one of the fastest-moving issues in international climate negotiations, and one of the most likely to be resolved.
Click here for programme – Light lunch will be provided from 12.30
