All Climate Events

Tuesday, October 23, 2018. 4:30PM. A Case for Ex Post Climate Policy. Justin Leroux, HEC Montreal. Sponsored by Princeton University Climate Futures Initiative. More information here.

The transboundary nature of climate change is such that those populations who suffer the most climate harm are not those that contribute the most greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This suggests that international compensatory transfers could be in order. The talk will describe how the tension between the principles of compensation and responsibility guides the form that these transfers could take.

Importantly, such corrective transfers imply that certain aspects of climate policy should be handled ex post -- i.e., upon assessing harm -- rather than ex ante, if only to establish the magnitude of the compensatory transfers. The talk will discuss the properties of a climate policy based on tradable climate liabilities, with a focus on incentives and fairness. Finally, the talk will end with elements of discussion regarding the ethics of sharing an uncertain burden.