Ep 61: Carbon Pricing with Dr. Marc Hafstead (Resources for the Future)

Are we at Sustainability Defined psychic? Well, no… but we do know what you’re wondering - what is carbon pricing and can it be a viable solution to mitigate our global GHG emissions? Fear not Definers, we’ve got you covered. In today’s episode, we dive into how different carbon pricing systems, like emissions trading systems (ETS) and carbon taxes, function in global economies. A price on carbon can help address the fact that climate impacts are often endured by people who are neither the producer nor the consumer of an activity that exacerbates climate change – what economists dub “negative externalities.” We also discuss existing applications and different design features of carbon pricing policies, leaving you delightfully informed on the topic. Our expert guest, Dr. Marc Hafstead, a Fellow at Resources for the Future (RFF) and Director of their Carbon Pricing Initiative, joins us to chat about the nuances of carbon pricing policies and the many tools RFF has developed to help progress them. We hope Definers can take away their own perspective of carbon pricing and its role in fighting climate change.  ------ Sustainability Defined is the podcast that defines sustainability, one concept (and bad joke) at a time. Hosted by Jay Siegel and Scott Breen. Each episode focuses on a single topic that helps push sustainability forward. We explain each topic with the help of an experienced pro, place it within our organizational tree, and help our listeners define what exactly sustainability is, episode by episode. We have divided our organizational tree into the following seven sectors: Energy Cities Natural Environment Transportation Business Policy Social Each episode is categorized under one of our sectors and visually depicted within our organizational tree. The more episodes we complete, the more the tree will visually define what exactly sustainability means. www.sustainabilitydefined.com