A review of “Pricing Carbon Emissions. Economic Reality and Utopia” by Aviel Verbruggen

Abstract

According to Verbruggen the main obstacle to a decarbonized future of the European Union and partly also the World is the notion that the buying and selling of permits to emit CO₂ is a panacea. On all possible accounts it has, however, proven to be a dead end. So rather than repeatedly remedying the system all attempts to implement such a general solution should be abandoned entirely. This could then pave the way for a more targeted ‘Act Now’ policy aiming at reducing the level of CO₂ emissions to zero as quickly as possible. If you wish to know more about why ‘pricing carbon emissions’ as a general policy is the wrong way to go, the book by Verbruggen is required and indispensable reading.