Trading places: Emissions lessons from Europe

MONDAY 17 MARCH 2008

In the lead up to the release of the Garnaut Review an international expert on greenhouse gas emissions trading will give a public lecture at The Australian National University tonight examining the lessons Australia could learn from the European experience.

The talk will be given by Dr Felix Matthes of the Oeko-Institut, Germany. Dr Matthes has been closely involved with the development of the European Union’s (EU) national allocation plans and the review of the EU emissions trading scheme for the post-2012 period. He has been a senior lecturer at the Oeko-Institut (Institute for Applied Ecology) since 1990 and is a visiting scientist at MIT and the Free Universit of Berlin.

His visit comes at a crucial time in the emissions trading discussion in Australia, with the Garnaut Review being undertaken by ANU Professor Ross Garnaut releasing a discussion paper on the issue on Thursday 20 March.

Dr Matthes will talk about how the experience with EU emissions trading – the largest such scheme in the world – has demonstrated that good design is crucial to economic and environmental success.

ANU Research Fellow Frank Jotzo said that Dr Matthes’ visit couldn’t have come at a more interesting time.

“Crucial decisions are about to be taken on Australia’s future emissions trading system,” said Dr Jotzo.

“There’s a lot at stake for Australian industry and households in designing a scheme that delivers for both the environment and the economy. We can learn from some of the mistakes made earlier in Europe.”

This lecture is being hosted under the ANU Environmental Economics Research Hub with financial support by the Economic Design Network. Dr Matthes will be available for interviews with the media from 6pm – 7pm today.

For more information or to arrange interviews contact:
Martyn Pearce, ANU Media Office – (02) 6125 5575 / 0416 249 245

WHAT: Emissions Trading for Australia: Lessons from Europe public lecture

WHEN: Monday 17 March, 7pm – 8.15pm

WHERE: Sparke Helmore Lecture Theatre 2, Law Building, Fellows Road, ANU