Jeff Swartz​

Based in Brussels, Jeff manages and directs all aspects of internationalclimate policy for the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA).

Jeff facilitates and represents IETA and its +140 members on all aspects ofinternational climate change negotiations with a special emphasis onmarket mechanisms and their role in the 2015 UNFCCC climate changeagreement.

Jeff also leads IETA’s Business Partnership for MarketReadiness (B-PMR), which is helping to shape the next generation ofcarbon markets.

Jeff works onstrengthening the links between the EUemissions trading scheme (EU ETS) and emerging emissions markets inAsia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. Jeff also represents IETAand its members with various governments interested in pricing carbon,EU institutions following global climate change issues, internationalfinancial institutions, and other climate change stakeholder organizations.

Prior to joining IETA in 2011, Jeff spent +4 years in Beijing working on the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) for the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) and Evolution Markets.

He has hadexperiences working for the U.S. State Department in Guangzhou, and also at the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments where he worked on the design of local implementations of California’s AB 32 scoping plan. Fluent in Mandarin and French, Jeff holds an M.A. in International Environmental Policy from Middlebury—the Monterey Institute of International Studies, as well as a B.A. in Chinese and a B.A. in International Relations–both from the University of the Pacific.

 

Speaker Abstract

Pricing Carbon in the Paris 2015 Climate Agreement:

Nearly 40 countries and more than 20 subnational cities, states and provinces already price carbon or plan to do so. Many of these governments are utilising a carbon market to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and will seek to use this carbon market as part of their ‘contribution’ to the Paris 2015 Climate Agreement. The Paris Agreement must enable high-quality, reliable carbon markets to be available to promote emission reduction contributions that are cost-effective and ambitious. Established research also shows that linkage of emissions trading and carbon-pricing policies will reduce long-term abatement costs and help build support for an international climate agreement. This presentation will explore the carbon markets in place or under development whilst also identifying ways that such markets could be linked and synergized through the Paris 2015 Climate Agreement.