Episode 15: Designing Emissions Trading for Net-Zero and Net-Negative Societies, with Stephanie La Hoz Theuer

In this episode of ICAP's Carbon Market Conversations, host Trevor Laroche-Theune is joined by Stephanie La Hoz Theuer, Senior Carbon Market Expert at ICAP, to discuss how emissions trading systems can be designed for net-zero and net-negative societies. Drawing on the ICAP paper ETS Reloaded? Designing Emissions Trading for Net-Zero and Net-Negative Societies, the conversation explores the interaction of carbon dioxide removals and ETSs and how net-positive, net-zero, absolute-zero and net-negative systems compare. Stephanie also discusses key design questions including in relation to residual emissions, the role of ETSs in the wider policy mix, and how to bridge the gap between net-zero and net-negative policy targets in the second half of the century.

A more detailed breakdown of where to listen to the individual aspects of the conversation is provided below.Access the ETS Reloaded? Designing Emissions Trading for Net-Zero and Net-Negative Societies paper here: https://icapcarbonaction.com/en/publications/ets-reloaded-designing-emissions-trading-net-zero-and-net-negative-societies 

Breakdown of topics covered:

0:55 – Introduction to today’s topic and our guest

3:30 – The importance of the intersection of carbon dioxide removals and ETSs

5:00 – How to compare across net-positive, net-zero, net-negative, and absolute-zero ETSs

7:00 – Net-positive ETS spotlight

9:45 – Net-zero ETS spotlight

12:20 – Absolute-zero ETS spotlight

13:05 – Net-negative ETS spotlight

14:00 – When to consider phasing out an ETS

15:00 – Residual emissions and hard-to-abate emissions

16:55 – Managing small markets

18:00 – The choice of the types of units used in an ETS and how they flow into the market

19:40 – How ETSs fit into the broader policy mix in pursuit of net-zero and net-negative targets, including dedicated carbon dioxide removal policy

21:10 – What happens in the second half of the century, and how we bridge the gap between policies for net-zero and those for net-negative

22:30 – Addressing political acceptability of carbon pricing

24:20 – Closing remarks