PODCAST – Replicating LIFE DICET 3/3 – Support ITMOs development under the Paris Agreement

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A post by the LIFE DICET Project team

In this blog post, Suzi Kerr, Chief Economist of the Environmental Defense Fund and an active member of the LIFE DICET’s Core Expert Group, discusses LIFE DICET’s replicability. She leads the project Climate Teams, which aims to establish a new mechanism for international climate cooperation. The podcast focuses on the evolution of the Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMO) under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and how LIFE DICET’s method could support North-South and South-South policy dialogue and market connection between interested countries.

The LIFE DICET project has offered a governance platform where to identify and discuss policy topics needed to align international Emission Trading Systems (ETS). Its method includes seven backbone components that can be replicated partly or totally and include 1. identifying a diversity of stakeholders to discuss the barriers and opportunities to solve a given problem (e.g., ETS alignment), 2. defining key research topics that influence the implementation (e.g., ETS alignment needs to deal with carbon leakage and free allocation). These topics (Assessments) are then 3. analysed in reports developed after Technical Workshops, 4. discussed and enriched in Policy Dialogues to 5. produce final reports with recommendations (e.g., how to solve carbon leakage under ETS alignment). These outputs are then promoted through 6. Capacity building and 7. Dissemination activities.

The LIFE DICET project foresees three replicability options:

  1. Replicability within the EU ETS to extend the sectoral scope of carbon pricing,
  2. Replicability towards linking ETS in other geographical areas,
  3. Replicability in other policy areas to support international cooperation on climate policies.

Climate Teams’ goals include supporting North-South or South-South linking to transfer mitigation action under the Paris Agreement and is a good example of replicability in other policy areas. Under ITMOS, action is expected at the national level, with the development and implementation of policies and measures rather than working on the subnational level, relying on fragmented projects. The linking of countries that can mutually support each other’s mitigation needs requires a discussion platform to disseminate decarbonization experiences and to build capacity for low-carbon development in the global South. LIFE DICET’s core expert group and associated policy dialogue platform can benefit the Climate Team’s goal to promote ITMO development. Suzi here presents several ideas on LIFE DICET’s replicability.

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The views and opinions expressed in this post are solely those of the author(s) and do not reflect those of the editors of the blog of the project LIFE DICET.