“Academics needs to roll up their sleeves and get into the kitchen,” says one of the IGE Fellows, Maris Wanyera. IGE researcher Richard Mulwa replies, “but the kitchen door is closed!”
We are sitting in a room with civil servants (IGE Fellows) from ministries in five East African countries and researchers from the region, and we wonder: Can our joint efforts in this IGE capacity-building program be the key to the door? 

A recent report from the International Monetary Fund, IMF, underlines the urgency of ending the subsidies of fossil fuels and implementing carbon taxes globally. This report contains a global, regional and country-specific update. The message is very clear: The world needs a correct price on carbon that accounts for its real costs, but currently the development is heading the wrong way.

Seafood is enormously important, both as a livelihood and as a source of protein, for people all over the globe. It is at great risk due to overfishing, but also provides great opportunities in terms of growing aquaculture, especially in the Global South. Yet, research addressing this challenge is scarce. A special issue of Marine Resource Economics is taking a lead in filling this gap. 

Producing electricity from the sun is a well-mastered technology. This is good news for the climate and an opportunity for people left out of the electrification network. But will it be enough to foster the development of emerging countries?

Now that energy prices are skyrocketing everywhere in Europe, it is comforting to remind us that the cost per kilowatt-hour of electricity produced from photovoltaic cells has never been so low.

Indoor air pollution is a major problem in the developing world and. Most of these emissions are generated while cooking with solid fuels. For this reason, understanding the determinants of LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) stove adoption in rural India is key for designing good policies. This column looks at the impact of electrification on the choice of cooking fuel. According to the energy ladder theory, the increase in socioeconomic status generated by electrification should push households towards the adoption of cleaner cooking fuels.

Probably the most important trend in developing countries’ forest policy over the past several decades has been decentralization—the transfer of management authority from the national level to the states, villages, and local communities. More than a quarter of all developing countries’ forests are now managed by local communities, well over twice the share for protected areas.

It is unusual for a rapporteur to abstain from voting on a resolution that he or she has proposed. This is what Green MEP Yannick Jadot did when the European Parliament voted on the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM). He did so to protest against a last-minute amendment that canceled the removal of the free allowances assigned to some firms in the European Union (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

Cite as: Ohlendorf, N. and Steckel, J. “When is carbon pricing progressive?,” Sustainable Future Policy Lab: Analyses, 2021-001.

Key points:

How far should we go to improve air quality? Market instruments inform us about the costs of de-pollution. This information is useful for improving our public policies with regard to health and environmental damage.