Creating a climate for change in Mexico?
By: Fsi Student Programs
Tags: India, Mexico, Research, Fsi Students, Climate Change

About the authors: Arjuna Dibley and Rolando Garcia Miron are JSD Candidates at Stanford Law School and recipients of an FSI Research Grant and an FSI Conference Grant, which they used in support of their field work in Mexico City. They recently presented their research at the First International Research Conference on Carbon Pricing in New Delhi, India. Learn more about FSI fellowships and funding opportunities on our website.

In 2018, we wrote a paper that looks at the political economy of carbon pricing policy adoption in Mexico. We were interested in understanding how the government of this middle-income country had been able to introduce a set of policies which had eluded many other governments around the world. After a competitive selection process, our paper was accepted for presentation at a research conference held by the World Bank, called the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition Research Conference (CPLC).

The CPLC was hosted in Delhi, India on February 14–15, 2019. This conference was held immediately after the World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS), an annual event hosted by a well-known Indian energy and climate research center, TERI. The WSDS and CPLC were attended by leading experts on climate and energy policy and sustainable development. Speakers from academia and the world of practice joined the conference from all over the world, including Lord Nicholas Stern (LSE), Professor Jeffrey Sachs (Columbia), John Roome (head of the World Bank’s climate change group), and Laurence Tubiana (the lead French negotiator for the Paris Agreement and now head of the European Climate Foundation), as well as leading Indian scholars and practitioners, such as Ajay Mathur (director general of TERI).

The conference at which we presented, the CPLC, was designed as a research conference that would serve two purposes. Firstly, it was an opportunity for researchers to share their work and receive feedback from engaged experts and generalists working on carbon pricing policy from all over the world. The second purpose of the conference was to connect researchers and policymakers, helping bridge the gap between theory and practice. The conference participants included senior and junior academics, NGO activists, business people, and policymakers from international organizations and country governments.

The topic of our panel was “Carbon Pricing Design — International and Conceptual Perspectives” and it offered us a great opportunity to discuss our findings about the Mexican experience implementing carbon pricing policies. The other presenters in our panel were renowned academics from leading universities throughout the world. After the presentations there was ample opportunity to receive comments and questions from the audience, which led to a very interesting conversation among everyone that was in the room. We were especially pleased that a senior Mexican policymaker attended our presentation and expressed interest in our research.

In addition to having the opportunity to present our research, during the conference we were able to meet other scholars and policymakers from around the world working on climate policy. This conference was a great opportunity to expand our professional networks and make connections with scholars and practitioners working in agencies of the United Nations, multilateral development banks, national governments, and leading universities and research centers.

Delhi is a vibrant city, full of historical sites, beautiful parks, and amazing food. On the sidelines of the conference, we had a chance to get out and explore some parts of Delhi. We were thrilled to be able to combine our interests in climate policy and our love of Indian food in a single trip.

Related Links

World Bank Website: Investing in Our Knowledge Base: The World’s First International Research Conference on Carbon Pricing

Video: Investing in our Knowledge Base: The CPLC Research Conference