Carbon markets are not the only policy to encourage the development of clean energy and should not be solely relied on.
That’s the warning from Dolf Gielen of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), who says a variety of policy instruments must be used to support wind, solar and hydro projects around the world.
“If you look at the countries that have shown rapid uptake in recent years it’s not necessarily the countries with a carbon price in place,” said Gielen, director of IRENA’s Innovation and Technology Center in Bonn.
“I think it’s important not to base a policy only on the carbon price, you have seen what has happened in Europe and that is not a good advert for banking on carbon trading alone.”
Gielen pointed to US tax incentives and Brazil’s auction process as good examples of thriving renewable energy sectors operating without blanket carbon pricing. The EU carbon market is currently stagnant with domestic policies propping up interest in the sector.
RTCC Video: Dolf Gielen, IRENA, on successful renewable policies minus the carbon trading
Dolf Gielen Bonn 2013 from Responding to Climate Change on Vimeo.