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Yale, Microsoft, H&M, Mahindra, Smith College, and University College London share lessons from their experience putting prices on their own carbon emissions. Casey Pickett, host of Pricing Nature and Director of the Yale Carbon Charge, shares experiences from the last six years and makes a big announcement about the future of carbon pricing at Yale. And we hear advice about internal carbon pricing from Joanna Marshall-Cook (Head of Sustainability Programmes, University College London), Kim Hellstrom (Strategy Lead, Sustainability, H&M Group), Elizabeth Willmott (Carbon Program Director, Microsoft), Anirban Ghosh (Chief Sustainability Officer, Mahindra Group), and Alex Barron (Assistant Professor, Environmental Science and Policy, Smith College & Co-author, "Internal Carbon Pricing in Higher Education Toolkit").
Notable quotes:
On the challenges of revenue neutral internal carbon prices:
Casey Pickett: “With the revenue neutral system, some buildings are in the red and some are in the green. Some are paying into the system and some are getting paid by the system. For some people, showing up as red seems to read as though you’re not pulling your weight, which is a pretty hard feeling at a collegial place like Yale. If the administration asks your planning unit to grow, and that growth results in a higher carbon charge, putting you in the “red,” it can feel like your building is being labeled “bad” for something you were asked to do.”
On funding the decarbonization efforts of your suppliers:
Kim Hellstrom: “…We don't have full trust… [Suppliers] don't really understand why we would give money for their investments, but that's actually what we're trying to do because that's the only way we can achieve this swift reduction as we have promised in our overarching climate goal.”
On the importance of fairness in an internal carbon pricing system:
Joanna Marshall-Cook: “…If people perceive a system like this as being unfair, then they're much less likely to buy into it and they're much less likely to make savings…Really good institutional buy-in is absolutely essential… Because we had so many good supporters internally for the scheme, we were eventually oversubscribed for the pilot, there were more departments that wanted to take part than we could actually support.”
Further reading on today’s episode:
“Yale transitions carbon charge to fund zero emissions”
How-To Guide to Corporate Internal Carbon Pricing from CDP, Ecofys, Generation Foundation
Internal Carbon Pricing in Higher Education Toolkit, Second Nature
“Smith to Break Ground on Project That Will Enable College to Achieve Carbon Neutrality by 2030”
Microsoft’s Carbon Removal Program
“Putting a Price on Carbon Will Be a Game Changer for Us,” H&M
Mahindra & Mahindra Strengthens its Commitment to Achieve Carbon Neutrality
University College London’s “Carbon Accountability Scheme”
Review of internal carbon pricing and the development of a decision process for the identification of promising Internal Pricing Methods for an Organisation, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
Photo by Dan Renzetti, via carbon.yale.edu