Global Carbon Reward | From climate gridlock to a regenerative financial system

The Global Carbon Reward is a system-changing policy for funding climate mitigation together with healthy ecosystems, vibrant communities, and reliable clean energy.

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Outreach 2023

❝ I believe we need a new theory on carbon pricing to resolve the climate crisis. ❞

— Dr. Delton Chen (Founder)

USA, UK & UAE 2023

Speaker Booking

Policy Working Paper

Policy Review

Introduction

Unsustainable Growth

The global economy, as it functions today, must grow to remain stable. Today, this growth is resulting in dangerous global heating and ecosystem breakdown. How can we resolve this conundrum?

Optimal Growth

A potential resolution to the dirty growth conundrum is a new policy toolkit that can support what we call optimal growth. Optimal growth is a growth pattern for the world economy that balances (1) global energy efficiency with (2) global carbon safety.

● Greater energy efficiency occurs when better/more goods and services can be produced with the same/fewer energy inputs.

● Carbon safety occurs when the carbon cycle is managed for stabilising the climate, and for supporting the regeneration of ecosystems and communities.

A new biophysical interpretation of civilisation — as a complex system — is espoused on this website. A key feature of this interpretation is that the world economy enables civilisation to evolve towards higher global energy efficiency. A second key feature of this interpretation is that civilisation currently lacks the economic structure for improving global carbon safety. Without a new economic structure that is optimised for carbon safety, it appears likely that civilisation will drive a planetary-level extinction event.

‘Carrot and Stick’ Carbon Pricing

We make the claim that optimal growth can be achieved by combining ‘carrot and stick’ carbon pricing. Most people are familiar with sticks. These include carbon taxes and cap-and-trade.

The main focus of this website is a new monetary tool, called a carbon reward. The carbon reward will be a global ‘carrot’ for incentivising and funding climate mitigation and co-benefits.

The purpose of the carbon reward is to improve carbon safety using three key strategies:

● fund sufficient greenhouse gas removal, and on a global scale

● fund sufficient conventional climate mitigation, including strategic energy infrastructure

● fund regeneration of natural, social and built capital.

The economic policy for the carbon reward has four key features:

● a global price for mitigated carbon

● no direct costs

● no carbon offsetting and no carbon trading in the policy

● stakeholder representation.

The website provides a detailed introduction to the Global Carbon Reward policy, the new theory on carbon pricing, and a biophysical analysis for understanding the energy and carbon dynamics of the global economy.

Updated 8 August 2022

Interview

WSJ: Could a Carbon Coin Save the Planet?

Could a ‘Carbon Coin’ Save the Planet?

Scott Patterson at the WSJ takes a look at why a carbon currency (aka “carbon coin”) could transform the economy. He talks with Australian civil engineer Delton Chen, to review the carbon currency that is portrayed in Kim Stanley Robinson’s climate-catastrophe novel.

WSJ

Feature Podcast

KIM STANLEY ROBINSON

KATE RAWORTH

DELTON CHEN

Will fighting climate change require restructuring the global economy? Is a “carbon currency” the most intuitive or efficient solution to the climate crisis? Casey Pickett chats with Kim Stanley Robinson, Kate Raworth (Doughnut Economics), and Delton Chen.

Science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson writes about “the Chen paper” in his latest novel: The Ministry for the Future.

The Ministry for the Future By Kim Stanley Robinson Cover Book

Getting Started

Demonstration

We aim to showcase the utility of the Global Carbon Reward by establishing a live demonstration of the financial mechanism and associated administration. The financial mechanism is fully scalable, debt-free, and provides precisely targeted finance. The administrative tasks include the evaluation of carbon rewards and reward weightings, as introduced below. Such a demonstration will require public-private partnerships between a government and a number of low-carbon projects. During the demonstration, the proposed carbon currency and the associated financial mechanism will be simulated in a proof-of-concept. This proof-of-concept might involve a “carbon coin”. The role of central banks in supporting the exchange rate of the carbon coin will be simulated using a managed fund.

In a real-world application of the Global Carbon Reward policy, the trading of the carbon currency will not involve any carbon offsetting and this is because the carbon currency does not convey the ownership of mitigated carbon. The carbon currency only acts as a store of value. Information on the pricing theory and the system of governance can be found via the links in the main menu.

Updated 5 January 2022

Carbon Rewards

Each low-carbon project in the live demonstration will be issued rewards according to the mass of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) that they mitigate over time (see Introduction & Carbon Rewards). This will involve the application of reward rules that address each mitigation type and technology. Three types of climate action will be eligible to earn the reward payments (see links below).

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Cleaner Energy

A reward for reducing the carbon intensity of energy supplies.

Webinar #2

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Cleaner Business

A reward for reducing the carbon intensity of business cashflow.

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Carbon Removal

A reward for removing carbon from the ambient atmosphere.

Reward Weightings

Reward weightings will be used to adjust the rewards higher/lower based on the good/bad impacts on energy reliability, community wellbeing, and ecosystem health (see Reward Weightings). This will involve establishing a statistical consensus based on stakeholder surveys. The three kinds of reward weightings will be assessed for the benefit of people and planet (see links below).

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