Key References
Name Change for the Policy & Market Tool
The carbon reward policy and the associated market instrument have undergone name changes and structural changes as the policy was developed. The most contemporary version of the policy is defined by Chen (2025). Between 2021-2024, the policy was also called “Carbon Reward”, but the tool was called “Carbon Currency (XCC)”. The tool is now named “Carbon Reward (XCR)” because it is not a currency. The tool (XCR) should not be confused with the “carbon coin” that appears in the fictional novel by K. S. Robinson (2020) although the carbon coin was actually inspired by the carbon reward policy. Prior to 2021, an older policy was developed, called “Global 4C,” and it used an older version of the tool, called “Complementary Currencies for Climate Change (4C)”. It should be noted that the contemporary policy does not employ a complementary currency or parallel currency, and this is because the carbon reward instrument (XCR) is not a medium of exchange. These name changes were necessary to improve our understanding of the policy and its instrument.
Chen, D.B., van der Beek, J. and Cloud, J., 2017. Climate mitigation policy as a system solution: addressing the risk cost of carbon. Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, 7 (3): 1-42.
Chen, D. B. (2018). Central Banks and Blockchains: The Case for Managing Climate Risk with a Positive Carbon Price. In: Transforming climate finance and green investment with blockchains. Elsevier. A. Marke, Ed., Chapter 15.
Chen D.B., van der Beek J., Cloud J. (2019) Hypothesis for a Risk Cost of Carbon: Revising the Externalities and Ethics of Climate Change. In: Doukas H., Flamos A., Lieu J. (eds) Understanding Risks and Uncertainties in Energy and Climate Policy. Springer, Cham
Chen, D. B. (2018). Utility of the Blockchain for Climate Mitigation. The Journal of British Blockchain Association, 1 (1): 1-9.
Zappalà, G. (2018). Central Banks’ role in Responding to Climate Change: Monetary Policy and Macroprudential Regulation. Thesis. Universita’ degli studi di Padova Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche.
Chen, D.B., Zappalà, G., and van der Beek, J. (2018, unpublished). Carbon Quantitative Easing: Scalable Climate Finance for Managing Systemic Risk. Scaling up Green Finance: The Role of Central Banks. Berlin, Germany, 8 – 9 November, 2018.
NOTE: This paper was submitted but not accepted for presentation. The conference was replaced with a closed meeting, and the public was not invited.
Chen, D. B. (2019, unpublished). Climate Finance. Summary disseminated at the First Annual Global Climate Restoration Forum, United Nations Headquarters, New York. 17 Sept. 2019.
Lutz, S. (2022, unpublished). Comparing the Relative Benefits of Carbon Taxes and Carbon Rewards in Fossil Fuel Exporting Regions. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Peking University, China, January 2022.
ABAC APEC Business Advisory Council & Sustainable Finance Development Network (SFDN), (2022). Effective Carbon Emissions Trading & Markets-Pricing Mechanisms in the Asia-Pacific Region.
