Resource Productivity, Environmental Tax Reform and Sustainable Growth in Europe

Conference

The objectives of the conference are:

• To present and discuss the results of the PETRE project in a way that is simultaneously of interest to academics, policy makers and representatives of interested organisations (such as businesses, environmental NGOs, policy think tanks etc.)
• Thereby to stimulate wider awareness of environmental tax reform (ETR) as a key policy approach for stimulating resources efficiency, reducing carbon emissions and improving economic competitiveness. 

The main questions which the conference will address, and which the PETRE research has sought to answer, are:

1. What is the experience of ETR in Europe?
2. What opportunities are presented by ETR in Europe?
3. What might a large-scale ETR in Europe look like and what would be its implications for the rest of the world?
4. What are the obstacles to ETR in Europe?
5. What might be a way forward for ETR in Europe? 

Date: 15-16 July 2009

Place: King’s College, London

For more information please contact

Professor Paul Ekins
PETRE
Department of Geography
King's College London
The Strand
London
WC2R 2LS

Email: paul.ekins@kcl.ac.uk

Explaining Productivity and Growth in Europe, America and Asia

Conference

This conference will analyse whether sustainable growth can be enhanced by better management of firms. The focus of the analysis is productivity growth and its consequences for energy use and the wellbeing of employees. This research programme asks two core questions:

• What accounts for Europe’s slower productivity growth compared to the US – and what can be done to improve it?

• Are policies to foster economic growth in conflict with environmental targets?

Date: 30 June 2009
Place: Brussels

For a draft conference programme please click here

Environmental Tax Reform at a Time of Financial Crisis

Lecture and Panel Discussion

In cooperation with the British Embassy, Berlin

SPEAKER: Professor Paul Ekins
PANEL: Professor Ottmar Edenhofer, Secretary of State Matthias Machnig and Dr. Fritz Vahrenholt (all to be confirmed)
CHAIR: Professor Claudia Kemfert

Detailed programme available in May.

Date: 4 Juni 2009
Place: British Embassy, Berlin

The Economics and Politics of Employment,
Migration and Social Justice Conference

Academic Workshop

Inequality and social justice are key issues in the policy debate in many countries.
 
The AGF research programme "The Economics and Politics of Employment, Migration and Social Justice Conference" has explored the evolution of economic inequalities and their driving forces along the following fundamental question: Is there necessarily a trade-off between efficiency and social justice in a world in which barriers to trade and capital movements are low? Or is it possible to imagine policies which allow high efficiency and social justice in a sustainable model? 
 
The workshop presents the latest theoretical and empirical research conducted in the context of this AGF research programme.
  

For more infomration please contact Aderonke Osikominu at a.osikominu@ucl.ac.uk

For the full programme please click here

Date: 22-23 May 2009  (TBC)

Sustainable Welfare and Sustainable Growth
Towards a new social settlement in Germany and the UK?

Conference

The academic conference will present and discuss the outcomes of following research projects dedicated to identify shifts in the role of public and private (occupational) welfare provision in a European context:

• Research into the fields of family policy, pension policy and dynamic conceptions of social justice.
• Investigation into how the German and British welfare states are adapting to common as well as country-specific societal, demographic and labour market challenges.
• Identification of shifts in the role of public and private (occupational) welfare provision and to assess the sustainability of new welfare mixes in a European context.
Contribution to public policy by providing an encompassing and nuanced assessment of cross-national similarities and differences.
• Improved understanding of options, and limitations, for policy learning.

For a detailed conference programme please click here

Date: 3-4 April 2009

Place: in Edinburgh

For more information please contact

Jochen Clasen and Jannis Johann
(Programme Coordination)
University of Edinburgh
School of Social and Political Studies
Chrystal Macmillan Building
15a George Square
Edinburgh EH8 9LD

Email: J.Johann@sms.ed.ac.uk

Investing in Children – Deutschland und England im Vergleich

Conference

SPEAKER: Prof. Dr. Sigrid Leitner, Fachhochschule Köln

The conference presented the results from a sub-project of the "Sustainable welfare and sustainable growth - Towards a new social settlement in Germany and the United Kingdom?" programme in the Foundation's csge initiative. It focused on working parents and provided a forum for discussing policy recommendations in the light of the research findings. A comparison of social and family policies in England and Germany, with innovative practical examples, was used as the basis for suggesting strategies and pespectives for future action.

Date: 26-27 March 2009
Place: Fachhochschule Köln

Carbon taxes: Good for the Planet, not bad for the Economy

Berlin Lunchtime Meeting

SPEAKER: Dr. Ralf Martin (Photo), London School of Economics

COMMENT: PD Dr. Siegfried Gelbhaar, Universität Trier

CHAIR: Prof. Dr. Claudia Kemfert, DIW Berlin

In a recent study researchers from the London School of Economics (LSE) show that carbon taxes can reduce pollution without harming the economy.

In 2001 the U.K. government introduced a tax on various energy fuels for industry - the Climate Change Levy (CCL). A research team from the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) at the LSE, led by Ralf Martin, has conducted an in depth evaluation of the effect of this policy on individual firms using a representative sample of the UK economy which includes detailed data on more than 10.000 enterprises.

They found that the Climate Change Levy – which on average corresponds to a £20 carbon tax per ton – has had a strong impact on power usage by companies and reduced electricity consumption for the average manufacturing firm by 10 to 20 percent. The economists also examined whether the levy had had any adverse impacts on economic performance of companies in areas such as employment or productivity. They did not find any evidence for this.

Ralf Martin – who is part of the AGF funded 'sustainable growth in europe' research team – summarises the outcome of the research as "good for the planet and not bad for the economy". He goes even further, suggesting that an increase in carbon taxes and a simultaneous reduction of taxes on wages and employment could be the ideal policy measure in the current crisis, as it would secure existing jobs without leading to more government borrowing.

Registration is required. Please send an email to: events@diw.de.
We look forward to your participation.

Date: 25 February 2009, 12.00-2.00 pm

Venue: Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW)
Main Conference Room, 2nd floor, Mohrenstr. 58, 10117 Berlin

Map: http://www.diw.de/deutsch/kontakt/anreise/29024.html

Registration is required. Please send an email to: events@diw.de