COP 26: The Return of Command and Control

Background
 
Since the Thatcher/Reagan reforms of the 1970s and 1980s and the collapse of the Soviet Union there has been an orthodox belief in favour of allowing pricing signals to guide markets. Prices serve a ‘discovery’ purpose, steering markets to produce what people want and providing incentives for innovation and change. This orthodoxy is once again under challenge. The goal of decarbonising the global economy and to achieve  net zero carbon emissions by 2050 or 2060 is leading to a return of ‘command and control’ measures to guide economic choices. The direction is clear from the ​'Roadmap' set out by the International Energy Agency in a report in May, 2021. We are likely to hear much more about command and control in November on the occasion of COP 26, the UN follow-up meeting to the 2016 Paris Agreement and the 1992 UN Framework Convention. This blog looks at the return of command and control. ​

Read More