What They're Saying About EMA - Emissions Market Accelerator

Manish Bapna

President and CEO, National Resources Defense Council

“Air pollution and climate change pose grave threats to our environment and to people’s health. Tackling these twin crises demands that we use every tool at our disposal. Market-based solutions are economically efficient tools that when paired with complementary measures to protect the most vulnerable can drive cleaner air and stronger economies. That’s why I’m encouraged to see the Emissions Market Accelerator help bring and adapt these tools to communities and countries that need them today.”

Carol Browner

U.S. EPA Administrator, 1993–2001

“We’ve known for a long time that pollution profoundly harms public health and the environment. That’s why countries like the United States have worked hard to clean our air and water over the last 50 years using every tool we can, including regulated markets. Today, it’s countries in the Global South who are facing the greatest health and environmental challenges from pollution. I’m thrilled to see this new initiative to bring pollution markets to the people and the places who stand to benefit the most.”

Jim Connaughton

Former Chair, White House Council on Environmental Quality; President and CEO, Nautilus Data Technologies Policy

“Harmful air pollution remains a scourge that sickens, hospitalizes, and prematurely kills people and damages ecosystems around world, placing a costly drag on aspirations for productive and healthy societies. After more than 35 years of success tackling the toughest air pollution challenges, market-based methods for cutting emissions and conserving natural resources have driven the most profitable and lowest cost innovations that enhance public health and deliver thriving economies. The Emissions Market Accelerator is globally essential, long overdue, and worthy of rapid embrace by global leaders seeking to modernize their nations.”

Esther Duflo

2019 Nobel Laureate; Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at MIT; Co-founder and director, J-PAL

“Gujarat’s leadership in testing and scaling emissions markets shows how governments in emerging economies can drive large-scale solutions that benefit people, the economy, and the planet,” says Esther Duflo, Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at MIT and co-founder and director of J-PAL. “J-PAL is proud to have worked alongside the Gujarat government and EPIC for more than a decade to pilot, evaluate, and scale this innovative approach and now through the Emissions Market Accelerator expand it further across India and other countries.”

Indermit Gill

Chief Economist, World Bank Group

“Markets, not governments, are what keep the wheels of innovation turning, and innovation is what is needed to reduce pollution, speed growth, and counter climate change in the Global South. The Emissions Market Accelerator’s work has proven promise, and the Accelerator is a valued partner in our effort to quickly improve life and living standards in the most polluted parts of the world.”

Shreekant Gupta

Professor in Economics University of Delhi

“EPIC’s and JPAL’s Emissions Market Accelerator is truly epic. This pioneering initiative translates concepts into action. It walks the talk by showing emissions markets work even in developing economies. The EMA will be transformative in addressing the critical challenge of air pollution which cuts many lives short, especially in the global South.”

Jeff Holmstead

Former Assistant Administrator, U.S. EPA Office of Air and Radiation; Partner, Bracewell, LLP

“In the U.S., our experience with the Acid Rain Program has shown that well-designed emissions markets can be a highly effective way to reduce pollution at the lowest possible cost. The efficiency of market-based programs makes it possible to cut pollution while sustaining economic growth, and they can be highly scalable. That’s why I see such promise for the Emissions Market Accelerator. For countries experiencing the pollution problems that come with rapid industrialization, the Accelerator can help them solve their pollution problems without giving up the economic benefits of continued industrialization.”

Hina Rabbani Khar

Member of Parliament, Pakistan; Foreign Minister of Pakistan; Commissioner, Climate Overshoot Commission

“In Pakistan, we can’t afford not to take our environmental and climate challenges seriously. It is too often a matter threatening our health, and our lives. At the same time, fostering economic growth is equally imperative for human wellbeing in my country. Markets are a win for both. The EMA’s work is so vital as a policy tool in Pakistan and throughout the Global South.”

Michael Kremer

University Professor in Economics and the College and the Harris School of Public Policy; Director of the Development Innovation Lab; Faculty Director, Development Economics Center at the University of Chicago

“Well-designed Emissions Trading Schemes have enormous potential to reduce air pollution more effectively at lower cost than command and control approaches. The Emissions Market Accelerator team demonstrated this potential through their work in Gujarat, where a particulate matter emissions market reduced pollution from industrial plants by a third, and increased compliance with air quality standards from 66% to 99%, while reducing the costs of pollution reduction by 11%. This impact shows the power not just of emission-treating schemes in general, but of carefully thinking through structure and design of these systems to address specific market conditions. I am encouraged to see that the Accelerator will engage closely with governments and policymakers around the world to understand how to design, test, and ultimately scale up emissions markets.”

Sanjeev Kumar

Principal Secretary, Department of Forest and Environment in Gujarat

“Traditional rules have forced regulators to choose between safeguarding the environment and fostering industrial productivity. Emissions markets change that equation by offering a simple, self-sustaining system that achieves both, while incentivizing industries to innovate in pollution control.”

Steve Levitt

University of Chicago William B. Ogden Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus

“This is evidence-based policymaking at its finest. Pilot programs like the one in Gujarat that the Emissions Market Accelerator is scaling up are the rarest thing in academics: truly innovative public-private collaborations with a big idea that is world changing. Simply put, this is some of the most impressive and impactful research that I’ve ever seen.”

Gina McCarthy

Policy White House National Climate Advisor; Former U.S. EPA Administrator

“Today, 49 of the 50 countries struggling the most with air pollution are in the Global South. I’m thrilled to see this new initiative to work collaboratively with low- and middle-income countries to help them establish markets to incentivize industries to cut pollution, grow stronger economies, and save lives.”

Ernie Moniz

Former U.S. Secretary of Energy; Founder and CEO, EFI Foundation

“Markets play an important role in fostering innovation, transparency and certainty—all sorely needed to confront our energy and climate challenge throughout the world, not least in the Global South. The Emissions Market Accelerator is taking a proven approach and successfully turning it into reality.”

John Podesta

Former Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy, The White House; Founder, Center for American Progress Policy

“Low- and middle-income countries are contending with the effects of climate change while continuing to drive strong sustainable growth to improve living standards for their citizens. The Emissions Market Accelerator team has demonstrated pollution markets can work in the Global South, unlocking new potential for pollution reduction and economic growth to go hand-in-hand.”

Carl Pope

Senior Advisor for the UN Envoy for Cities and Climate Michael Bloomberg NGO Former CEO and Chairman, Sierra Club

“Market dynamics can drive countries toward confronting their environmental and climate needs or push them farther away. I’m encouraged to see the Emissions Market Accelerator is stepping in to help governments set up targeted markets that allow countries to achieve their environmental, climate and economic goals all at once. This type of innovations is sorely needed around the world, and especially in low- and middle-income countries that are often facing unacceptable levels of deadly air pollution that shortens people’s lives.”