Green Budget Europe, Öbu – Swiss Network for Sustainable Business and ZHAW - Zurich University of Applied Sciences are cordially inviting political decision makers, economists, representatives from EU institutions, administrators, researchers, private sector representatives and non-governmental organisations to assess the challenges and opportunities of carbon markets, carbon pricing and climate policies in the context of the on-going fiscal and economic crisis from 24-25 October 2013 in Winterthur (Switzerland).
The European Union is at a crossroads. The political, economic, environmental and social turmoil of the past few years have given rise to a multifaceted discussion about the huge potential of Market-Based Instruments such as carbon and energy taxation or emissions trading. There is general consensus that climate change is moving from an environmental issue to a challenge of economic transformation. Remedying the EU Member States’ deficient budgetary situation and environmental performance requires the introduction of more new policies, enabling the member states to become pioneers of change and innovation. The challenge is as much intellectual as it is political: key pillars of the political and economic models of the last decades look increasingly exhausted. There is a pressing need for new ideas for society, business and environment.