Presentation: Cap-and-trade policies and regional environmental innovation

Dr. Sebastian Losacker gave a presentation at the University of Manchester on “Cap-and-trade policies and regional environmental innovation: Evidence from the EU Emissions Trading System.”

He presented recent research findings from a joint article with Tim Becker and Sandro Montresor, published in the Journal of Economic Geography.

The paper shows that more stringent regional emissions trading systems (EU ETS) are associated with increased environmental patenting. It also identifies spatial spillover effects, particularly between neighboring regions and through trade relationships.

Overall, the findings highlight that cap-and-trade policies can act not only as instruments for reducing emissions, but also as drivers of environmental innovation, with effects that are unevenly distributed across regions.