GCET27

Dear colleagues and friends of GCET,

Welcome to GCET27 in Berlin. We are very pleased to host this year’s Global Conference on Environmental Taxation and to bring the GCET community together at the Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

GCET27 is organised by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). From Berlin, we have a unique vantage point on current debates where environmental taxation, public finance, climate policy, and international cooperation increasingly intersect, both in research and in practice.

This year’s conference theme, International Climate Finance, focuses on a core challenge of climate policy: how to mobilise financial resources at scale while designing instruments that are effective, feasible, and fair? Across the programme we will examine how environmental taxes, carbon pricing, subsidy reforms, and related market based approaches can support mitigation and adaptation, enable just transitions, and strengthen international collaboration. We also welcome contributions that engage with the theme through legal, institutional, and sector specific lenses, including hard to abate international sectors.

A core feature of GCET is to connect rigorous, policy-oriented academic work with implementation experience from policy-makers: The parallel sessions enable deep feedback and exchange, and the keynote lectures and panels allow for a broader perspective to connect ideas across disciplines. We also encourage everyone to take advantage of the welcome reception and conference dinner as opportunities to meet new colleagues and strengthen existing collaborations.

Berlin is a fitting host city for our gathering. Shaped by a history marked by division and reunification, the city has long been a place where global challenges are confronted and new paths imagined. As host of the first Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, Berlin also holds a special place in the history of international climate negotiations. Visiting Berlin in September is particularly rewarding: the city returns to its full rhythm after summer, with mild weather, vibrant cultural life, and countless spaces — from historic streets to green parks and neighborhood cafés — that invite reflection and exchange beyond the conference rooms. We hope the city’s past, present, and atmosphere will enrich the conversations we share here.
As in previous years, authors of selected papers will be invited to submit their work for consideration, subject to peer review, for publication in the Critical Issues in Environmental Taxation series.

We are grateful to all speakers, chairs, reviewers, and participants who make GCET possible. We wish you a stimulating conference and a warm, collegial stay in Berlin.

With best regards,

Prof. Dr. Jan Steckel
Prof. Dr. Matthias Kalkuhl
GCET27 Chairs
PIK Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

On behalf of the GCET International Steering Committee
Prof. Mikael Skou Andersen
Prof. Hope Ashiabor
Prof. Janet Milne