At COP30 in Brazil (November 2025), growing global attention focused on how better-designed carbon markets can accelerate climate action.

This builds on the work of Robin Burgess (LSE), who - together with Rohini Pande, Maryam Farboodi, Agnes Norris Keiller, and Lucy Page-developed a proposal for a unified, opt-in global carbon market, formally published in early November 2025 ahead of the summit. 

A key outcome of COP30 was the launch of a new voluntary coalition on compliance carbon markets, aimed at aligning national systems and improving transparency and coordination.  The initiative reflects many of the principles set out in Burgess’s research, highlighting the increasing role of economics-led policy design in global climate governance. 

While COP30 also advanced adaptation finance and implementation frameworks, it fell short of securing binding commitments on fossil fuels-underlining the importance of scalable policy tools such as carbon markets in driving progress. 

View the Draft Proposal for a Unified Carbon Market on the Yale Economic Growth Center website.