Skip to main content
Layout Builder

The abstract submission deadline is June 15, 2020. Decisions about abstract acceptance will be made by July 15, 2020.
 

The conference theme

The main theme of GCET21 is Environmental Taxation in an Age of COVID-19. COVID-19 has shaken the globe in profound ways and will affect current and future environmental policies, as well as many others. What seemed certain or predictable a few months ago may now be called into question. New challenges and opportunities will arise. The conference theme invites participants to consider the short and long-term consequences of COVID-19 for environmental taxation and other market-based policies. Will current policies need to change? What are the implications for future policy choices and design? This topic covers a wide variety of issues relating to the role of market-based policies in the present and future.

Some issues may relate directly to the impact of COVID-19 on environmental goals and policies, such as:

  • Is COVID-19 shifting pollution patterns in a way that will influence the role of market-based instruments—will it change environmental goals?
  • Are changes in producer and consumer behavior temporary or permanent, and will those changes influence the role of current or future environmental tax policy? Which changes are most significant from an environmental policy perspective?
  • Does the economic impact of a devastating pandemic affect the political economy and design of environmental taxes and other market-based instruments, such as carbon pricing which is already sensitive to issues of regressivity?
  • Will land development patterns change in the long term and what are the implications for the landscape resources, energy consumption and related tax policies?
  • Will the fiscal demands of addressing a pandemic encourage the enactment of environmental taxes that can generate new revenue, or will governments prefer tax expenditures and other forms of subsidies?
  • Are governments relaxing legal or fiscal standards that previously may have limited tax expenditures, such as state aid rules? Are they suspending existing environmental taxes?
  • These are just some questions by way of illustration, not limitation.

Some topics may be highly relevant enough though they are not directly related to the pandemic. The impacts of COVID-19 and responsive policies operate within the context of existing policies and environmental protection efforts. Hence, it is important to continue to investigate those policies, whether they have been implemented or are still aspirational. Lessons from the present will contribute to the future. For example,

  • What barriers and opportunities already exist, and how can they be overcome?
  • Are best practices emerging for any particular type of market-based instrument or particular situations?
  • What can we learn from case studies?
  • Are significant developments occurring in theory, in practice, or in both?
  • Which national or subnational experiences provide valuable lessons to other countries?
  • To what extent does research on these issues shed light on policies in the era of COVID-19?
  • And more.

People interested in submitting abstracts are encouraged to think about how their research, analysis and perspectives can add to discussions about how the world pre-COVID-19 intersects with the world in the midst of and after COVID-19. In addition, abstracts may be submitted on environmental taxation and a green transition more generally.

GCET21 Young Researcher Award: One of the key objectives of GCET is the promotion of junior contributions and the fostering of state-of-the art scientific research. Accordingly, any student or researcher younger than 35 can be a candidate for the “GCET21 Young Researcher Award”. Proof of age needs to be submitted (scanned copy of a government identification). Only papers based on accepted abstracts will be considered for the Young Researcher Award.
 

Abstract submission requirements

All abstracts must be submitted in Word format (.doc or .docx files) to Janet Milne at jmilne@vermontlaw.edu with a cc to Christine Saul at csaul@vermontlaw.edu. Please use the subject heading “GCET21-Abstract submission."

Format and style of abstracts:

Please use Times New Roman (TNR), 12 pt., left alignment, single spaced, with a line between paragraphs. The title should be centered in TNR 12 pt., bold, with initial capitals. The name of the author and any co-authors should be placed below the title in TNR of 12 pt., bold and centered. The name of the presenting author must be underlined.

Length:

Abstracts should not exceed 400 words. No figures, tables, footnotes, endnotes or other references should be included in the abstract.

Biographical information about the presenting author:

At the end of the abstract, please include a paragraph of up to 150 words with main biographical details of the presenting author. These bios may be included in the conference's book of abstracts.

Time zone information:

When you submit your abstract, your email should indicate the time zone in which you are located.

Paper Submission:

After an abstract is accepted the submission deadline for draft full papers is September 1, 2020. Full papers should not exceed 6,000 words, including figures, tables, footnotes, endnotes and other references. Authors should strictly adhere to this word limit. More information about the requirements for full papers will be provided when abstracts are accepted.