Person:
Peszko, Grzegorz
Author Name Variants
Fields of Specialization
Climate economics,
Environmental policy,
Energy policy,
Natural resource economics
Degrees
Departments
Environment and Natural Resources Global Practice, The World Bank
Externally Hosted Work
Contact Information
Last updated
January 31, 2023
Biography
Grzegorz focuses his research, policy and project work on integration of economic, fiscal, energy, environmental and climate economics and policy. He has over 25 years of experience in regulatory, energy, environmental and natural resources economics as well as in financial and fiscal instruments across the world’s regions and countries. Currently he is a Lead Economist in the Environment and Natural Resource Global Practice of the World Bank, and previously worked in the EBRD, the OECD, the Krakow University of Economics, the Polish Ministry of Environment, the Harvard Institute for International Development, consulting firms, Polish Radio and TV and as a tram driver. He was the Lead Author of the IPCC 3rd Assessment Report and participated in the design of flexible mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol. He published extensively and served in the board of an academic journal. He has PhD in economics from the Krakow University of Economics, MSc in natural resource economics from the University College London and MSc in Political Sciences from the Krakow Jagiellonian University.
Publication Search Results
1 - 7 of 7
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Publication
Minimizing Environmental Impacts of Industrial Growth : Case Study of Petrochemical Industry in Kazakhstan
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2006-02-03)Revival and development of the petrochemical industry in Kazakhstan is possible without serious damage to the environment, so long as measures by investors in plant revival include best available techniques (BATs) that avoid and minimize impact on the environment as a whole.This study was initiated to develop methodologies to analyze and mitigate key environmental and natural resource aspects of industrial growth and to propose ways to integrate these methodologies into policy tools. The emerging petrochemical industry was selected to demonstrate how methodology can be applied. The report is structured as two interrelated tools: Technical guidelines (chapters two and three) focus on (i) an analysis of availability of environmental resources in different oblasts; and (ii) references to internationally BATs in the production of polymers. These techniques avoid and minimize impact on the environment as a whole. Policy guidelines (chapters four and five) focus on policy instruments which would encourage plant developers to apply the best available techniques when developing potentially hazardous industrial production in Kazakhstan. -
Publication
Environmental Fiscal Reform in Morocco: Options and Pathways
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-04-25)In response to the request from the Ministry of Environment and in close collaboration of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the World Bank Group, with support from the Partnership for Market Readiness (PMR) and the NDC Support Facility, provided technical support to Morocco aimed at exploring the opportunities offered by environmental fiscal reform (EFR), such as that incorporating carbon pricing, to strengthen green growth. As part of this support, the WBG has assessed carbon pricing options that could be appropriate for Morocco and simulated their selected economic impacts with macroeconomic model in collaboration with the Research and Forecast Department of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MoEF) of Morocco. This report outlines the key considerations for policy-makers in Morocco and presents a preliminary finding from modelling conducted by the MoEF in collaboration with the WBG, as well as identifies the needs for the secondary analysis. As part of its national development strategy, Morocco is implementing and planning further reforms of its fiscal systems, energy sector, industrial structure, as well as an ambitious climate change action as per the objectives of the Nationally Determined Contribution. This note explores whether and how these reforms might be supported by aligning fiscal incentives with sectoral policy objectives to accelerate the rate of future growth while reducing its carbon emission intensity. Environmental fiscal reforms (EFRs) are a collection of changes to tax, expenditure, and other policies which collectively seek to raise national development and welfare. This report explores potential options for implementing an environmental fiscal reform (EFR) as part of Morocco’s broader economic strategy and tests the impacts of these options with the Morocco’s CGE model. It is structured as follows. The second section discusses Morocco’s national development challenges and the strategic policy goals, where EFR can play a role. The third section provides an overview of options for EFR in Morocco, as identified by the World Bank Group team and national experts, including (i) modifications of fuel tax structure (TICs) to better reflect social costs of fuel use, (ii) butane subsidy reform, or (iii) more direct environmental pricing through taxes or emissions trading. The fourth section introduces the CGE model for Morocco, used by the DEPF, and simulates impacts of several potential EFR design options identified in the previous section. It also discusses the limitations of the existing CGE model to reflect the impacts of the EFR, and in this context analyzes the results of scenario analysis conducted with the CGE model. The fifth and final section concludes. -
Publication
State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2015
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2015-09-20)The report is a one stop shop for learning about key developments and prospects of existing and emerging carbon initiatives. A challenging international carbon market has not stopped the development of domestic carbon pricing initiatives. Today, about 40 national and over 20 sub-national jurisdictions responsible for almost one fourth of global greenhouse gas emissions are putting a price on carbon. Together, these initiatives cover the equivalent of almost 6 gigatons of carbon dioxide, or about 12% of global emissions. -
Publication
Carbon Pricing Watch 2015
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-05-26)Significant progress in carbon pricing has been made over the last ten years. In 2015, about 40 national and over 20 subnational jurisdictions, representing almost a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), are putting a price on carbon. Together, the carbon pricing instruments in these jurisdictions cover about half of their emissions, which translates into approximately 7 GtCO2e or about 12 percent of annual global GHG emissions. This figure represents a threefold increase over the past decade. The total value of the emissions trading schemes (ETSs) reported in the State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2014 report was about US$30 billion (US$32 billion to be precise). Despite the repeal of Australia’s Carbon Pricing Mechanism in July 2014, and mainly due to the launch of the Korean ETS and the expansion of GHG emissions coverage in the California and Quebec ETSs, the value of global ETSs as of April 1, 2015 increased slightly to about US$34 billion. In addition, carbon taxes around the world, valued for the first time in this report, are about US$14 billion. Combined, the value of the carbon pricing mechanism globally in 2015 is estimated to be just under US$50 billion. -
Publication
Diversification and Cooperation in a Decarbonizing World: Climate Strategies for Fossil Fuel-Dependent Countries
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2020-07-02)This book is the first stocktaking of what the decarbonization of the world economy means for fossil fuel–dependent countries. These countries are the most exposed to the impacts of global climate policies and, at the same time, are often unprepared to manage them. They depend on the export of oil, gas, or coal; the use of carbon-intensive infrastructure (for example, refineries, petrochemicals, and coal power plants); or both. Fossil fuel–dependent countries face financial, fiscal, and macro-structural risks from the transition of the global economy away from carbon-intensive fuels and the value chains based on them. This book focuses on managing these transition risks and harnessing related opportunities. Diversification and Cooperation in a Decarbonizing World identifies multiple strategies that fossil fuel–dependent countries can pursue to navigate the turbulent waters of a low-carbon transition. The policy and investment choices to be made in the next decade will determine these countries’ degree of exposure and overall resilience. Abandoning their comfort zones and developing completely new skills and capabilities in a time frame consistent with the Paris Agreement on climate change is a daunting challenge and requires long-term revenue visibility and consistent policy leadership. This book proposes a constructive framework for climate strategies for fossil fuel–dependent countries based on new approaches to diversification and international climate cooperation. Climate policy leaders share responsibility for creating room for all countries to contribute to the goals of the Paris Agreement, taking into account the specific vulnerabilities and opportunities each country faces. -
Publication
Diversification and Cooperation Strategies in a Decarbonizing World
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-07)Fossil fuel importers can apply various climate and trade taxes to encourage fossil fuel–dependent countries to cooperate on climate mitigation, and fossil fuel–dependent countries can respond with alternative diversification and cooperation strategies. This paper runs macroeconomic model simulations of alternative strategies that the global community and fossil fuel–dependent countries can pursue to encourage and enable their participation in a global low-carbon transition. The following are the findings from the simulations. (i) Fuel importers’ unilateral carbon taxes capture fossil fuel–dependent countries’ resource rents and accelerate their emission-intensive diversification. (ii) Border taxes on the carbon content of imports from fossil fuel–dependent countries do not induce comprehensive cooperation, but broader trade sanctions do. (iii) Cooperative wellhead carbon taxes can achieve cooperation without trade wars. (iv) Lower-income fossil fuel–dependent countries with large untapped reserves need additional incentives and enablers to cooperate and diversify into low-carbon assets. (v) Incentives to cooperate are misaligned between different fossil fuel–dependent countries and between owners of different fuels. (vi) The strategies that maximize consumption and growth in fossil fuel–dependent countries reduce the value of assets in extractive and heavy industries. (vii) Asset diversification is a robust, long-term strategy but faces the tragedy of the horizon. -
Publication
Air Pollution and Climate Change: From Co-Benefits to Coherent Policies
(Washington, DC : World Bank, 2022)Achieving carbon neutral development will take a roughly 40-year-long structural transformation, especially in developing and emerging economies, where most people exposed to poor air quality live. In the meantime, 6-7 million people die each year by breathing polluted air. But does climate action always lead to better air quality? Likewise, do air pollution policies always lead to cooler climate? The answers are not as obvious as one might expect. For example, while short-lived climate pollutants contribute to air pollution, some important air pollutants cool the climate with an equal countervailing force. Retrofitting coal-fired power plants with modern air pollution filters can quickly reduce most air pollution but slightly increases carbon emissions. In the absence of effective carbon pricing, this can lock in carbon-intensive installations for decades. On the other hand, putting a price on carbon in the absence of effective air-quality policies can encourage firms to switch off air pollution filters. Carbon pricing can also push lower-income households to use biomass and waste instead of gas, electricity, or district heating for cooking and heating and increase population exposure to air pollution. These tensions do not justify inaction on any of these major market failures. But neither of these environmental problems can be solved effectively by pursuing one-sided environmental policies. This report brings much-needed realism to the climate and air pollution debate. It analyzes international experience to identify effective pathways to coherent policy packages that harness synergies and manage inevitable tensions between climate mitigation and air-quality management. It helps decision makers to prioritize pollutants and emission sources and implement regulations that will encourage economic actors to implement technical and behavioral measures in a way that quickly saves people's lives while navigating the longer journey to a low-carbon future.