Reboot Dialogue #11

How a Tool Featured in a Science-Fiction Novel Might Change the World

​The Global Carbon Reward Initiative (GCR) is a new international climate policy that is designed to meet the 1.5-2.0°C goal of the Paris Agreement by incentivising rapid reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the removal of GHGs from the atmosphere. The GCR avoids carbon offsetting, and it offers a political solution to the free-rider problem. The economic tool of the GCR is called a "carbon currency", and this tool is featured in a science-fiction novel about climate change, called The Ministry for the Future. Delton Chen is the founder of GCR and reflects on his journey thus far.

Correction: The Ministry for the Future did not inspire Delton Chen to develop the Global Carbon Reward (GCR) policy. It was the other way around. The GCR policy inspired Robinson to include the carbon coin idea in his novel.

For more information about Delton Chen please visit our contributors' page. This Reboot Dialogue is presented by Nico A. Heller.

Further reading

• For information on the Global Carbon Reward (GCR), please explore the GCR website: globalcarbonreward.org.
• An easy introduction to GCR policy: globalcarbonreward.org/introduction
• News articles, interviews and public presentations by Delton Chen and also by Kim Stanley Robinson: globalcarbonreward.org/news/carbon-coin
• Letter: Don’t rely on carbon offsets as a climate change solution: archive.ph/Jldtv
• Technical summaries of the policy (pdf), and pamphlets on the GCR initiative (pdf): globalcarbonreward.org/our-vision/our-pamphlets
• If you are interested in the economics of carbon, then you should read about the "carbon pricing matrix" and the new conceptual model for the market failure in carbon: globalcarbonreward.org/carbon-currency/pricing-theory
• Publications about the GCR: globalcarbonreward.org/key-references
• Preliminary background for the Living Systems Economy (LSE): globalcarbonreward.org/carbon-currency/biophysical-analysis