UT Energy Symposium

About this event

Charlotte De Cannière

Assistant Professor at the Toulouse School of Economics

Speaker Biography:

Charlotte De Cannière is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the Toulouse School of Economics. She obtained her PhD in Economics from KU Leuven in 2025 and was a visiting PhD researcher at the Barcelona School of Economics. Her research lies at the intersection of environmental economics, energy economics, and empirical industrial organization, with a particular focus on market power, energy, and the energy transition.

Abstract

Market power reduces equilibrium quantities and distorts production, typically causing welfare losses. However, as Buchanan (1969) noted, market power may mitigate overproduction from negative externalities. This paper examines this in the global oil market, where OPEC's market power affects oil production and carbon intensity. We estimate that from 1970 to 2021, OPEC's market power reduced emissions by over 52 GtCO2, equating to $3,805 billion in climate damages and 13.8% of the carbon budget needed for the 1.5°C Paris Agreement target. This environmental benefit outweighs the welfare loss from distorted production allocation.

About the UT Energy Symposium:

The UT Energy Symposium is a weekly guest lecture series that is

both free and open to the public and available for course credit.

In an effort to provide a multi-disciplinary platform for UT faculty and

students to interact on the most pressing energy issues facing our

world, the Energy Institute sponsors the UT Energy Symposium

(UTES), which will enter its 30th semester in spring 2026.

The UTES serves as a "convener" for the campus community, uniting

students interested in energy issues with faculty and others working on

sustainable energy security. Students who register for the symposium

receive one credit hour for the 15-week seminar course, which is open

to both undergraduate and graduate students.

Ongoing themes for UTES include climate change policy, innovation

and diffusion of energy technologies, low-carbon technology options

and status, and behavioral aspects of energy consumption.

Each UTES talk will be recorded and posted on this page and on

the Energy Institute YouTube channel following the event.