Contributor: Patrick Lenain

Economic Policies for Affordable, Secure and Clean Energy: Synthesis Report

| 5 June 2026
Fiscal, Policy Briefs | Tags: Decarbonization, Energy, Industrial Policy, Policy Coherence, Tax Expenditures
Recent energy crises, surging electricity demand and accelerating climate change have pushed affordable, secure, and clean energy to the top of policy agendas worldwide. The challenge respects no borders,making cross-country perspectives timely. ... continue reading

How Can Ministries of Finance Support the Low-Carbon Transition Through Coherent ‘Policy Packages’?

| 13 April 2026
Fiscal, Monetary, Blog | Tags: Carbon Pricing, Energy, Industrial Policy, Policy Coherence, Tax Expenditures
The transition towards greener and more resilient economies is one of the defining economic opportunities of our time. From growth and innovation to enhanced competitiveness and long-term savings, the potential gains are substantial. ... continue reading

Insurance Protection for Climate-Resilient Progress

| 27 March 2026
Fiscal, Monetary, Op-Eds | Tags: Climate Risks, Insurance, Vietnam
This op-ed was first published in the Vietnam Investment Review. The World Bank has estimated that about $300 billion of the country’s commercial and industrial assets are vulnerable to climate-related disasters. Patrick Lenain, senior associate at the Council on Economic Policies, looks at the gaps ... continue reading

Confronting Climate Change in the Philippines: Building Resilience while Cutting Emissions

| 13 February 2026
Fiscal, Blog | Tags: Carbon Pricing, Climate Risks, Energy, Renewables, The Philippines
Climate change is not a distant threat for the Philippines. Preparing for a warmer and more volatile future will require building on past progress in investing into climate change adaptation, combined with carbon pricing and cleaner power generation. ... continue reading

Industrial Policy: ‘Europe Can No Longer Afford the Inefficiency of a National Patchwork’

and | 30 January 2026
Fiscal, Op-Eds | Tags: Competition, Decarbonization, Europe, Fiscal Space, Industrial Policy
Faced with American and Chinese competition, Europe must undertake a radical shift: move from a mosaic of national subsidies to a unified and more intelligent industrial policy, argue Patrick Lenain and Rens van Tilburg.  ... continue reading

Direction Ahead for Low-Carbon Development Finance in Vietnam

| 15 January 2026
Fiscal, Monetary, Op-Eds | Tags: Economic Growth, Energy, Governing Finance, Industrial Policy, Vietnam
Climate finance is featured prominently in international climate negotiations, and a number of countries have published climate finance strategies outlining investment needs for mitigation and adaptation. Yet a narrow focus on climate finance risks missing the point. ... continue reading

How Vietnam Can Ensure Greener Steel

and | 21 November 2025
Fiscal, Blog | Tags: Decarbonization, Energy, Industrial Policy, Vietnam
The steel industry is an important pillar of Vietnam’s economic development. It provides input for the country’s rapid infrastructure expansion, it supports key manufacturing sectors such as construction and shipbuilding, and it contributes to export revenues and industrial employment. ... continue reading

The Energy Taxation Directive and the Clean Industrial Deal

| 20 November 2025
Fiscal, Testimonies | Tags: Decarbonization, Energy, Europe, Fossil Fuel Subsidies
Thank you for the opportunity to speak today on the Energy Taxation Directive (ETD) and the Clean Industrial Deal (CID). I will start with brief remarks on the ETD and then turn to lessons the CID could draw from global experience with the use of ... continue reading

Accelerating Industrial Decarbonisation. The Role of Tax Incentives

, , , , , and | 17 November 2025
Fiscal, Discussion Notes | Tags: Decarbonization, Energy, Industrial Policy, Tax Expenditures
Achieving net-zero targets in industrial sectors will require substantial investment in low-carbon technologies, especially in “hard-to-abate” industries such as steel, cement, and petrochemicals. In this context, tax incentives have emerged as a useful policy instrument ... ... continue reading

Tax Expenditures: Time to Clean House

, and | 27 October 2025
Fiscal, Op-Eds | Tags: France, GTED, Tax Expenditures
The state of France’s public finances is worrying. The public deficit has rarely been so high outside periods of crisis, and public debt has reached record levels. Stabilising it will require a substantial adjustment—on the order of €120 billion to €150 billion. ... continue reading