Implementing carbon pricing mechanisms (CPMs) that impose fees on emissions in the power and industrial sectors can be a powerful tool to affect current production and consumption patterns. Under last year’s Sofia Declaration, Western Balkan countries pledged to align their climate change mitigation efforts with the EU targets and programs. Policy makers have declared pricing carbon to be one of the most important instruments in the effort to concretize political promises. However, the Western Balkan region has limited experience with carbon pricing initiatives – and only Albania and Montenegro have taken their first tentative steps so far. Daniel Muth has the details.