1. The evolution of emissions trading in the E.U : tensions between national trading schemes and the proposed EU directive
- Author
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Steve Sorrell, Philippe Quirion, Catherine Boemare, Centre international de recherche sur l'environnement et le développement (CIRED), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC)-École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Ecole Nationale du Génie Rural, des Eaux et des Forêts (ENGREF), Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), Quirion, Philippe, Science and Technology Policy Research (SPRU), University of Sussex, and The research which led to this paper was supported by the European Commission under the project Interaction in EU Climate Policy (EVK2-2000-00613)
- Subjects
Atmospheric Science ,emissions trading ,020209 energy ,02 engineering and technology ,Commission ,010501 environmental sciences ,Environmental Science (miscellaneous) ,Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law ,7. Clean energy ,01 natural sciences ,Clean Development Mechanism ,0202 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering ,EU emissions trading scheme ,[SHS.ECO] Humanities and Social Sciences/Economics and Finance ,Complex problems ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Global and Planetary Change ,policy interaction ,Member states ,International economics ,Directive ,[SHS.ECO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Economics and Finance ,Double counting (accounting) ,Economy ,13. Climate action ,Greenhouse gas ,Emissions trading ,Business - Abstract
International audience; The EU is pioneering the development of greenhouse gas emissions trading, but there is a tension between the ‘top-down' and ‘bottom-up' evolution of trading schemes. While the Commission is introducing a European emissions trading scheme (EU ETS) in 2005, several member states have already introduced negotiated agreements that include trading arrangements. Typically, these national schemes have a wider scope than the proposed EU directive and allow firms to use relative rather than absolute targets. The coexistence of ‘top-down' and ‘bottom-up' trading schemes may create some complex problems of policy interaction. This paper explores the potential interactions between the EU ETS and the negotiated agreements in France and UK and uses these to illustrate some important generic issues. The paper first describes the proposed EU directive, outlines the UK and French policies and compares their main features to the EU ETS. It then discusses how the national and European policies may interact in practice. Four issues are highlighted, namely, double regulation, double counting of emission reductions, equivalence of effort and linking trading schemes. The paper concludes with some recommendations for the future development of UK and French climate policy.
- Published
- 2003