Climate policy, ecological modernization and the UK emission trading scheme.

Since the election of the Labour government in 1997, leading to a flurry of policy documents utilizing ecological modernization language, the UK has seen a steady growth in the use of new environmental policy instruments, with the British government having launched in 2002 the world's first national economy-wide emission trading scheme for greenhouse gases. Among other things, the UK Emissions Trading Scheme aims at stimulating a transition of the UK towards a low-carbon economy. Reporting findings of a recent survey of those 31 organizations participating directly in the scheme, this article critically examines the effectiveness of the scheme as an instrument in climate policy and ecological modernization. The study reveals a number of issues that appear to have been ‘glossed over’ by recent Government reports, and questions whether the UK ETS and climate policy in practice are vehicles for ecological modernization. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]