This book chapter reviews how emissions trading has evolved as a climate policy instrument, and highlights several key choices to be made by regulators in designing and implementing a trading scheme.
At the turn of the 21st century, greenhouse gas emissions trading rapidly became regulators’ weapon of choice in the battle to slow global climate change. Following the launch of the world’s first supranational emissions trading system in the European Union in 2005, emissions trading spread across the world.
Trading schemes started in the United States, where subnational systems were adopted in the absence of progress at the federal level, as well as in other industrialized countries. By the early 2010s, trading schemes were also increasingly being adopted or considered by various developing countries. The functioning of these systems will inform the debate on instrument choice in climate law and policy in various jurisdictions.
The book chapter starts with a recapitulation of how emissions trading as a climate policy instrument has evolved and spread across jurisdictions. It then highlights several key choices to be made by regulators in designing and implementing a trading scheme. The overview of choices, drawing on illustrations from several trading schemes, sets the stage for a discussion of the future of emissions trading in climate law and policy: to which extent can problems caused by design choices be addressed through a ‘quick fix’ redesign, or are there more fundamental issues at play that will continue to affect the performance of emissions trading?
Read more on the publisher’s website (external link)
The Oxford Handbook of International Climate Change Law
This volume provides an unprecedented and authoritative overview of all aspects of international climate change law as it currently stands, with guidance for how it should develop in the future. Over forty leading scholars and practitioners set out a comprehensive understanding of the legal issues that surround this vitally important but still emerging area of international law. This book addresses the major legal dimensions of the problems caused by climate change: not only in the content and nature of the international legal frameworks, which need implementation at the national level, but also the development of carbon trading systems as a means of reducing the costs of meeting emission reduction targets. After an introduction to the field, the Handbook assesses the relevant institutions, the key applicable principles of international law, the international mitigation regime and its consequences, and climate change litigation, before providing perspectives focused upon specific countries or regions.
Design and development by Soapbox.