Asia and the Pacific has achieved rapid economic expansion in the recent years and has become a major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. With more than half of the world’s population and high rates of economic growth, the region is especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change and therefore must play its part in cutting GHG emissions. The Paris Agreement adopted last December 2015 at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change COP21 aims to restrict global warming to well below 2°C above preindustrial levels and to pursue efforts to reach 1.5°C---which is especially relevant to Asia and the Pacific region given its vulnerability. This knowledge product highlights how robust policies on emissions trading systems (ETS) can be important tools in reducing GHG emissions in a cost-effective manner, as well as supporting the mobilization of finance together with deployment of innovative technologies. There are currently 17 ETSs in place in four continents and account for nearly 40% of global gross domestic product. In Asia and the Pacific region, there are 11 systems operating, with more being planned. The growing wealth of experience on ETSs can be valuable to support DMCs that are planning and designing new systems of their own. This knowledge product summarizes some of the most significant learning experiences to date and discusses some of the solutions to alleviate challenges that have been faced. It also examines the possibilities for future linked carbon markets in the region.

Carbon pricing is a necessary element in spurring climate change mitigation action. In this report it's argued that emissions trading, as an established and well recognised policy instrument for controlling greenhouse gas emissions, is increasingly popular and spreading around the world. As they develop, emissions trading systems should be designed so that they are compatible with each other. Aligning design elements early on will help improve the prospects of linking different systems in future and, therefore, maximise opportunities for cost-effective emissions reductions. As the world's oldest and largest market, the EU Emission Trading System will play a critical role in facilitating linking between different markets. Before it can do this, however, it must be seen as a credible market. The issue of surplus allowances must be addressed urgently and there should be moves to remove these from the system as soon as possible. Any new climate agreement must crucially allow parties to meet their Intended Nationally Determined Contribution's (INDCs) by transferring parts of their contributions to other parties and financing emissions reduction activities in other countries. The use of carbon markets will greatly improve the prospects of keeping global average temperatures below 2êC. Any agreement reached at the UNFCCC COP 21 in Paris at the end of 2015 should promote the use of carbon markets and facilitate the future linking of emissions trading systems. The UNFCCC could also play a critical role in providing basic standards including monitoring, reporting and verification.

This book focuses on the linking of the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) with other independent regional ETS. While rich practical and academic research has evolved on the economic and technical side of ETS linking, political drivers and barriers have so far been underrepresented in this debate. Filling this lacuna and based on international relations theory, existing research and qualitative fieldwork, this book introduces the range of political conditions that influence linking, such as political leadership and stakeholder activity. Specifically, it analyzes which of these aspects have played a role in three different linking activities of the EU: (1) a failed linking attempt: EU ETS–California Cap-and-Trade Program; (2) a successful linking treaty: EU ETS–Switzerland Emissions Trading System; and (3) an agreed-upon but not realized link: EU ETS–Australia Carbon Pricing Mechanism. Through an interrogation of these examples, Dr. Unger concludes that it is not only the technical challenges or the overall economic benefit but rather domestic interests, structural aspects, and external international political developments that have jointly dominated linking activities, especially those in which the EU takes part. This book will be of great interest to scholars and policy-makers working in climate policy and EU environmental politics.

A growing number of GHG emissions trading schemes are being implemented at regional or national levels. However, even as the number of different schemes grows, few linkages exist between them. Major cap-and-trade proposals are currently at important stages in their development, especially in the United States, Japan and Australia, some of which explicitly emphasize the aim of linking with other schemes. One of the strategic goals of European climate policy is linking the EU ETS with other comparable schemes. The research presented in this volume is on actual economic, political and institutional constraints and implications. It examines the role of linking trading schemes for the development of the post-Kyoto climate architecture and for increasing linkage between schemes. This essential research will be relevant to both the scientific community and for policymakers who are involved in the design of emerging trading schemes and offset mechanisms, as well as in designing the post Kyoto climate regime.This volume focuses specifically on: o Economic, institutional/regulatory and legal dimensions of linkingo Implications of linking on the design of emerging trading schemeso The role of linking trading schemes for the development of the post-Kyoto climate regim

In the context of the LIFE DICET project, the second session of the second Carbon Market Policy Dialogue (CMPD) on "Environmental integrity: use of offsets: implications for linking" took place on 9 July 2021. The CMPD sees the participation of the regulators of six major emissions trading systems (ETSs), namely those of the EU, California, China, Québec, New Zealand and Switzerland, and a number of international stakeholders, including policymakers, researchers as well as representatives of industry and civil society. In view of the meeting, a background report (Galdi et al., 2022) was produced. This policy brief offers an abridged version of the report and, in addition, it provides a selection of insights from the policy dialogue. Most emissions trading systems around the world are experiencing a positive momentum: allowance prices are on the rise and carbon markets are attracting participation from financial operators. While high allowance prices are generally the sign of a stringent and, therefore, working ETS, very high prices pose at least two types of problems: one is the risk of crumbling political support for the ETS; the other concerns the possibility that, outside the ETS (whether in the same jurisdiction or not), much cheaper emissions abatement options are unexploited. In theory, the use of emission offsets, i.e. the use of emission credits for offsetting emissions, offers a solution to the second issue, as it allows for emissions abatement within the ETS to be replaced by cheaper abatement outside. In this sense, the use of offsets offers efficiency gains that are similar to those achievable by linking ETSs with different abatement costs. Moreover, as cheaper abatement opportunities tend to be concentrated in less developed economies, emission offsets provide a platform for international cooperation that involves those. In practice, however, the experience with emission offsetting has so far been mixed or even controversial.