Informing the carbon market policy dialogue : the emissions trading systems at a glance

Abstract

The present report is chronologically the first output of the project LIFE DICET – Deepening International Cooperation on Emissions Trading (lifedicetproject.eui.eu). LIFE DICET supports EU and Member State policymakers in deepening international cooperation for the development and possible integration of carbon markets. This report is a collection of five short documents describing the Emissions Trading Systems (ETSs) currently in force in the following jurisdictions: EU, California-Québec, China, New Zealand and Switzerland. A central component of the DICET project is the Carbon Market Policy Dialogue (CMPD) between the European Commission, as the regulator of the EU ETS, and the regulatory authorities for the other ETSs in the above said jurisdictions. The purpose of this report, and of others that will follow, is to inform the CMPD. Specifically, the report collects basic information about the main features of the ETSs represented in the CMPD (e.g., sectors covered, number of installations, total allowance volume, allocation method, etc.) and, for each of them, provides brief explanations and relevant references concerning both the main current regulatory issues and the recent and prospective reforms. The report was written in December 2019, so it provides the reader with a snapshot of the ETSs at that specific point in time. This caveat is in order as each and every of the six ETSs has been going through a phase of relevant policy and regulatory changes.