ETS alignment : a price collar proposal for carbon market integration

Abstract

This report was prepared to inform the Carbon Market Policy Dialogue (CMPD) between the European Commission, as the regulator of the EU Emissions Trading System, and the regulatory authorities for the emissions trading systems (ETSs) of California, Quebec, China, New Zealand and Switzerland. Building on the earlier findings of the LIFE DICET project, this fifth and final report identifies specific ETS design elements requiring specific degrees of alignment/harmonisation and discusses how this can be achieved in linking negotiations. Moreover, with a view to finding ways to facilitate the establishment of direct linkages between ETSs, a proposal regarding the management of allowance prices in the form of a “price collar for the linked system” is presented.