Sunday, May 25, 2008

Weekend's Featured: Carbon Trading Could Reach 2 Trillion Euros by 2020

Global Market in CO2 Emission Rights Could Be Worth 2 Trillion Euros by 2020.

The global market in CO2 emission rights could be worth two trillion euros (3.14 trillion dollars) by 2020 if the United States joins the scheme, analysis group Point Carbon said on Thursday.

The United States, which has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol that calls for the mechanism, could in 2020 account for 67 percent, or 1.25 trillion euros, of emissions rights if it decided to introduce a US emissions trading system, the Point Carbon study said.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the main greenhouse gases blamed for climate change. The carbon market is aimed at encouraging industries to invest in clean technology and buy emissions rights from others that have a surplus.

The second-biggest market would be the European Union -- so far the only one in existence -- and would account for 23 percent of emissions rights, the study showed. The total transaction volume forecast would be 38 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent for the United States and nine billion tonnes for the EU.

The calculations are based on an assumed carbon price in 2020 of 50 euros per tonne, twice the current price in Europe. They also assume that a so-called cap-and-trade scheme will have been introduced in the United States by 2020 and that the EU will have introduced a 25 percent reduction target for emissions, including those from aviation.

The calculations assume that trading schemes will have become operational in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Korea, Mexico and Turkey.

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