The Hindu Business Line : Emissions trading seen core to future global pact on climate change

, RISING carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions confirm the need to act, because under the current energy policies, CO2 emissions will increase by about 50 per cent by 2030.

A new publication "Act Locally, Trade Globally - Emissions Trading for Climate Policy", published ahead of the United Nations' climate change conference in Montreal, Canada, in addressing the emissions responsible for climate change, notably CO2 from fossil fuel combustion, reviews the current and future role of emissions trading.

The current Kyoto protocol only addresses about one-third of global emissions, and existing domestic emissions trading regimes only about 10 per cent. However, according to the International Energy Agency that launched the book, emissions trading will remain at the core of any future international agreement to combat climate change.

Emissions trading allows reducing emissions at least-cost, and helps governments to achieve acceptability through allocation processes, domestically and internationally, it is argued.

The study foresees a yearly demand of roughly one billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent from industrialised Kyoto parties unless climate policies are strengthened. Among the Kyoto Protocol trading mechanisms, the Clean Development Mechanism could fulfil 10 per cent of this demand with reductions from projects in developing countries.

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