Legal and design issues arising in linking the EU ETS with existing and emerging emissions trading schemes

Abstract

AbstractSince the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) came into being in 2003, both the opportunity and incentive to link the EU ETS to other cap-and-trade schemes that aim to reduce greenhouse gases has increased dramatically. This paper provides an overview of the key design features of existing and emerging emissions trading schemes around the world. It then considers the political and technical significance of these design features for a decision on whether or not to link the EU ETS to these schemes and explores the possible legal nature of an agreement that could link various potential linking partners at the national and sub-national levels.