Booming Prices on the European Emission Trading System: From Market Oversupply to Carbon Bubble?
Since its creation in 2005, the European emission trading system (EU ETS) has been through several periods of turmoil. With emission allowances (EUA) averaging around 7 euros per ton from 2012 to 2017, European Member States have been trying to remedy the depressed price signals successively through market design reforms at both European level (backloading, market stability reserve) and national level, with the UK introducing a carbon price floor for its domestic power sector in 2013.
The Power of China’s Energy Efficiency Policies
In just a few years, China has gained the status of an energy efficiency champion.
China’s National Carbon Market: a Game Changer in the Making?
As 2017 drew to close, China officially approved plans for its long-awaited national Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) outlined some of the implementation details[1]. Though it will be limited to the power sector (and combined heat and power, or CHP) at first, it will nevertheless be the world’s largest carbon market. It is expected to cover 1,700 companies representing approximately 30% of China’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. China’s CO2 emissions from fuel combustion amounted to approximately 8,796 metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent (MtCO2Eq.) in 2016, and seem to remain stable since 2014, though they appear to increase again in 2017[2]. Shanghai should host the national market exchange, which will be jointly owned by the governments of other provinces while Hubei should host the registry[3].
Europe's Energy Transition - Insights for Policy Making
This book was authored by the Insight_e European consortium, in which the Ifri Center for Energy was involved between 2014 and 2017. It is based on the key research projects carried out over the last three years on the Energy Union, greenhouse gas emissions reduction policies, security of gas and electricity supplies and the societal dimensions of the energy transition.
From COP21 to COP22: Keeping up the Momentum
In December 2015, a new international climate agreement was adopted, paving the way for increased mitigation and adaptation efforts.
COP21 : Haro sur le charbon
Despite a landmark agreement on climate in December 2015, reducing the share of coal in the world energy mix will remain extremely difficult. This paper analyses five large consumers choices in terms of coal and clean coal technologies.
Innovation: a New Mode of Climate Action
A range of announcements of energy and climate coalitions have been made during COP21. Beyond their important diplomatic objectives, these new forms of coalitions bring scientists and industry leaders towards new long term visions of energy consumption modes.
Climate Action beyond COP21 - Conference Brief
On November 4th 2015, the Ifri Center for Energy held an international conference on the future of Climate Action beyond the COP21. The conference brought together key experts to outline reasonable expectations for the Paris Climate Summit, in terms of binding commitments from the parties and, more broadly, in terms of the profound transformation that an agreement could trigger.
India’s Approach to Climate Negotiations: From the South to the North?
India’s approach to climate negotiations results from the interplay of two distinct logics, an external one and an internal one. While the external logic is derived from quantitative attributes at the aggregate level, such as the overall size of India’s economy, the internal logic is derived from qualitative attributes at the individual level such as per person incomes and productivity. For three decades, from the early 1970s to the early 2000s, India’s internal and external logics overlapped.
The Paris Agreement. Article from "RAMSES 2016"
To avoid the pitfalls of historic divisions, climate negotiators decided to go down the self-differentiation route and leave legal matters to be resolved during the last steps of the process. The national contributions drafted by each party provide a robust basis for discussion, but we still need to ensure that these are appropriate and also monitor their implementation. The credibility of the Paris Agreement will be determined by these final procedural trade-offs.
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