European Emissions Trading in Practice: An Economic Analysis

This unique and up-to-date book analyzes the functioning of the European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and assesses the extent to which relevant legislation has affected its capacity to promote cost-effective reduction of European carbon emissions.

The author investigates whether inefficiency has been caused by both the ETS cap setting procedure and by the ETS relevant allocation rule, as defined by the Directive 2003/87/EC. He then considers whether the new Directive 2009/29/EC, which reforms the ETS institutional design, is likely to improve the scheme’s effectiveness by reducing the risk of carbon leakage -which could potentially be induced by implementing a unilateral policy across the asymmetric political landscape of Europe.

This well-documented book will appeal to researchers and postgraduate students in environmental law and environmental economics, as well as policy makers within environment, industry and economics, and electric and industrial operators and stakeholders. Environmental NGOs, energy and environmental consulting groups, members of the European Commission, and energy and environmental think-tanks will also find much to interest them in this insightful book.

Contents: 1. Introduction; 2. Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol: An Overview; 3. Toward a Cap and Trade Scheme Solution: Economic and Legal Instruments to Address the Problem of Externality; 4. Legal and Economic Aspects of the European Emissions Trading Scheme; 5. Analysis of the EU ETS Effectiveness: Assessing the Stringency of the ETS Cap; 6. Analysis of the Allocation Rules: Do Polluters Pay under Grandfathering?; 7. ETS Reform and Carbon Leakage: Assessing the Inconsistencies of the New ETS Directive; 8. Summary and Conclusions; References