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State and Trends of the Carbon Market 2012
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-05) Kossoy, Alexandre; Guigon, Pierre
The total value of the carbon market grew by 11 percent in 2011, to $176 billion, and transaction volumes reached a new high of 10.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). This growth took place in the face of economic turbulence, growing long-term oversupply in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) and plummeting carbon prices. By far, the largest segment of the carbon market was that of EU Allowances (EUAs), valued at $148 billion. With the end of the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol in 2012, the value of the pre-2013 primary certified emission reduction (CER), emission reduction unit (ERU) and assigned amount unit (AAU) markets declined in 2011. At the same time, the post-2012 primary Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) market increased by a robust 63 percent, to US$2 billion, despite depressed prices and limited long-term-visibility. Against this backdrop, several new domestic and regional carbon market initiatives gained traction in both developed and developing economies in 2011. Five new jurisdictions (i.e., Australia, California, Québec, Republic of Korea, and Mexico) passed legislations laying the foundation for cap-and-trade schemes. Together, these initiatives will drive substantial resources towards low-carbon investments and they have the potential to unleash a truly transformational carbon market, in support of a global solution to the climate challenge.
State and Trends of the Carbon Market 2008
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008-05) Capoor, Karan; Ambrosi, Philippe
The carbon market is the most visible result of early regulatory efforts to mitigate climate change. Regulation constraining carbon emissions has spawned an emerging carbon market that was valued at US$64 billion (Euro 47 billion) in 2007. Its biggest success so far has been to send market signals for the price of mitigating carbon emissions. This, in turn, has stimulated innovation and carbon abatement worldwide, as motivated individuals, communities, companies and governments have cooperated to reduce emissions. The European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) market has been successful in its mission of reducing emissions through internal abatement at home, and of stimulating emission reductions abroad. The European Commission, learning from the experience of Phase I, has strengthened several important design elements for EU ETS Phase II. Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) accounted for the vast majority of project-based transactions (at 87 percent of volumes and 91percent of values) and JI saw transacted volumes doubling and values tripling in 2007 over the previous year. The CDM alone saw primary transactions worth US$7.4 billion (Euro 5.4 billion), with demand coming mainly from private sector entities in the EU, but also from EU governments and Japan.
State and Trends of the Carbon Market 2006 : Update, January 1-September 30, 2006
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2006-10) Capoor, Karan; Ambrosi, Philippe
Carbon transactions are defined as purchase contracts or ERPAs (Emission Reductions Purchase Agreements) whereby one party pays another party in return for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions that the buyer can use to meet its compliance or corporate citizenship - objectives vis-a-vis GHG mitigation. Payment is made using one or more of the following forms: cash, equity, debt, or in-kind contributions. This paper includes the following headings: executive summary; methodology; allowance-based markets; project-based markets; investment climate and regulatory environment; and regulatory outlook.
State and Trends of the Carbon Market—2004
(2005) Lecocq, Franck
This study describes the status of the emerging carbon market, as of May 2004. The carbon market encompasses trades of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission allowances (under the European Union (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme), and project-based transactions, whereby a buyer participates in the financing of a project that reduces GHG emissions, compared with what would have happened otherwise, and gets emission reduction credits in exchange (for example, Clean Development Mechanism, or Joint Implementation projects under the Kyoto Protocol). The study finds that the carbon market is growing steadily. A total of 64 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) has been exchanged through projects from January to May 2004, nearly as much as during the whole year 2003 (78 million). Furthermore, the demand for emission reductions remains heavily concentrated, with a few EU governments, and Japanese firms the largest buyers. Finally, Asia is now the largest supplier of emission reductions, followed by Latin America, developed economies, and Eastern Europe. Prices of project-based emission reductions in early 2004 have remained essentially stable compared with 2003. In the absence of a standard contract, these prices strongly depend on the structure of the transaction, notably risk-sharing between buyers and sellers.