Emissions trading
The EU Emissions Trading Scheme allows countries to buy emissions from other countries. This could be useful for the UK but is not a strong or sustainable way of meeting our emission reduction targets.
The following graph shows the initial effects of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) on UK carbon emissions. The scheme started in 2005 and a small amount of CO2 emissions have been bought by the UK so far.
Emissions trading is a fair way or easing our way towards meeting our targets. However:
- It does not show strong leadership or commitment to tackling emission reductions.
- It is an uncertain "resource", being very dependent on the actions of other countries.
- It also could get expensive, which may be an issue in the recession.
Return to main Emissions Targets page
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