Published: March 8, 2011
Trading scheme is preferred choice to cut emissions.
Confidence in the EU’s emissions trading scheme (ETS) has reached a record high, according to a carbon market analyst.
Half of all corporates responding to Point Carbon’s latest annual survey consider the EU’s ETS the most cost-effective method of reducing emissions. This is the highest level witnessed in the survey’s six-year history and is up from 43% last year.
Under the scheme, energy intensive businesses buy and sell emission allowances to meet their greenhouse gas emission targets. The survey showed that a record 59% of respondents from Europe’s power and heavy industry sectors have used the EU’s ETS to reduce their emissions with a further 9% planning to use the scheme.
Less favourably viewed is the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) market, in which companies fund projects in emerging markets. Only 31% of respondents consider this the most cost-efficient way to reduce emissions in developing countries, against 34% who disagree.
More than half of respondents involved in the primary CDM market say they have invested, or will invest, in least developed countries (LDCs) with the survey estimating that between 50 to 100 such projects will be registered in the next three years.