Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. T he history of the EU emissions trading scheme (EU ETS) is quite astonishing. 1 Its roots can be found in the Kyoto Protocol (1997) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Kyoto Protocol defi nes absolute, binding emissions targets for 38 so-called "Annex-B-countries" which essentially are the industrialised countries and some countries in transition. These targets apply to the "commitment period" [2008][2009][2010][2011][2012]. In order to reduce compliance costs, "fl exible mechanisms" have been defi ned -emissions trading at country level and the project-based mechanisms Joint Implementation (JI) and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Interestingly, the European Union did not support those mechanisms at the international negotiations. This was due to a somewhat ideological confl ict that had started in the fi rst years of Sonja Butzengeiger* and Axel Michaelowa** Terms of use: Documents in EconStor may Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading in the European Union -Background and Implementation of a "New" Climate Policy Instrument international climate policy. The USA was the herald of effi ciency and markets while the EU was supporting an approach based on harmonised policies and measures. The EU argued that mitigation efforts should take place at home. However, after the Kyoto agreement was reached, European policymakers turned around to embrace the concept of emissions trading. The fi rst wake-up call for EU negotiators was the failure of the 6th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in The Hague in late 2000. It was generally ascribed to stubbornness on the part of the environment ministers of France and Germany that scuppered a deal with the USA brokered by the UK. The second wake-up call was US president Bush's rejection of the Kyoto Protocol. Thus the EU realised that without accepting market mechanisms, the Protocol would never enter into force. On the domestic side, a decisive catalyst * Researcher, research programme "International Climate Policy", Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWA), Germany. ** Head of the research programme "International Climate Policy", Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWA), Germany.1 Emissions trading itself is not a new instrument. It has been practiced in the USA on regional pollutants SO 2 and NOx since the mid-1990s. Denmark and the United Kingdom established CO 2 emissions trading schemes with a relatively limited sectoral/geographical scope. Intereconomics, May/June ...
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