LONDON, 8 June – The growth of the European carbon market is the focus of the third chapter of IETA’s oral history of the carbon market, which was released today.

Chapter three of From Kyoto to Paris, available online, talks to key players about the early years of the EU ETS, the challenges that they faced and the future of the market.

“As the world’s first cap-and-trade market for greenhouse gas emissions, the EU ETS experience has a lot of valuable lessons for the markets of the future,” says IETA President and CEO Dirk Forrister. “With more reforms to the system coming in the next few years, it’s important to remember how far emissions trading has come in Europe and how much has been achieved already.”

The overall oral history project, From Kyoto to Paris, charts the path from the 1997 treaty to 2015 and the Paris Agreement. Comprised of both a series of videos and a book, it features interviews with key players in the market’s growth, including negotiators, government officials, project developers, traders and lawyers.

The first two video chapters looked at markets and the Kyoto Protocol, and early trials of emissions trading. Subsequent chapters will look at the growth of the CDM, the role of carbon funds and the Paris Agreement, among other topics. 

Each week, IETA will release another video chapter of the story on our dedicated web page, www.ieta.org/kyototoparis. In early July, the book will be released via Amazon; please email oralhistory@ieta.org to ensure you don’t miss out!