FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: IETA: Katie Kouchakji, kouchakji@ieta.org

EDF: Jennifer Andreassen, jandreassen@edf.org or +1 202 572 3387

CDC Climat Research: Maria Scolan, maria.scolan@cdcclimat.com

 BARCELONA, 27 May – Carbon markets around the world are continuing to expand and gather momentum, according to a series of case studies released by IETA, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and CDC Climat Research today, despite diverse challenges.

The case studies – released at Carbon Expo in Barcelona – find that while countries such as Kazakhstan, Norway and New Zealand are opting for market-based carbon pricing systems, each system is tailored to suit the national circumstances.

Case studies on carbon markets and pricing in Australia, Brazil, the EU, Japan, India, Tokyo, South Africa, the UK and Switzerland have also all been updated, to reflect the latest in policy developments in these regions. Each case study identifies unique challenges and lessons learned for each market, such as how forestry could be handled in an ETS, addressing competition concerns and moving away from free allocations.

The World Bank estimates that the world’s emissions trading systems are now valued at $34 billion.¹ A report by the International Carbon Action Partnership earlier this year found that jurisdictions with an ETS now represent 40% of global GDP.²

“This collection of work showcases how different governments have used market forces to curb emissions, tailored to their unique circumstances,” says IETA President and CEO Dirk Forrister. “As we increasingly move towards a bottom-up world of climate policy, these case studies offer an array of models that others can borrow from. They show that carbon markets can work for all regions, all circumstances and all economic structures.”

“It is highly encouraging to see the growth and development of carbon markets around the world,” said Gernot Wagner, Lead Senior Economist at EDF. “As more governments implement innovative and effective market systems, we are beginning to see the needle shift on global climate policy.”

“There is a growing consensus on the fact that carbon pricing is becoming a priority among economic decision makers around the world – the big question is how to put a price on carbon,” says Benoît Leguet, Director of CDC Climat Research. “These case studies provide a fantastic collection of experiences that can be extremely useful to share government experience and inform the implementation of these innovative climate policies.”

He adds: “Whatever their stage of maturation, each system has to overcome important challenges to ensure the credibility and the stability of the system and the emergence of a robust and predictable carbon price signal.”

Today’s release is the third and final instalment of the World’s Carbon Markets series, following releases of the China, Alberta, California, Québec and RGGI case studies earlier this year.

 NOTES

1 The World Bank’s valuation is based on the price of allowances in all ETSs on 1 April 2015 multiplied by the allowance volume for 2015. See Carbon Pricing Watch 2015, released by the Bank on 26 May for more information.

2 See the ICAP Status Report 2015 for more information.

 

About IETA:
IETA has been the leading voice of the business community on the subject of carbon markets since 1999. IETA's 130 member companies include some of the world's leading corporations, including global leaders in oil, electricity, cement, aluminium, chemical, paper, and other industrial sectors; as well as leading firms in the data verification and certification, brokering and trading, legal, finance, and consulting industries.

 About EDF:

Environmental Defense Fund, a leading international non-profit organisation, creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. EDF links science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships. Connect with us on EDF Voices, Twitter and Facebook.

 About CDC Climat Research:

CDC Climat Research benefits from the support of the Caisse des Dépôts Group to provide independent expertise on economic issues relating to climate and energy policies. CDC Climat Research helps public and private decision-makers improve the way in which they understand, anticipate, and encourage the use of economic and financial resources aimed at promoting the transition to a low-carbon and resilient economy.

 

 Please download this press release here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Katie Kouchakji, kouchakji@ieta.org

EUA prices seen on the up in IETA’s annual market sentiment survey

BARCELONA, 26 May – Respondents to IETA’s annual market sentiment survey expect European carbon prices to rise for the first time in four years. 
 
This years survey, conducted again by PwC, found that respondents expect the average Phase III EUA price to be €10.79 – up from €8 last year, and the first rise since 2011. Prices between 2020 and 2030 are expected to average €18.40, according to the survey of IETA’s members.
 
This 10^th edition of IETA’s annual market sentiment survey found that respondents see a lower carbon price needed to drive low-carbon investment than five years ago, averaging €29.60 now compared with two-thirds saying a price of €40 or more is needed in 2010. 
 
However, unsurprisingly, an overwhelming number of respondents (88%) see carbon markets as an effective policy instrument – with 58% saying markets are the most effective driver of low-carbon investment, up from 36% in 2010. 
 
The Paris climate talks will lead to an expansion of global carbon markets, according to 58% of respondents – with strong growth seen in Asia and North America in particular. Notably, all respondents expect China to have a national ETS, with 64% expecting the market to be implemented by 2020.

“This year’s survey is a sign that, after a few years of crisis and reform, market participants see a stronger EU ETS in the future, and that sentiment is increasingly positive around the world,” says Dirk Forrister, CEO and President of IETA. 

“Recent years have seen a burst of activity in new market development, which is reflected in the survey. The message for Paris is that markets matter – and the challenge for policymakers is to bring together all these bottom-up efforts and find a way to make the links between domestic actions and international contributions.”

“Carbon market sentiment is on the rise for the first time in years,” says Jonathan Grant, director of PwC’s climate and sustainability practice. “It may seem obvious that IETA members would give this endorsement, but after years of low prices and policy turmoil in carbon markets around the world, business is still saying that market-based approaches are the most effective.”

He adds: “On Paris, there’s a big gap between the members’ ideal outcome and their actual expectations – few expect legally binding targets.  The IETA survey sends a clear signal to governments that the Paris agreement should accelerate the use of markets nationally and internationally.”

The survey report will be released at a press conference at Carbon Expo in Barcelona on 26 May at 9am CET. Hard copies will be available at the press conference and it can also be downloaded from the IETA website. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Katie Kouchakji, kouchakji@ieta.org

 

GENEVA, 18 May – IETA is honoured to announce today that His Majesty King Felipe VI of Spain will be opening this year’s Carbon Expo trade fair and conference.  

His Majesty King Felipe VI of Spain will speak at the opening plenary of the three-day event on 26 May in Barcelona at 11am CET.

Other high-level speakers at Carbon Expo 2015 include Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC executive secretary, Miguel Arias Cañete, the European Commissioner for Climate Action & Energy, Spain’s environment minister Isabel Garcia Tejerina, France’s Special Representative for the 2015 Paris Climate Conference and French Ambassador for Climate Negotiations Laurence Tubiana and World Bank vice-president Rachel Kyte.

More than 35 CEOs will also be present at the event, as well as several environment ministers and leading policymakers – making Carbon Expo the essential milestone on the road to the Paris climate agreement at the end of this year.

“As we enter the final months of negotiations for the Paris climate agreement, having a forum for discussion between business and government such as Carbon Expo is crucial, particularly with regards to market matters,” says IETA President and CEO Dirk Forrister. “The presence of His Majesty King Felipe VI is a sign of how high the importance of the global response to climate change has escalated.”

Carbon Expo 2015, organised jointly by IETA, the World Bank Group and Fira de Barcelona, features more than 220 speakers in nine plenary sessions and 27 workshops. Carbon Expo will also host 36 side events featuring the latest products and services for climate and carbon finance, including industry case studies, new reports and networking opportunities. The side events will be open to all participants.

 For the full programme and to register, please see www.carbonexpo.com. 

 Please download this press release here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Press Office, Fira de Barcelona, mjuvell@firabarcelona.com or +34-93 233 20 89

Barcelona, 13 May 2015: UN climate chief Christiana Figueres, Europe's climate commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete, Spain's environment minister Isabel Garcia Tejerina and Laurence Tubiana, France's ambassador for the climate negotiations, are among the distinguished speakers at this year's Carbon Expo trade fair and conference. 

The three-day event, now in its 12th year, gathers together leading policymakers, business representatives and financial institutions and provides a crucial opportunity for discussions in the run up to the Paris 2015 climate agreement. Other speakers at this year's event include World Bank Group Vice President and Special Envoy for Climate Change Rachel Kyte, Morocco's Minister of Energy, Mining, Water and Environment Hakima El Haite, State Secretary at the German environment ministry Jochen Flasbarth, Ecuador's Minister of Environment Loren a Tapia and Teresa Ribera, director of the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations. 

Carbon Expo this year also hosts the largest number of company heads ever, with more than 30 CEOs set to attend the 26-28 May event, which will include a special CEO Roundtable on the Road to Paris. Heads of Acciona, Ferrovial, Natsource, C-Quest Capital and Australia's Clean Energy Regulator will be in attendance, among many others. 

Discussions will focus on carbon pricing, the transition to low-carbon development and energy, and what investors should look for in the Paris climate agreement. Carbon Expo 2015, organised jointly by IETA, the World Bank Group and Fira de Barcelona, features more than 220 speakers in nine plenary sessions and 27 workshops. Carbon Expo will also host 36 side events featuring the latest products and services for climate and carbon finance, including industry case studies, new reports and networking opportunities. The side events will be open to all participants.

"Carbon Expo provides an ideal scenario for underscoring that, in addition to the new approach implemented in our domestic climate change policies, we view the year 2015 as a crucial year to prepare for the Paris Climate Summit," says Isabel García Tejerina, Spain's Minister of Agriculture, Food and Environment. "All governments face the challenge of reaching a global agreement and public and private sector commitment is essential for advancing towards a low-carbon economy."

"Achieving a peaking of global emissions in 10 years, a deep decarbonisation of the global economy and climate neutrality by the second half of the century will require ambitious public policy, entrepreneurial drive and finance to support the growth and climate ambitions of developing countries," says Christiana Figueres, the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. "This year's Carbon Expo needs to help build that response. The Expo takes on special significance for the carbon market community as the world heads towards a new universal, global climate change agreement in Paris -- not least being the role of market mechanisms in supporting the new agreement and the surrounding decision over the coming years and decades."

 World Bank Group, IETA and Fira de Barcelona: a successful partnership

The World Bank Group was the first institution to develop global public-private carbon funds with the creation of the Prototype Carbon Fund in 2000, and has since launched over 18 carbon initiatives designed to support carbon markets in client countries, reduce green technology investment risk and increase the scope of carbon finance. This is now widening to innovative financial instruments to support climate and carbon finance from the client country perspective. 

 IETA has been the leading voice of the business community on the subject of carbon markets since 1999. IETA's 130 member companies include some of the world's leading corporations, including global leaders in oil, electricity, cement, aluminium, chemical, paper, and other industrial sectors; as well as leading firms in the data verification and certification, brokering and trading, legal, finance, and consulting industries. IETA works to develop an active, homogeneous global greenhouse gas market that transcends national frontiers. 

 In 2009, the World Bank Group and IETA decided to bring on board Fira de Barcelona, Spain's leading organiser of trade fairs and industrial exhibitions, to guarantee the success of Carbon Expo in Spain.

 Images of past events available here

 The 2015 Conference Program is available here

 Please download this press release here.

5 May 2015

The European Council and European Parliament today reached an agreement on the introduction of a Market Stability Reserve. The agreement – part of the continued reform of the EU ETS – needs to be endorsed by the Committee of Permanent Representatives and by MEPs in the European Parliament's Environment Committee and eventually by all MEPs, on the basis of a consolidated text which will then be formally adopted by the Council. 

“IETA welcomes the agreement that Europe’s policy-makers have reached on the Market Stability Reserve. We are pleased to see that this crucial reform to the EU ETS will be introduced before 2020 and that surplus allowances will be placed into the MSR, instead of returning them to the market at the end of the current trading period which would have caused disruption in the market.

“Today’s compromise agreement is another step to restoring the credibility of the EU ETS and ensuring that an efficient and effective carbon market system remains at the heart of Europe’s climate change response.”

For further enquiries, please contact Sarah Deblock on deblock@ieta.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Katie Kouchakji, kouchakji@ieta.org

South Korea ETS start kicks off crucial year for markets, says IETA

GENEVA, 12 January – The start of trading in South Korea’s emissions trading system (ETS) today is the first step in an important year for carbon markets and climate change policy, says IETA.

The country’s ETS, with a cap of 1.7 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent1, came into effect on 1 January, and trading started today on the Korea Exchange (KRX).

“The start of South Korea’s ETS is a significant milestone for Asia, marking the first national carbon market in the region,” says IETA President and CEO Dirk Forrister. “It also adds to the momentum for establishing a solid foundation for market-based solutions in the international climate agreement set to be agreed at the end of this year.”

Forrister adds: “At the IETA Pavilion at the UN negotiations in Lima last month, we heard the South Korean government say its desire for the ETS was driven by a need to cut greenhouse gas emissions efficiently, not just for the sake of having a price on carbon. Markets continue to offer the most flexibility and lowest-cost solutions for reducing emissions, which is why we have seen governments from the EU to California to China adopt market mechanisms as the policy tool of choice.” 

“The launch of Korea’s ETS is timely as the Paris climate agreement this year could help facilitate linkages between these various trading systems,” says Jeff Swartz, IETA’s Director of International Policy. “This would allow governments like Korea to be more ambitious in the level of emissions reductions sought while lowering costs for business through enhanced flexibility and common accounting frameworks.

“IETA has submitted technical proposals to the UNFCCC on this topic, and we continue to actively engage with the international climate negotiations to ensure that our members’ voices are heard and that business is represented at this crucial time in policy-making,” Swartz says.

 

NOTES

¹ The South Korea ETS applies to emissions from the power sector, industry, transport, waste and buildings. For more information about the programme, please view IETA’s case study on the Korea ETS or view IETA’s GHG Market Report 2014.

WASHINGTON, DC (October 2, 2013) – Today, at the Carbon Forum North America conference, IETA released its anticipated California Emissions Trading Master Agreement (CETMA), which will be available for use by the secondary market participating in the California Carbon Market.

The CETMA was drafted under IETA’s stewardship by a special committee led by Baker & McKenzie LLP, and incorporates perspectives and expertise from many of the largest firms operating within the California carbon market today.

“The CETMA builds upon IETA’s successful International Emissions Trading Master Agreement,” said drafting committee chair Richard Saines of Baker & McKenzie, “but it deals with a number of secondary market trading issues specific to California’s unique AB32 compliance market, including offset invalidation, holding limits, registry and tracking system mechanics, and the buyer liability provisions under the California rules.”

IETA’s President and CEO, Dirk Forrister expanded on the value of the CETMA, stating, “with the standardized contractual provisions the CETMA provides, we expect to see increased market liquidity and transparency.  We’re very pleased with how this document has turned out, and look forward to releasing it to the market.”

The CETMA release was announced at a special press conference during Carbon Forum North America.  The conference brings people together from across a wide range of industries – the common thread is a recognition of the need to manage and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the preference for doing so through the power of markets.

Online access to the CETMA: http://www.ieta.org/trading-documents

Download the press release here.

Press Release
24 September 2009

Contact: Henry Derwent derwent@ieta.org

Yesterday’s decision by the European Court of First Instance (CFI), to annul the European Commission’s decision to reduce the number of allowances in some EU Emissions Trading Scheme Phase 2 National Allocation Plans, has potentially serious consequences for the scheme, and for EU leadership in global climate policy in the runup to the Copenhagen UN negotiations.

It is well understood that the success of the second phase of the EUETS, and the avoidance of the over-supply that caused problems for the first, was the firm control exercised by the European Commission on national authorities’ proposals for emissions requirements. It now appears that the implementation of this control was not sound based in law, a prospect that opens up the possibility of considerable additional supply coming onto the market in an uncoordinated manner. Such an outcome would be contrary to decisions properly taken by the European Council about the level of European emissions reduction ambition.

IETA calls on the Commission to confirm as soon as possible that action will be taken to mend this apparent hole in the fabric of the EUETS and, potentially, in the contribution that the ETS was intended to make to Europe’s targets for 2020. The reaction of the market so far has been moderate, reflecting its confidence that such action will be taken, and that assumptions on supply which have underpinned the market for some considerable time will be re-confirmed. The Commission must also confirm that Phase 3 of the EUETS, based on different legislation, will not be affected. We also call on all Member States to hold back from attempting to make use of a loophole that simply has to be closed for the carbon market, and European climate policy, to continue on a sound footing.

Without early clarification of how one of the key parameters of today’s market will be re-established, there is a danger of a real loss of confidence and a reduction in the effectiveness of the emissions market that Europe rightly considers to be the centerpiece of its successful climate policy.