Emissions Trading webchat

Carbon trading has been hailed as a silver bullet in tackling climate change. But is a global emissions trading system a feasible goal? And will such a system effectively tackle the challenges that lie ahead?

Emissions trading is one of the proposed ways of reducing CO₂ emissions. It sets a limit on the total amount of carbon emissions permitted, and each participant can decide between reducing their own emissions and selling their extra allowance, or alternatively buying allowances from others. This provides an incentive for greater efficiency and paves the way to direct capital for more CO₂ efficient projects.

David Hone, Shell's Group Climate Change Advisor, discussed the emissions trading system (ETS) in a webchat on Shell Dialogues on September 10th. He evaluated the feasibility of global expansion of the scheme, the timeline towards it, and its key benefits and drawbacks.