New Pew Center Report: EU ETS in Perspective

The Pew Center on Global Climate Change has released a new report examining the
European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) that offers a realistic
assessment of the system’s initial objectives and outcomes. The report, “The
European Union’s Emissions Trading System in Perspective,” by A. Denny Ellerman
and Paul L. Joskow of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, examines the
development, structure, and performance of the system to date.

As the U.S. Congress moves closer to developing a national climate change
policy, this report delivers key insights into the world’s first carbon dioxide
cap-and-trade program. Through analysis of the controversies and lessons learned
from the program’s initial three-year trial phase, the authors provide important
information for U.S. policy-makers and other countries.

The report helps address key cap-and-trade concerns in the U.S. and
internationally, including over-allocation, price volatility, and excessive
“windfall” profits. While it remains a work in progress, the EU ETS affords many
important lessons for policy-makers and major stakeholders to consider when
developing appropriate short- and long-term measures to limit greenhouse gas
emissions.

The report can be directly linked to at www.pewclimate.org/eu-ets.

For more information about global climate change and the activities of the Pew
Center, visit www.pewclimate.org.