Trading Up: Reforming the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme

The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is Europe's most important initiative for curbing greenhouse gas emissions and averting dangerous climate change. Human-induced climate change, caused by emissions of CO₂ and other greenhouse gases (GHG), mainly from burning fossil fuels and deforestation, is a serious long-term global environmental threat to human and ecological welfare (Baer 2006). To avoid dangerous climate change, global greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced very significantly.

This report considers arguments for expanding the EU ETS so that it includes not only additional gases and activities in energy-intensive industries, but also the aviation and maritime industries, and road transport.