Carbon Cap and Trade is gaining momentum, most recently with China’s plan to build the largest carbon market. But how successful has cap and trade been in limiting emissions, and what can new markets learn from past mistakes?
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Carbon cap and trade has made headlines in recent months as governments turn to carbon markets to limit greenhouse emissions. The biggest announcement came in December, when China formally announced the establishment of a national carbon trading system that will initially cover its electric power industry. Once China’s market is up and running, it’ll dwarf the largest existing cap and trade market, the European Emissions Trading System that started in 2005.

Developments are underway in the U.S. as well. In January, New Jersey announced that it will rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, commonly called RGGI, which it had previously abandoned. And Virginia has announced its intention to also join the carbon market, which spans nine northeastern states.

Kleinman Center Faculty Fellow Arthur van Benthem discusses how cap and trade cost-effectively limits carbon dioxide emissions. He also examines the economic competitiveness of cap-and-trade programs.

Arthur van Benthem is a Faculty Fellow with the Kleinman Center and Assistant Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at the Wharton School of Business. His research and teaching focus on the economic efficiency of energy policies, and the unintended consequences of environmental legislation. Earlier, he worked as an economist and strategist at Royal Dutch Shell.

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