Carbon market could reach €70bn this year

Analysts predict the global carbon market will double in worth to around €70 billion (£46bn) over 2015. The Point Carbon team at Thomson Reuters says the higher prices in the European […]

Analysts predict the global carbon market will double in worth to around €70 billion (£46bn) over 2015.

The Point Carbon team at Thomson Reuters says the higher prices in the European emissions trading scheme (EU ETS) already helped pushed the global value up by 15% during 2014 to €45 billion (£35bn).

Carbon credits on the EU market finally hit €7.4 per tonne in December 2014.

The carbon markets are trading platforms meant to encourage companies to reduce their carbon emissions by allocating a number of carbon credits to the firms. These credits can be traded and are meant to reward firms which cut their emissions and penalise those which breach their carbon limit and so need to buy more.

Hongliang Chai, Point Carbon analyst at Thomson Reuters said: “All eyes will be on Asia this year.”

He pointed to China’s seven fledgling carbon markets, suggesting they could double, potentially handling up to 40 million tonnes of carbon at a value of €146 million (£96.5m).

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