A Comparative Study Of The International Carbon Trading Market

By the high carbon economy to a low carbon economy is a common issuefacing the human social and economic development. The Kyoto Protocol gives aneffective system design, through the market mechanism to promote the developmentof a low carbon economy. Completed the industrialization of the United Kingdom,European Union, the United States, Japan and other developed countries and regionshave established a carbon trading market system. To the BRIC countries of Brazil,India, Russia and other developing countries, the road of industrialization, are tryingto establish a carbon trading market system. China as the largest developing countryin global carbon emissions, to achieve energy saving and consistency to maintainstable economic growth, need to play the role of the carbon market mechanisms.However, in the process of the establishment of carbon trading market, there is lackof market players, lack of relevant laws and regulations, market managementagencies missing status. Compared with developed countries, the existence of "threemissings" an important reason for this is the basic theory and applied research ofChina's carbon trading market is lagging behind. Normal in terms of theoreticalresearch should be based on economic realities, and explore the principles and rulesof the economic phenomenon behind. But,due to the stage of economic developmentof China which, to maintain high economic growth to be the primary objective,ignoring the hidden costs behind the high growth rates or deferred cost accounting.At present, the basic theory of the carbon trading market in the interpretation of theconcept and re-understanding stage, the application of theoretical research hasobvious policy-oriented, focused on the feasibility studies of the policy itself.Although China has established a number of environmental exchanges, however, nosystematic institutional mechanism design, basically a flash in the pan.Has established a carbon trading market system of the country, and thesubsequent policy formulation and mechanism design, the first study of the economic theory has played an important role in guiding the thinking and directionfor the follow-up of institutional arrangements. "Pigou tax" and the "CoaseTheorem" is the guidance and representation of the two studies. The renownedeconomist Arthur Pigou, the economic and external governance measures, and thepersonal costs and social costs that impose a corrective tax equal to, in order tocorrect negative externalities. According to Pigou's theory, should increase theappropriate tax on who cause environmental damage to compensate for its damageof interest to others. "Pigou tax" corrective measures to solve environmentalproblems, but there are two flaws. First, the tax to determine the balance of benefitsand compensation difficult to achieve, the tax is too high may affect the normaldevelopment of the economy, is too low, they can not be assessed the full social costs,to achieve refined calculations more difficult. Second, simple tax can not reach thetotal amount of sewage, as long as profitable, the sewage will continue to, not afundamental solution to environmental problems. "Coase Theorem" provides aviable theoretical guidance to solve the pollutants total emissions. Coase thought aslong as the property rights defined, can achieve the optimal allocation of resources tothe transaction. Environment owned by the whore human beings, the right toeconomic development also owned by the whole human beings. Stages of economicdevelopment based on fossil energy consumption, there are bound to be damage tothe environment, but the damage must be within the scope of environmental carrying.Existing carbon emissions trading mechanism to follow the Coase Theorem, to givethe total amount of greenhouse gas emissions to property rights, and the amountallocated to the business or interest groups. Balance of the quota to get the tradingmarket for sale, Insufficient quota in the market to buy such a system designed toachieve optimal allocation of resources and efficient use.At present, the carbon emission right has become an asset derived from avariety of financial products. According to the United Nations and the World Bankpredicted that the size of the 2012 global carbon emissions trading market will reach$ 120 billion, possibly more than the oil market has become the world's largestcommodity trading market. The world's most representative and most actively traded emissions system undoubtedly was the EU emissions trading system (ETS),Emissions trade system of the Chicago and Japan's carbon emissions trading market.The EU emissions trading system accounted for 70 percent of global carbonemissions trading, is a pioneer in international carbon emissions trading. Prior to theestablishment of the EU emissions trading system, the United Kingdom has alreadybegun the exploration of carbon emissions trading, featuring a set mandatoryemission reduction targets, government-led definition of emission quotas, and set upa "carbon fund" a series of policies and measures, accumulated a wealth ofexperience and a wide range of transactions subject to the establishment of the EUemissions trading system. It is a top-down style trading system. Chicago tradingsystem is a bottom-up mechanism design. The U.S. government for the protection oftheir resource-intensive and labor-intensive industries, there is no set mandatoryemission reduction targets, the establishment and involved in the transaction by thebusiness organizations of their own. Japan's carbon emissions trading market by thestate laws and regulations, large consortia-led proxy government to implement somemanagement functions, on the one hand, to purchase emission quotas to offsetdomestic emissions reduction targets in the international market, on the one hand,positive CDM projects in cooperation with developing countries, arbitrage in theinternational market through the sale of certified emission reductions (CER). Inrecent years, the "BRIC countries" on behalf of developing countries trying toparticipate in carbon trading system, but due to the imperfect institutionalmechanisms, the transaction is the basic limitations of the certified CDM projects,placed in the bottom of the international industrial chain.As a developing country, China is facing the challenges of the internationalindustrial upgrading, the pressure of the international political environment, thecompetition of the international carbon trading market, to build China's carbonemissions trading system, the development of institutional constraints must beovercome to change the increment of GDP led development concept, changing themode of development. Determine the total emissions of the quota allocation rules bylaw, to ensure the clarity of the transaction object property, at the same time have a good policy system to ensure that the product attributes of the carbon emissionsreleased into the atmosphere carbon exists as a substance does not have PropertyRights, is neither a commodity nor an asset. Therefore, if China wants to establish acarbon trading market system, we must first define the carbon property rights,environment, and property rights. Carbon emissions trading system must also haveindependent oversight bodies outside of the main players in the market to managethe market, the main qualification, certification market the object of a real andeffective, maintaining trading order. The traditional spot market has greaterlimitations, limiting the size of the market. If there is no scale, it will be no pricingcontrol. China's carbon emissions trading system through the development of options,futures and other financial products, to improve the rate of circulation ofcommodities, expand trade scale and diversity of the means of transaction.