Climate 411

The author of today’s article, Annie Petsonk, is International Counsel at Environmental Defense.

When European countries ratified the Kyoto Protocol, they pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. To prepare, they designed the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS), now the world’s largest greenhouse gas cap-and-trade system.

Since the launch of the EU-ETS in January 2005, allowance prices have been volatile and are currently hovering around zero.

Click on graph to enlarge.

Many people point to these figures and proclaim the EU-ETS a failure. Here’s why they’re wrong.

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Today’s guest blogger, Annie Petsonk, is International Counsel at Environmental Defense.

The Group of Eight (G8) is an international forum of eight industrialized countries representing the lion’s share of the world’s economy. High on this year’s agenda is global warming, with European countries calling for a mandatory 50 percent cut in global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Recognizing that America must take the lead, the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) has gone even further. This group of 27 leading U.S. companies and environmental groups has urged Congress to enact legislation [PDF] mandating that the U.S. cut emissions by 60 to 80 percent by 2050.

Today the G8 Summit reached an agreement.

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