The environmental and economic effects of European emissions trading

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

In this article, we analyse the effects of emissions trading in Europe, with special reference to Germany. We look at the value of the flexibility gained by trading compared to fixed quotas. The analysis is undertaken with a modified version of the GTAP-E model using the latest GTAP version 6 database. It is based on the national allocation plans (NAP) as submitted to and approved by the EU. We find that, in a regional emissions trading scheme, Germany, Great Britain and the Czech Republic are the main sellers of emissions permits, while Belgium, Denmark, Finland and Sweden are the main buyers. The welfare gains from regional emissions trading—for the trading sectors only—are largest for Belgium, Denmark and Great Britain; smaller for Finland and Sweden, and smallest for Germany and other regions. When we take into account the economy-wide and terms-of-trade effects of emissions trading, however, (negative) terms-of-trade effects can offset the (positive) allocative efficiency gains for the cases of the Netherlands and Italy, while all other regions end up with positive net welfare gains. All regions, however, experienced increases in real GDP as a result of regional emissions trading.

Original languageEnglish
JournalClimate Policy
Volume6
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)441-455
Number of pages15
ISSN1469-3062
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.01.2006
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
1 Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on EU policies and measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: Towards a European Climate Change Programme (ECCP), Com(2000)88 final.

    Research areas

  • Economics - Computational general equilibrium, Economic assessment, European emissions trading