UK ETS launch reignites debate over emissions market linking
Opportunity to bring together UK and EU markets, but China’s new scheme lacks compatibility with other systems
The UK's launch last month of its emissions trading system (ETS) has brought the issue of linking markets back to the top of the agenda in climate policy circles. The existence of two carbon markets—the UK’s and the EU’s—in close geographical and economic proximity has highlighted the potential benefits of bringing such markets together. There is a strong consensus among proponents of carbon trading that bringing markets together generates efficiencies of scale, boosts liquidity and widens the scope of possible emissions reductions. But crucially, linking more markets around the world also places a hard limit on greenhouse gases on a higher proportion of the world’s emissions. According to t

Also in this section
7 August 2025
Draft law opens door to large-scale carbon capture and storage, and could unleash investment in gas-based hydrogen projects
6 August 2025
EU industry and politicians are pushing back against the bloc’s green agenda. Meanwhile, Brussels’ transatlantic trade deal with Washington could consolidate US energy dominance
22 July 2025
Sinopec hosts launch of global sharing platform as Beijing looks to draw on international investors and expertise
22 July 2025
Africa’s most populous nation puts cap-and-trade and voluntary markets at the centre of its emerging strategy to achieve net zero by 2060