Carbon Trading

The trade in a new commodity has been created and is already underway - the trade in carbon. The implementation of the Kyoto Protocol adds a huge impetus to the many emissions trading schemes that are already operating
around the world, including Europe.

The European Union has launched the world's largest Emissions Trading Scheme, and the first under the Kyoto Protocol. Since January this year some 12,0000 companies are now being forced to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide they pump into the air or purchase allowances called "carbon credits" to emit more.

The emissions trading scheme kicked off with a few teething problems. Several EU member states had not yet submitted their plans outlining the upper caps at which their companies were permitted to emit, while some environmentalists complained that some of the caps set were too high and therefore too lenient. Economists at the World Bank also noted that less stringent domestic plans caused the price of "carbon" to drop.

And now Britain, which has put itself at the forefront of climate change negotiations, has run into problems with the European Commission by allowing its industry to pollute more than is permitted by Brussels. The EU environment commissioner Stavros Dimas has warned that Britain may be fined for breaching EU law.