ABSTRACT

The Australia-EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) linking negotiation was the first attempt to link ETSs with substantively different designs, and thus provides insights on the possibilities for heterogenous linking. It offers a case study of how emissions trading can enable cooperation between jurisdictions, while still being designed to fit local circumstances. This flexibility means that heterogeneous linking can accelerate the growth of international carbon markets, in turn enabling enhanced cooperation, reduced mitigation costs and therefore greater climate ambition. There is a range of drivers and facilitators of ETS-linking. Economic and political benefits drive cooperation, and this cooperation can be facilitated by geographic proximity, institutional compatibility, and cultural factors. In this paper, we use interviews with key policymakers from the European Commission and the Australian Government to assess the role of these factors in enabling cooperation. These interviews highlight the importance of domestic and international political considerations in driving cooperation in this case. Further, they show that mutual confidence in the quality of institutions and integrity of allowances was paramount to enabling the linking agreement. Cultural factors also contributed, with affinities built between technical experts facilitating policy and political problem-solving across jurisdictions. Ultimately, this case study shows that cooperation between highly diverse carbon markets is possible and may occur rapidly when the appropriate conditions are in place.

Key policy insights

• Heterogenous linking facilitates cooperation between emissions trading systems and jurisdictions by providing scope for those individual jurisdictions to adopt design features appropriate to their unique local circumstances.

• There are distinct factors that drive and facilitate cooperation. Economic and political factors motivate cooperation but facilitating factors can include geographic links, institutional compatibility and cultural factors.

• The perceived credibility of an ETS is a key factor in identifying cooperative partners for linking, particularly important are measures to ensure environmental integrity and manage potential impacts on competitiveness.

• Aligning institutional elements, such as registry standards or cooperation between financial market regulators, may hasten linking arrangements once political circumstances are conducive to such an outcome.

摘要

澳大利亚-欧盟排放交易体系 (ETS) 链接谈判是首次尝试将具有实质性不同设计的 ETS 链接起来，从而为异质链接的可能性提供了见解。它提供了一个案例研究，说明排放交易如何能够促进司法管辖区之间的合作，同时仍然适合当地情况。这种灵活性意味着异构链接可以加速国际碳市场的增长，从而加强合作，降低减缓成本，从而实现更大的气候目标。有一系列 ETS 链接的推动者和促进者。经济和政治利益推动合作，而这种合作可以通过地理邻近、制度兼容性和文化因素来促进。在本文中，我们通过与欧盟委员会和澳大利亚政府的主要决策者的访谈来评估这些因素在促进合作中的作用。这些采访强调了国内和国际政治考虑在推动本案合作方面的重要性。此外，它们表明，对机构质量和配额完整性的相互信任对于促成关联协议至关重要。文化因素也有所贡献，技术专家之间建立了密切的关系，促进了跨司法管辖区的政策和政治问题的解决。最终，本案例研究表明，高度多样化的碳市场之间的合作是可能的，并且在适当的条件到位时可能会迅速发生。

关键政策见解

• 异构链接通过为各个司法管辖区提供适合其独特当地情况的设计特征提供空间，促进了排放交易系统和司法管辖区之间的合作。

• 推动和促进合作的因素有很多。经济和政治因素促进合作，但促进因素可能包括地理联系、制度兼容性和文化因素。

• ETS 的可信度是确定合作伙伴进行链接的关键因素，特别重要的是采取措施确保环境完整性和管理对竞争力的潜在影响。

• 一旦政治环境有利于这种结果，调整制度要素，例如注册标准或金融市场监管机构之间的合作，可能会加速联系安排。