<p>The aim of this thesis is to study China's position regarding the global climate and the numerous topics discussed in the global meetings held during 1997, ending in the Kyoto summit in the same year. Chinas position during this year was evidently on the side of developing countries. China regarded topics such as technology transfer, emission trading and Commitments for the participating parties as very important topics which had to be considered. Chinas final position regarding these subjects was during 1997:</p><p>- Increased funding and technology transfer resources to developing countries.</p><p>- Objection to the inclusion of emission trading in the protocol.</p><p>- No new commitments of any nature for developing countries.</p><p>- National development is Chinas key issue.</p>

Consequences of global warming and climate change issues have become more apparent over the last several decades. Heat waves, floods, tornados and storms are not just natural disasters occurring elsewhere, but they are now serious environmental catastrophes threatening New Zealand (NZ) and nearby countries as a result of continously escalating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Thus, the Kyoto Protocol was prepared for countries to work collaborately to provide a solution through encourging countries to commit themselves to reducing their individual share of the total GHG emissions. To date, NZ has gone through several phases of modification – introducing and revising two distinctive climate change policies (a Carbon Tax and an Emissions Trading Scheme [ETS]) as a tool to reduce GHG in NZ. These attempts to address climate change, coupled with the question raised by McDonald (Irish Times, 2009) doubting the actual effect of a tax on behaviour-change, provide an extensive basis for a case study in a NZ context involving an evaluation of the effectiveness of these regimes on incentivising behaviour-change to reduce and stablise the level of GHG emissions. In an attempt to answer the research question and conduct a case study in a NZ context, a triangulation approach incorporating both quantitative and qualitative research methods was undertaken. Statistical data analysis was conducted as a quantitative method to analyse and compare numerical changes 'with‘ and 'without‘ the existence of climate change policies. To enhance the results obtained from the quantitative research, qualitative information was also collected by interviewing politicians directly related to the introduction, implementation and the review process of the climate change policies in a semi-structured manner. The results of this study reinforced the need for regulations and policies to reduce and maintain the level of GHG emissions. Statistical data analysis proved that the existence of climate change policies results in lower level of GHG emissions. The interviewees also perceived that some sort of policy is definitely required to regulate the level of emissions, although whether the current, National-led Government‘s modfied-ETS is the 'right' approach is still uncertain. However, the majority of interviewees agreed that the type of tool does not matter, as long as it is correctly-designed to reflect the necessary policies to influence the decision making process of individuals and businesses, and ultimately change their behaviour as a result. However, in order to maintain NZ‘s relationship with other countries, it is preferable to retain its ETS regime until other countries decide to do otherwise.

For more than 20 years, cap-and-trade system has served as an efficient market-based mechanism to reduce emission of air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and greenhouse gas. In this system, a limited amount of emission allowances are traded between affected firms with no price restriction. A potential problem arises when market demand of the allowances significantly surpasses market supply: allowance prices could boom to unexpected high level that jeopardizes the overall economy. Safety valve, an innovative mechanism, sets an upper limit of the allowance price and eliminates the risk of allowance price spike. Yet individual firms would bear less incentive to undertake substantial investment in costly emission reduction equipment. This paper analyzes how firms would change their investment strategy when we add a safety valve to a cap-and trade system. Since the allowance price evolution process is time dependent and does not follow the standard Geometric Brownian Motion, there is no analytical solution to this problem, hence we base our analysis on numerical analysis. Using a lattice model, we conclude that a safety valve would undoubtedly delay firms’ actual investment in emission reduction equipment. We also conduct sensitivity tests to analyze how would a firm’s investment strategy respond to change in some model parameters.

I explore the effects of the implementation of the two U.S. cap-and-trade policies on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for the two regions in which the policies are active as well as the regions on their respective borders. The cap-and-trade policy is a market-based approach to reduce emissions by capping the total amount of emissions produced and allowing emission producing entities to trade emission allowances on an open market. The two active cap-and-trade policies in the United States are the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), located in the northeastern United States, and in California, which differ in design, scope, and duration. I use a difference in differences design to analyze the change in CO2 emissions in the states effected by the policies relative to the rest of the country. I find that the RGGI policy has not reduced CO2 emissions in comparison to the rest of the non-policy states but only the California emission trading system has yielded a statistically significant decline. The results also find that the there is no evidence to suggest different changes in CO2 emissions in the states bordering both regions in which the policies are in place.

How to avoid and deal with dangerous climate change, which will have catastrophic economic and social consequences, has already become the focus worldwide. From the UNFCCC to the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, the international community has been trying to find effective means to reduce GHGs. Facing both internal demand and external pressure, as the largest carbon dioxide emitter, China needs to make further efforts to reduce CO2 emissions. So far, emission trading, especially the EU ETS has proved to be a good system to reduce emissions with low cost. In this thesis, the valuable experience and lessons of the EU ETS and the current situation of China are reviewed. The necessity, feasibility and limitations of applying the EU ETS in China are analyzed through comparative study and SWOT – PEST analytical model. In the light of the analysis result that establishing its own emission trading scheme based on the EU ETS will be a good choice for China, several recommendations are put forward concerning both the process of the “Sino ETS” and various stakeholders.

氣候變遷已然成為國際間急需面對的課題。為了減輕溫室氣體排放量所採取之環境政策工具，不僅需要內國及國際環境法制加以處理，也需要輔以經濟誘因來推動溫室氣體減量工作。開發中國家因經濟成長使排放量急劇增加，包括亞洲主要國家的中國大陸、南韓、日本與台灣等，也開始積極推動碳交易機制。 碳交易機制連結是一種將各國的碳交易機制有組織性地連結而成全球碳交易市場的方式，在目前全球氣候變遷制度談判僵局之下，亞洲國家積極建立推動各國碳交易機制及其法規，亞洲碳交易市場連結發展之可能性成為氣候變遷焦點之一。本文採取文獻回顧法及歸納法，透過檢視分析學者文獻、歐盟、加州與魁北克碳交易機制的連結法規制度，探討連結碳交易機制所需要的法規要素，藉由分析成功的連結經驗，以探討亞洲國家複製歐盟、加州與魁北克碳交易機制連結模式之可行性。 以亞洲國家現今關於碳交易制度的立法規劃來看，目前只有韓國法規具有明確立法連結之相關規定，因此，進而比對韓國連結法規是否已具備足以對外連結之規範及要素，檢視韓國在運行了韓國碳交易機制之後，是否會有對外連結的可能性。台灣雖然已經於2015年通過溫室氣體減量及管理法，並於同年7月生效之，在該法規中有連結之基本概念，但是對於其他如減量階段時程、抵銷詳細規範等，在法規中或其他相關法規中未有具體擘劃。 在面臨亞洲地區一個大型的區域性碳交易市場即將崛起之際，亞洲地區的國家若要發展下一步的連結碳交易機制，在法規制度內須對於對外連結有明確的法律授權，其碳交易機制才有望可發展後續的對外連結。 / In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, every country should not only construct the international environmental law and country law, but also use economic strategies as assistant. The emission increases sharply because of rapid economic growth in developing countries in Asia. Therefore, major Asian countries including China, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, promote the emission trading system. The emissions trading system is a key tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Linking the emission trading systems is an organized way to create a global carbon market. When the global climate change negotiation is deadlocked, a growing number of countries in Asia are integrating cap-and-trade systems into their national climate policies, so that the probability of developing the carbon market in Asia becomes the main issue. This study summarizes and refers to the scholars’ reference materials, the law and regulation of the EU, California and Quebec emission trading systems. The aim of the study is to: (1) generalize the legal and institutional requirements for linking emissions trading systems by analyzing the experiences from the EU, California and Quebec; (2) discuss whether emission trading systems in Asia could be linked. The study concludes that only South Korea has the relevant legislation that authorizes linking with other emissions trading systems in Asia. It is more likely that South Korea emission trading system will establish link to other countries. By viewing and comparing the legal requirements for linking emissions trading system in this study, however, it seems like that there are still some legal challenges for South Korea to be fully prepared for linking with other emissions trading systems in the short term.

Questo lavoro esamina la relazione tra politiche ambientali ed eco-innovazione, discutendo i contributi teorici sull'argomento e i risultati delle analisi di valutazione ex-post degli effetti di politiche ambientali in contesti diversi. Si applica l'analisi degli effetti indotti d'innovazione ambientale al caso dell'emission trading europeo, il sistema di scambio dei permessi d'emissione d'anidride carbonica introdotto in Europa (Eu ets) con la direttiva 2007/83 nel 2005. Si esamina la configurazione dell'euts, il suo scostamento da un sistema ideale di permessi in grado di fornire il massimo incentivo all'innovazione, la performance del primo biennio di applicazione, confrontando emissioni allocate e verificate. Si analizza la risposta dell'industria cartaria italiana all'emission trading, attraverso lo sviluppo di un caso di studio che utilizza i risultati di un questionario sottoposto agli impianti cartari nel maggio 2007 e una serie d'interviste a operatori del settore. / This works examines the effects of environmental policies on the eco-innovation process. The theories analyzing the relationship between environmental policy intervention, the choice of instruments, their role as innovation drivers are discussed and a great number of ex-post empirical analysis of the effects of policy intervention on the environmental innovation process are evaluated. The analysis of the effects of environmental policies and innovation is applied to the case of the European union emission trading scheme (EU ETS). EU ets was introduced by directive 2003/87/ec and is the cornerstone of the European climate policy. The design of EU ets and its application during the period 2005-2007 are examined. The response of the Italian paper industry to the introduction of EU ets and its innovation effects are examined through the development of a case study, based on the results of a questionnaire submitted to the Italian paper plants subjected to EU ets.

This thesis analysis the impact of private road transport under emission trading using two different Computable General Equilibrium models. A static multi-region model with special emphasis on the European Union, addresses the welfare impact of road transport under the European Emission Trading System. Including terms-of-trade effects, this model does not account for congestion which is the main externality of road transport. Furthermore, technological details of electricity generation which are an important factor in evaluating climate policies are not included. Therefore, the second model is a static Small Open Economy model of the German economy including congestion effects and detailed technological characteristics of electricity generation. The results of both models highlight the important role of already existing taxes on transport fuels for the evaluation of carbon mitigation measures in road transportation.

This thesis analysis the impact of private road transport under emission trading using two different Computable General Equilibrium models. A static multi-region model with special emphasis on the European Union, addresses the welfare impact of road transport under the European Emission Trading System. Including terms-of-trade effects, this model does not account for congestion which is the main externality of road transport. Furthermore, technological details of electricity generation which are an important factor in evaluating climate policies are not included. Therefore, the second model is a static Small Open Economy model of the German economy including congestion effects and detailed technological characteristics of electricity generation. The results of both models highlight the important role of already existing taxes on transport fuels for the evaluation of carbon mitigation measures in road transportation.

This paper deals with issues in the influence emission trading has on investment decisions. It explains the system of emissions trading and focuses on the emergence and development of European emissions trading and describes its influence on the Czech Republic. It briefly describes questions of investment decisions in a company, in particular the methods and criteria of investment decisions. The main goal of the paper is to analyse the influence of emissions trading on investment decisions. The analysis is made using investment projects in a real company. With the help of economic evaluation of investments, it classifies variations of investment projects when the influence of emission trading is excluded or with different prices of emission allowances. Using this analysis, I will try to prove that emissions trading can disadvantage some investments, which would otherwise be economically effective and feasible.