FinSoul has learned that as hopes fade of Australia and the U.S. adopting national cap-and-trade schemes, Asia seems to have taken the initiative and forged ahead with a number of emissions trading schemes in recent weeks.
China, according to recent reports, has just launched an emissions trading scheme in the northern port-city of Tianjin. The inaugural sale of “Carbon Emission Allowances” which were issued by three heating supplier projects saw Citigroup Global Markets and Gazprom stake an early claim in what may soon develop into a highly lucrative market, with deals worth more than $73, 250 for allowances for energy equivalent to about 4,500 metric tons of coal.
FinSoul research has indicated that initially the scheme, run by the Tianjin Carbon Exchange, will only cover heating firms and hospitals but may later expand to include other sectors.
The new initiative follows similar pilot projects in Beijing and Shanghai, but the Tianjin project is the first to successfully sell credits to foreign businesses.
FinSoul has also learned that in recent weeks Tokyo has confirmed that the city will launch a mandatory cap-and-trade scheme covering more than 1,400 large factories and firms in April of this year.
In a recent interview the Environment Minister Sakihito Ozawa said that the initiative had been in the pipeline for over a year and that he hoped the scheme would speed up governments plan for a nation-wide emissions trading program.
Earlier in the year, the Indian government announced its plans to develop trading scheme for energy efficiency credits in what government source are predicting may be a market worth around $16 billion in five years.
