How much will it cost to reach the Kyoto targets? Does the Emissions Trading Scheme jeopardise Europes competitiveness?
It depends on the set of measures chosen. One of the underlying principles of the European Climate Change Programme has consistently been to identify the most cost-effective measures to achieve the Kyoto targets. EC studies have concluded that the targets can be achieved at an annual cost of €2.9 to €3.7 billion, which is less than 0.1% of GDP in the EU. One of these studies concluded that without the Emissions Trading Scheme, costs could reach €6.8 billion. Emission trading thus allows the costs of Kyoto to be reduced.
