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Kyoto carbon credit glut is far larger than expected, warn analysts
September 13, 2012
Kyoto carbon credit glut is far larger than expected, warn analysts
The giant surplus of carbon credits currently in the global carbon market may never recede, reducing any hope of global emissions without significant increase in national emission reduction targets.
Countries signed up to legally-binding emission targets between 2008 to 2012 as part of the Kyoto Protocol and were given a set of tradable allowances called Assigned Amount Units (AAUs) with each equivalent to one metric tonne of CO2 equivalent. But analysis published by Thomson Reuters Point Carbon finds that by the end of the period, there will be an oversupply of about 13 billion tonnes (13.1Gt) of CO2 ? higher than the estimated demand of 11.5 million tonnes.
Point Carbon says the caps being proposed by governments are higher than the expected business-as-usual emissions for 2013 to 2020 and would create a new surplus of AAUs potentially as large as 3.6Gt and as international rules allow AAUs to be carried over, the total surplus could reach up to 16.2Gt.
Read more at BusinessGreen.
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