Carbon trading issues

Three years ago, in anticipation of substantial growth in the voluntary and compliance carbon markets, governments and business groups around the Asia-Pacific region were jockeying to establish a regional hub for carbon trading, including New Zealand, which had dreams of becoming the world’s ‘Green Wall Street’, writes Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop for a New York Times special report on energy. The New Zealand Stock Exchange started working on developing a carbon trading system and a carbon registry. After three years, little concrete progress has been achieved in the region, though New Zealand, the first jurisdiction outside Europe to commit to a nationwide mandatory carbon pricing plan, started the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme on July 1. “NZX has the platform, the technology and the capability to run a carbon market,” New Zealand stock exchange spokeswoman Merja Myllylahti said. “We generated a very good return out of the carbon registry business.” “However, the Emissions Trading Scheme, as it is designed, has very little liquidity. Building the platform does not in itself create the market.” Still, she said, “were this to change in future, we will be ready.”