Energy round-up: carbon markets have failed - by : Stephen Devlin
In theory, the world has the solution to soaring emissions – it’s called carbon pricing.
Carbon pricing is an attempt to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by charging polluters to cover their external costs. Most economists and policy-makers argue the only efficient way to do this is through establishing a market for carbon. This is done through an emissions trading scheme (ETS): a fixed number of emissions permits are issued and a cap is set on the total emissions allowed.