Industrial Emissions Abatement: Untangling the Impacts of the EU ETS and the Economic Crisis

Germà Bel and Stephan Joseph ()
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Stephan Joseph: Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona

No 201422, IREA Working Papers from University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics

Abstract: In this study we use historical emission data from installations under the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) to evaluate the impact of this policy on industrial greenhouse gas emissions during the first two trading phases (2005-2012). As such the analysis seeks to disentangle two causes of emission abatement: that attributable to the EU ETS and that attributable to the economic crisis that hit the EU in 2008/09. Using a panel data approach the estimated emissions reduction attributable to the EU ETS is about 21% of the total emission abatement during the observation period. These results suggest therefore that the lion’s share of abatement was attributable to the effects of the economic crisis, a finding that has serious implications for future policy adjustments affecting core elements of the EU ETS, including the distribution of EU emission allowances.

Keywords: Climate policy; European Union Emissions Trading System; panel data analysis; verified emission data JEL classification: C23 O13 Q54 Q58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 23 pages
Date: 2014-10, Revised 2014-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene, nep-env, nep-eur and nep-reg
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ira:wpaper:201422

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