RUSSIA MOVES ON EMISSIONS MKTS

Russia to power into global carbon trading market
18 March 2010 (RT)

"Russia could gain 10% of the global carbon trading market in the next 3-4 years. But the need to invest in environmental projects and a forest of red tape is slowing he process.

"The market in pollution quotas is worth about $130 billion globally, with the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme estimated to account for about 65% of that."

Ironically, Russia's emissions are worsening even as it prepares to make a killing in the emissions markets. (click to enlarge)

"Russia is a special situation. It's not yet a market player, but has a huge reserve of unspent quotas – around 60 million tonnes of CO2…Under the Kyoto protocol, these "permits to pollute" were granted to aging Soviet-era plants. Many of these plants no longer exist, and the [~500 million tonnes of allowances] can be sold to other polluters, for cash [via the Un joint implementation mechanism]…

"…[I]t could earn Russia up to 40 billion euro in foreign exchange this decade. Russia's Sberbank will market a number of joint projects to reduce greenhouse gases…Russia can take a huge part [~10%] of the pie…"

click to enlarge

"So far, not a single project from Russia has been offered on the global market…[but will in] a matter of months…

"However the Kyoto protocol expires in two years – and last December's Copenhagen summit broke up without agreement. Russia and other developing countries argue strongly for keeping the old carbon quotas, and Sberbank is confident now's a good time to give the green light to carbon trading."