Working Paper

EU ETS and the new green paradox

Knut Einar Rosendahl
CESifo, Munich, 2019

CESifo Working Paper No. 7645

With the new rules of the EU ETS, involving cancellation of allowances, cumulative emissions are no longer fixed but depending on the market outcome. Perino (2018) showed that additional abatement effort can reduce cumulative emissions if it occurs within a few years. This article shows that Perino’s result will be reversed, i.e., cumulative emissions increase, if the abatement effort is at a later year, or permanent. Thus, a new green paradox has emerged.

CESifo Category
Resources and Environment
Energy and Climate Economics
Keywords: emissions trading, green paradox, EU ETS, MSR
JEL Classification: H230, Q540, Q580