Emissions trading has become a central feature of global efforts to control climate change. Its inclusion in the Kyoto Protocol to the Framework Convention on Climate Change represents a victory for advocates of market-based instruments and builds upon twenty years of experience with trading schemes in the United States. However, the concept is controversial and attempts to introduce similar trading schemes in Europe have met with mixed results.This timely book provides a comprehensive overview of the theory and practice of emissions trading including the lessons learnt, the problems faced and the prospects for its extended use. It includes case studies of trading schemes in the US and Europe, and studies of international trading under the European acid rain regime. Problems of practical implementation, especially institutional feasibility and political acceptability, are given particular attention. The prospects for the international trading of greenhouse gases following the Kyoto Protocol are assessed, together with the potential conflict between emissions trading and established regulatory traditions.

Pollution for Sale will be of great interest to policymakers, practitioners, researchers and students of environmental policy.