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▲Photo = Pixar Bay |
[에너지경제신문 유예닮 기자] European carbon credit prices have been soaring since the end of last year. The global market for carbon credits is also showing rapid growth.
On the 24th (local time), the British Economist reported that carbon credit prices in the European Union (EU) carbon credit trading market have risen by about 60% from November last year to the present. As of the 12th, the price of a credit that can emit 1 ton of carbon was 40 euros.
In addition, the global carbon credit market size last year was about $279 billion (about KRW 310 trillion), a five-fold increase from 2017.
In the global market growth, the EU market accounted for 90% of the total in terms of transaction volume and growth.
The reason why European emission permit prices are on the rise in recent years is due to strong upside factors in both supply and demand.
On the supply side, there was an agreement at the EU summit last December to further speed up the reduction of greenhouse gases.
The leaders of the 27 EU member states agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% compared to 1990 by 2030. This is further than the previous 40% reduction, and in order to achieve this, the EU stopped auctions of emissions permits from last January.
When the auction was stopped, the allowances traded in the market decreased significantly, and prices soared accordingly.
World financial capital flocked to the trading market when the price of emission permits was expected to rise, which led to an increase in demand and acted as a factor that further raises the price of emission permits.
According to The Economist, there are currently 230 investment funds around the world operating futures products linked to EU carbon credits, compared to 140 participants at the end of 2019.
The financial sector predicts that the EU’s agreement to expand greenhouse gas reduction will further reduce the amount of transactions in the carbon credit market and raise prices.
The newspaper cited a number of experts and said that it predicted that the price of credits would rise to 80 euros, double the current price in the long run.