The cornerstone of Norwegian climate policy, the emissions trading scheme , has so far not lead to any significant emissions cuts at home.
Norway committed fully to the EU emissions trading scheme in 2008, and since then Norwegian companies had to consider whether it would be cheaper to cut their emissions or buy a quota from a company abroad.
The conclusion as of now is that it has been cheaper to acquire quotas, Dagens Næringsliv (DN) writes and refers to a new report by researchers at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) and Statistics Norway (SSB).
– The quota system has not contributed notably to any reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from Norwegian companies,one of the researchers behind the report, Professor Knut Einar Rosendahl at NMBU says.
In the first phase, 2005-2007, when Norway was only partially included in the quota system, the system gave zero emission reductions. The same is true of the one year of the third phase researchers have been able to analyze ,2013.
– We find some tendencies on emissions in the second phase, but can’t say this for certain. Rosendahl told DN. Phase Two lasted from 2008 until 2012.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today