Consulting firm Point Carbon indicated today that the global carbon market has generated almost as much money in the first half of 2008 as it did in all of 2007.
The company said 1.8 gigatons of CO2 equivalent was traded globally in the first half of this year, worth more than $59 billion US dollars, compared with $62 billion for all of 2007. The aggregate worth of transactions in the first half of this year is already 94% of the value for all 2007 transactions, in large part because of a “notably higher” average carbon prices.
Point Carbon said that 70% of the 1.8 Gt CO2e traded thus far in 2008 was transacted within the EU Emissions Trading Zones, up from 61% over the same period in 2007.
In addition, Point Carbon said several new markets and market segments have been introduced, including the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in the U.S. , the trading scheme in Alberta, CA and the upcoming Austrailian federal Emissions Trading scheme.
