U.S., Japan, Germany Among 18 Nations to Build Carbon Markets

by Mathew Carr (BloombergBusiness) Markets will help drive emission reductions under Paris deal;
Rules needed to ensure markets have environmental integrity -- Eighteen nations including the U.S., Japan and Germany will work together to develop international carbon markets to help speed the pace of emission reductions under the Paris climate deal struck Saturday, according to the New Zealand government.

The nations will develop standards and guidelines to ensure trading of carbon credits has environmental integrity, according to a statement sent by Jonathan Franklin, spokesman for Tim Groser, New Zealand’s climate and trade minister.

Saturday’s deal by envoys from more than 190 countries gathered in Paris allows cooperation between nations to meet emission-limitation pledges. It also creates a new market to promote sustainable development, speeding carbon cuts by state entities and private companies. China plans to create the world’s biggest carbon market by 2017, about double the size of 10-year old European program, currently the largest. China and India aren’t part of the 18-nation group.

The countries are Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Korea, Senegal, Ukraine, and the U.S. READ MORE