The Copenhagen summit was a heavy blow to the hopes of environmentalists – and to prospects for a much bigger, more global carbon market. Without agreement on capping emissions, it is hard to know what carbon is worth. But emissions trading specialists are taking it in their stride. As Siân Williams discovers, there is still plenty of momentum in the market – even in the US.
The political stalemate at the Copenhagen climate change conference in December has thrown a cold bucket of doubt over the carbon market.
Up to a few months before the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change summit, many believed that a global agreement could be reached, containing measures significant enough to change the outlook for carbon markets.
But as the summit approached the mood became more sober, and the eventual outcome was worse than many had expected.
Many questions are impossible to answer definitively: will a global...