The Globalization of Carbon Trading: Transnational Business Coalitions in Climate Politics

Posted: 7 Nov 2014

See all articles by Jonas Meckling

Jonas Meckling

University of California, Berkeley

Date Written: 2011

Abstract

Over the past decade, carbon trading has emerged as the policy instrument of choice in the industrialized world to address global climate change. In this article I argue that a transnational business coalition, representing mostly energy firms and energy-intensive manufacturers, actively promoted the global rise of carbon trading. In this process, business was able to draw on the support of government allies and business-oriented environmental groups, particularly in the UK and the US. Alongside its allies, the coalition had pivotal influence in the internationalization of carbon trading through the Kyoto Protocol, in the U-turn of the EU from skeptic to frontrunner on carbon trading and in the re-import of carbon trading to the US. While business was not able to prevent mandatory emission controls, it was able to critically affect the regulatory style of climate policy in favor of low-cost, market-based options.

Suggested Citation

Meckling, Jonas, The Globalization of Carbon Trading: Transnational Business Coalitions in Climate Politics (2011). Global Environmental Politics, Vol. 11, No. 2, 2011, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2519819

Jonas Meckling (Contact Author)

University of California, Berkeley ( email )

310 Barrows Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720
United States

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