What to make of the surge in China’s carbon price?

The sharp rise in the price of carbon under China’s Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) this year, to a record high, underlines that Beijing sees carbon pricing as a key part of its emissions-reduction toolkit. Although the price of polluting in China is likely to stay much lower than in the EU over the coming years, China’s ETS is on track to overtake the EU’s as the world’s most valuable carbon market later this decade.

In view of the wider interest, this Climate Economics Update is also being sent to clients of our China Economics service.