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Climate Action
News article8 July 2016Directorate-General for Climate Action

EU launches €3.5 million emissions trading cooperation project with Korea

The EU today launched a €3.5 million cooperation project with the Republic of Korea to support the implementation of East Asia's first national emissions trading system. The project, which will run for three years, marks a new chapter in climate...

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The EU today launched a €3.5 million cooperation project with the Republic of Korea to support the implementation of East Asia's first national emissions trading system. The project, which will run for three years, marks a new chapter in climate change cooperation, which plays an important part in the Strategic Partnership between the EU and Korea.

The Korean Emissions Trading System (KETS), established in 2015, is the main policy measure for achieving Korea's greenhouse gas reduction targets under the Paris Agreement – the new global climate change agreement agreed by world leaders last December. With more than a decade of experience with the EU emissions trading system (EU ETS), the EU is providing technical assistance during the early years of operation of the KETS.

Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete said: "We are living up to the promises we made in Paris. With our successful cooperation project with China and now Korea, we are sharing more than a decade of pioneering EU experience in emissions trading and demonstrating our support for domestic carbon market initiatives. I hope that China's and now Korea's experience can be a trigger to expand emissions trading systems across the region. We need resolute action by all countries to keep climate change in check as we agreed in Paris and the ETS is a proven, cost-effective tool to cut emissions."

The project is funded under the EU's Foreign Partnership Instrument with in-kind contribution from the Korean government and will be steered jointly by the EU and the Korean Ministry of Strategy and Finance.

Last month, the Commission announced it was stepping up its collaboration with China on emissions trading, with a new 10 million EUR (more than 70 million yuan) project, also funded under the EU's Foreign Partnership Instrument. Emissions trading is playing an increasingly important role in China, where a nationwide carbon market will be launched in 2017.

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Publication date
8 July 2016
Author
Directorate-General for Climate Action