Trading of Emission Certificates for Climate Protection: Using Markets and Private Capital for Development

The realisation that climate change is caused and can also be stopped by humankind gained increasing recognition in 2007. The magic threshold up to which an increase in the average global temperature is considered to be still tolerable is between 2° and 3° Celsius. If this threshold is exceeded, the consequences are significant and almost impossible to control. In order to avoid this, greenhouse gas emissions will have to be cut in half against 1990 emission levels over the next 40 years around the globe. To achieve this, the European Union set itself ambitious goals in early 2007.