European Stakeholders’ Willingness to Link the EU ETS and the Guangdong ETS

The EU is in favour of linking carbon markets, recognizing it as a cost effective way to reduce emissions and show political leadership. China is piloting emissions trading with the plan to scale up. Linking the two schemes as an option came on the horizon. We surveyed 13 high-profile stakeholders about their willingness to link the EU ETS and the Guangdong ETS, the largest of the seven pilots. The results vary from different interest groups. Our findings are in line with the European Commission´s position. An immediate linkage is not possible due to current diverging market design features but further robustness studies about future convergence of the two markets would be highly welcome. The stakeholder consultation found that the majority of surveyed stakeholders involved in the EU ETS were sceptical that direct linkage negotiations with the Guangdong ETS could start immediately, but would embrace any suggested options for exploring the robustness of a potential future common market, exchange information and good practices.