Contenu du sommaire : La finance carbone

Carbon markets in the world A review of transactions on the so-called « carbon markets », both exchanges of project based greenhouse gases emissions credits and emissions allowance trading, shows that the carbon markets are growing steadily and are maturing rapidly, driven by the twin entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol and of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme at the beginning of 2005. However, several challenges remain for the development of these markets in the medium-and long-run. JEL classification : Q25 [Q53, Q58]

The European carbon market : an environmental Bretton Woods At the prospect of the Kyoto Protocol, the EU implemented its own emissions trading scheme in January 2005. The rationale behind emissions trading is to ensure that the required overall emission reductions take place where the cost of the reduction is lowest in order to save on greenhouse gases emissions credits and to sell them. Conversely, the actors who can't reduce enough their emissions have to purchase allowances on this market. The Kyoto Protocol and the European Directive created an environmental Bretton Woods with closely linked international currencies. These international agreements set up an original public/private market which would be copied elsewhere in the world. JEL classification : Q54, Q58

Development aid and carbon market The participation of developing countries in the « carbon market » is made possible only through the clean development mechanism. It has two objectives by allowing developed countries to reduce their emissions at low costs and by contributing to the sustainable development of the developing countries. According to the most recent studies, the developing countries will benefit from CDM market an income and flows of investment associated summing up respectively approximately to 1 billion $ and six billion $ annually over the period 2008-2012 (13 billion $ for ODA and 70 billion $ for FDI). However, because of the proximity of the commitment period, uncertainties regarding Post-Kyoto, and the complexity nature of the CDM, the current trends in the « carbon market » are not in favour of these countries. Vis-à-vis this situation, the role of a development agency will be to contribute to the reduction of the transaction costs in order to facilitate financial flows and to help them in maximising the sustainable benefits of CDM projects. JEL classification : F35, K32, Q01, Q25, Q28

The main challenges in the post-Kyoto period The two main challenges in the post 2012 period are to bring the United States back into the negotiation and to find ways to associate the developing countries in the common reduction effort. The United States vision is presently very focused on technological issues. This often seems to conflict with the European point of view which focuses on emission trading schemes. Thus a first challenge is to reconcile those two visions and develop a common understanding of how to accelerate research on climate change technologies. Regarding the developing countries issue, the main challenge is to accelerate the transfer of clean technologies into those countries, in order to alter their emissions trajectories in the long run. The Clean Development Mechanism will not be enough ; new instruments and new modalities of association with those countries will have to be developed within the post 2012 framework. JEL classification : Q53, Q54, Q58

The impact of climate policies on the carbon price and the energy markets Based on simulations of the POLES model, this paper aims to analyse the interactions between policies to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere and the fundamentals of the world oil market. The « carbon value » is the modelling device that reflects the relative harshness of climate policies. It represents the signal that triggers socially responsible investments addressing the climate challenge, ie greenhouse gas abatement investments. We compare a Reference energy scenario and a scenario of emission reductions by a factor four in industrialized countries by 2050. The results show that very ambitious climate policies allow both to mitigate climate change and to manage the depletion of world oil resources. JEL classification : Q58, Q41

National Allocation Plans and equity (France/Europe) In their National Allocation Plans, France and the other Member States disclosed the allocation of allowances to the energy and industrial sectors, and explicated their methodologies, which are based on needs. The aim of this paper is to question the equity of this distribution : we explore what equity means in this context, referring to the American philosopher J. Rawls, the father of modern theories on distributive justice. The methodology appears to be doubtful from the equity point of view : this can be a key point for the mid-term review of the system and the definition of the NAPs for the second period (2008-2012). JEL classification : D24, D63, M14, Q52, Q54

The determinants of the detention and the use of the payment instruments : theoretical and empirical elements The object of this article is to present the state of the theoretical and empirical literature on the determinants of the detention and the use by the consumers of the payment instruments. We distinguish two main types of determinants : those related on the payment instruments and the transactions, and those related to the agents. We note that empirical research largely contributed to the understanding of the reasons for the use of the payment instruments even if some questions are not yet solved today. We conclude this paper by proposing further researches. JEL classification : E4, E41