Emissions trading as a policy option for greenhouse gas mitigation in South Africa

Emissions trading is fast becoming one of the most popular policy instruments for reducing greenhouse gas emissions internationally. This hybrid instrument combines the certainty of mitigation volume delivered by regulation, whilst also harnessing the power of the market through an economic approach to deliver migitation price discovery and least cost mitigation opportunities. Theoretically, this is a powerful combination.However, the realities of uncertainty and lack of information result in international emissions trading experience deviating substantially from the instrument’s theoretical potential. This is of particular relevance in a developing country context. Scheme design is therefore very important to counter these market failures, and policymakers are required to strike a balance between this and introducing distortions. Given that the instrument is in its infancy, performance of the various schemes up and running internationally is inconclusive. Emissions trading proponents argue that the benefits will be realised over time, once the initial teething problems are overcome. The paper is the result of research conducted in 2008 and presented at the South African Climate Policy Summit in 2009. It considers theory and international experience in application to the potential establishment of an emissions trading scheme in South Africa. Lack of data, capacity and experience with markets in the energy sector present complications in the use of the instrument as a central part of the nation’s mitigation policy suite, as do market concentration issues. Should an emissions trading be proposed, the paper argues for ways in which its design could address these complications, and align with the current energy security imperative resulting from the electricity crisis in the country, the twin political objectives of poverty reduction and employment creation of the recently elected government, and the timeframes proposed by the Long Term Mitigation Scenarios.

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An Optimal Energy and Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Path for South Africa in the Short to Medium Term

Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies - 6th International Conference ◽

10.1016/b978-008044276-1/50141-0 ◽

2003 ◽

pp. 895-900

Author(s):

M HOWELLS ◽

M SOLOMON

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Greenhouse Gas Mitigation ◽

Medium Term ◽

Optimal Energy

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Evaluation of policy instruments for supporting greenhouse gas mitigation efforts in agricultural and urban land use

Land Use Policy ◽

10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104991 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 99 ◽

pp. 104991

Author(s):

Leena Kärkkäinen ◽

Heikki Lehtonen ◽

Janne Helin ◽

Jussi Lintunen ◽

Pirjo Peltonen-Sainio ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Policy Instruments ◽

Urban Land ◽

Urban Land Use ◽

Greenhouse Gas Mitigation

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Consumption-oriented policy instruments for fostering greenhouse gas mitigation

Climate Policy ◽

10.1080/14693062.2020.1730151 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (sup1) ◽

pp. S58-S73 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Michael Grubb ◽

Doug Crawford-Brown ◽

Karsten Neuhoff ◽

Karin Schanes ◽

Sonja Hawkins ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Policy Instruments ◽

Greenhouse Gas Mitigation

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Trade rules and climate change subsidies

World Trade Review ◽

10.1017/s1474745606002928 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 377-414 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

ANDREW GREEN

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

World Trade Organization ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

World Trade ◽

Policy Instruments ◽

Environmental Taxes ◽

Market Failures ◽

Address Climate Change ◽

Wide Range ◽

Potential Benefits

Countries can choose between a wide range of policy instruments to address climate change. While economists tend to argue for the efficiency of instruments such as environmental taxes, many countries are incorporating subsidies into their plans for limiting greenhouse gas emissions. However, these subsidies may conflict with World Trade Organization rules. This paper analyzes the potential benefits of using climate change subsidies in terms of addressing market failures as well as the risks of protectionism arising from such subsidies. It then examines World Trade Organization rules to determine whether they optimally differentiate between beneficial and harmful subsidy policies. It concludes that existing WTO rules do not provide adequate scope for legitimate subsidies and makes suggestions for reforming subsidies law.

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White Certificates and White Certificate Trading Schemes as greenhouse gas mitigation policy options for South Africa

Journal of Energy in Southern Africa ◽

10.17159/2413-3051/2011/v22i1a3200 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

pp. 18-25

Author(s):

Emily Tyler ◽

Michelle Du Toit ◽

Zelda Burchell

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Energy Efficiency ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Emissions Trading ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Policy Instrument ◽

Mitigation Policy ◽

Ghg Mitigation ◽

Policy Objective ◽

White Certificates

AbstractEnergy efficiency activities driven by White Certificate Trading schemes (WCT) achieve the objective of conserving energy, and in most circumstances, also that of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The potential therefore exists that both objectives could be targeted by a single policy mechanism. Energy efficiency activities are important from a GHG mitigation perspective as they represent some of the least costly GHG mitigation activities available to economies. However, there are some significant differences between the use of a direct policy instrument to target GHG emissions mitigation, and the use of an indirect instrument such as WCT, whose direct policy objective is to achieve energy efficiency. Most importantly, WCT utilises intensity targets, whereas GHG mitigation is required by science to comprise absolute reductions. International experience does however suggest that white certificates can be fully fungible with a GHG mitigation policy instrument such as an emissions trading scheme, as long as double counting rules are firmly in place, and the design of the schemes are compatible.Given that 80 percent of the South African GHG emissions are energy related, with energy efficiency measures in industry, commerce and the residential sector representing the bulk of negative cost mitigation options available in the economy, energy efficiency has an important role to play in the country’s mitigation strategy.This paper presents results on research into WCT as a policy option for South Africa conducted in 2008 and presented at the Climate Change Summit 2009. It investigates in particular the Electricity Conservation Scheme (ECS) as an option for incorporating a WCT mechanism.There is limited experience and therefore analysis on WCS available to date, and even less on the potential interaction and linkages of WCS and emissions trading schemes. This paper therefore identifies significa

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Nutrient composition and in vitro methane production of sub-tropical grass species in transitional rangeland of South Africa

The Rangeland Journal ◽

10.1071/rj17057 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 40 (1) ◽

pp. 1 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

C. J. L. du Toit ◽

W. A. van Niekerk ◽

H. H. Meissner ◽

L. J. Erasmus ◽

L. Morey

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Ecological Status ◽

Livestock Production ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Greenhouse Gas Mitigation ◽

Grass Species ◽

Ch4 Production ◽

Tropical Grass

The development of greenhouse gas mitigation strategies has become an important issue globally. Enteric methane (CH4) emissions from livestock do not only contribute substantially to the environmental footprint of livestock production but it also represents a loss of energy that could be channelled towards animal growth and production. In this study 14 sub-tropical grass species typical of transitional rangeland regions of South Africa were characterised in terms of ecological status, chemical composition, in vitro total gas and CH4 production. The aim of the study was 2-fold: to identify grass species that could be selected for low enteric CH4 production; evaluate the influence of rangeland ecological status on the methanogenic potential of a rangeland. Grass samples were collected by hand, air-dried, milled and analysed for nutrient composition, in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) and in vitro gas and CH4 production. Cenchrus ciliaris and Urelytrum agropyriodes produced the highest 48-h in vitro CH4 of 17.49 and 14.05 mL/g DM digested respectively. The lowest 48-h in vitro CH4 was produced by Andropogan gayanus and Bothriochloa bladhii with 5.98 and 6.08 mL/g DM digested respectively. The evaluated grass species were overall of poor quality with low CP concentrations ranging from 2.4% for Trachypogon spicatus to 6.7% for Digitaria eriantha and IVOMD ranging from 22.5% for Andropogon gayanus to 42.2% for Urelytrum agropyriodes. Decreaser grass species presented with higher in vitro CH4 production compared with Increaser I and Increaser II grass species in the present study. The results of the study emphasise the importance of including the nutritional potential of grass species for improved livestock production when evaluating grass species for possible greenhouse gas mitigation strategies.

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