Bankable – provides an income for adaptation and development

People will be able to count on getting an income from the sale of their Production Authorisation Permits (PAPs) every year. They will therefore be able to use that guaranteed income to make the repayments on a loan, say, to get their house better insulated or to put a solar heater on the roof.

If and when the system is extended to poor countries, many people there will either be able to get out of bad debts or gain a form of security that will enable them to borrow what, for them, would be a significant sum for the first time in their lives on better terms. Many small businesses would spring up.

What would a yearly emissions entitlement be worth? At any time, this will depend on how many entitlements people sell and how many entitlements the big fossil fuel importing or producing companies need to buy. In early 2006, the value of someone’s entitlement would have been €280 (£190). As emissions are cut back hard, fewer entitlements will be issued to us and they will become worth more and more.

For a pensioner in a richer country, £190 would go a long way towards helping pay for any increases in the cost of energy on, say, a £500 per year bill .

For a family in a poorer country, where their present income might be only $1 per day, £190 or more would make a very big difference in education, health, more choices over family size, more security in old age, and in getting out of debt or to pay for capital goods to develop small farms or business.