The Cap and Share Roadmap

One of the great things about Cap and Share is that it can be introduced sector-by-sector, country-by-country, region-by-region and trading bloc-by-trading bloc until it becomes a global scheme. Europeans, for instance, don't have to wait for 2012 and a Kyoto 2 to pilot and establish a Cap and Share scheme covering non EU ETS emissions.

A first step can be to control transport of non-EU ETS emissions in one country like Ireland, or perhaps in a trading bloc like Ireland plus Northern Ireland.

Britain could introduce Cap and Share to ensure the legally binding 3% cut in carbon emissions that looks like being enshrined in the Climate Change bill by 2008.

The European Union can use Cap and Share to control its escalating transport emissions. Joined to domestic heating fuels this could run parallel to the present EU ETS that covers some 47% of EU emissions taking the coverage up towards 100%. The EU Commission could do this as a new policy, merging the Cap and Share Scheme with the ETS into a full 100% cap and Share scheme after 2012.

Other Cap and Share schemes are possible all over the world in various combinations of sectors and territories.

The key point is to build schemes that have cooperation designed into them, unlike Kyoto and the present EU ETS, so that they can join up to form the global system of the future. This needs to be kept in mind in the discussions over Kyoto 2 that will take place over the next 2 years.