Many countries have announced greenhouse-gas (GHG) emission reduction targets before or after the Copenhagen UNFCCC conference held in 2009. Since then, most major countries have been adopting various kinds of GHG reduction policies that are customized according to country circumstances, in order to meet their reduction targets. Korea has also announced that it will reduce GHG emissions by 30% compared to the baseline scenario by 2020. To achieve this reduction target, Korea plans to implement an emission trading scheme (ETS) in 2015. In consideration of Korea's current effort for transition to a low carbon society, now is the time to look into international trends in GHG reduction polices.
This study analyzes the GHG reduction policies of 6 major countries of the UK, Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, and the USA, as well as European Union (EU), in order to investigate policy implications that may contribute to designing the Korean scheme. This study particularly overviews an economy-wide policy mix of the nations, rather than dealing with specific policies targeting energy-intensive sectors such as an ETS or a carbon tax.
The EU has been implementing a region-wide ETS since 2005, and some countries of the EU have also adopted carbon/energy taxes as a key measure to reduce GHG emissions. Surpassing other EU countries, the UK is the leading country in that it has legally bound a long-term reduction target through the enactment of 「Climate Change Act 2008」for the first time in the world and has implemented a policy package that includes carbon budgets, which is a phased