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EU ETS and the waterbed effect

Nature Climate Change volume 9, pages 734–735 (2019)Cite this article

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Matters Arising to this article was published on 25 September 2019

The Original Article was published on 03 April 2018

arising from G. Perino Nature Climate Change https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0120-2 (2018)

Owing to the new rules of the EU Emission Trading System (ETS), Perino1 argues that the so-called waterbed effect is temporarily punctured. That is, further abatement efforts can reduce cumulative emissions if they occur within a few years. However, two critical perspectives are lacking from Perino’s argument. First, if the abatement efforts are permanent, rather than temporary, the waterbed effect is probably restored. Second, if abatement efforts take place later, cumulative emissions will increase rather than decrease.

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Acknowledgements

I thank R. Gerlagh and Y. Qin for helpful comments, and the Research Council of Norway (Norens project) for financial support.

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  1. Norwegian University of Life Science, Ås, Norway

    Knut Einar Rosendahl

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  1. Knut Einar Rosendahl
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Correspondence to Knut Einar Rosendahl.

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Rosendahl, K.E. EU ETS and the waterbed effect. Nat. Clim. Chang. 9, 734–735 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0579-5

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