Internationale Politikanalyse International Policy Analysis Konstantin Bärwaldt, Berthold Leimbach, Friedemann Müller Global Emissions Trading A Solution to the Climate Challenge? „ The economic cause of climate change is a structural market failure. Combating climate change fundamentally requires a restructuring of our fossil fuel-based energy supply structure and industrial production towards a low-carbon economy. Particularly in the context of the present economic crisis, the enormous investments required for this transformation could play a significant role in counteracting the effects of the worldwide reces­sion. „ Global emissions trading can limit the extent of this market failure as well as ensure a stepwise reduction in emissions and at the same time sup­ply the substantial investment capital necessary for a reorientation of the world economy and for the mitigation of expected climate damage. „ Climate change can only be limited if all major emitting countries, es­pecially emerging economies, are included in the fight against it. Including these countries will only be possible if they receive sufficient financial in­centives and are in principle granted equal per-capita emission rights. „ This implies a significant transfer of resources from industrialised coun­tries to emerging economies and developing countries through emissions trading. However, the transfer would be smaller by orders of magnitude than the costs expected from progressively advancing climate change if no action is taken. It would also be far smaller than the gigantic flows of financial resources into oil and gas-producing countries caused by depen­dence on fossil energy. MAY 2009