Carbon Trading Councils

In April 2008 the LGiU (Local Government Information Unit) launched Carbon Trading Councils. This scheme was based on a simulation of a carbon trading market that allowed councils to learn about trading in a safe environment before the introduction of the government's mandatory Carbon Reduction Commitment programme.

On 14th July this year, they published a report which presents the results of the first year of trading on the LGiU's Carbon Trading Councils scheme. It looks at the experiences of the councils taking part and the lessons learned from their involvement in the scheme.

Afterwhat they believe was a very successful first year the LGiU's Carbon Trading Councils scheme is evolving into Carbon Trading Public Sector and continuing until June 2010.

It is primarily a simulation of a cap-and-trade scheme and offers public sector organisations a valuable opportunity to understand the expertise needed to trade and drive down carbon emissions before the government's mandatory Carbon Reduction Commitment is introduced in 2010.

A report published in March this year outlines what is involved in Carbon Trading Public Sector 2009-2010.