UK Emissions Trading Scheme
The scheme was developed as the world's first bid-in economy-wide greenhouse gas emission trading scheme and helped UK organisations gain experience at trading prior to the introduction of the EU ETS.
34 organisations ('Direct Participants' in the scheme) voluntarily took on a legally binding obligation to reduce their emissions against 1998-2000 levels of activity, delivering over 4 million tonnes of reductions by 2006, in return for incentive payments.
The scheme also included around 6,000 companies with Climate Change Agreements (CCAs), who agreed to reduce emissions 'relative' to historic production levels (per unit of production). CCA companies were also able to use a trading scheme, the UK ETS, to buy allowances to meet their targets, or to sell any over achievement of their targets.
For more information, please visit the UK Government's Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs website.