Carbon Savings From Paris Accord Could Help Meet Climate Targets

(Bloomberg) -- Nations could save hundreds of billions of dollars if they sign up to use sections of the Paris climate deal governing emissions trading to meet climate targets.

Emission-reduction costs could be lowered by as much as $250 billion a year by the end of the next decade if nations adopt the rules known as article 6, according to modeling by the University of Maryland and industry group the International Emissions Trading Association.

If the countries decide to reinvest those savings in climate protection and increase cooperation, cuts could surge 50% to about 14 billion tons in 2030, the study found. That increase would amount to about 13% of current annual global emissions from the energy industry.

But if the U.S. continues to stay out of the Paris deal, does not cut emissions and shies away from a market approach, global greenhouse gases would probably be about 9% higher in 2030, the modeling found. Also, with no U.S. participation in carbon trading, the global market would plunge by half to about 2.1 billion tons by 2030.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mathew Carr in London at m.carr@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net, Lars Paulsson, Andrew Reierson

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