Christian de Perthuis : Il faut centraliser la gestion du marché carbone européen

Accroître la centralisation du marché européen du carbone est la seule réponse durable au récent vol de permis d'émissions, selon Christian de Perthuis, professeur d'économie à l'Université Paris-Dauphine. Il s'est confié à EURACTIV France lors d'un entretien.

So far, EU member states have enjoyed a large degree of autonomy in managing their national CO2 markets, but in the medium term, coordination must be improved, Perthuis believes.

"We must rapidly strengthen the coordination and centralisation of the market," Perthuis told EURACTIV.fr in an interview, adding that this will partly be done as of 2013 with the single registry and the auctioning of carbon allowances in some industrial sectors.

"But we should probably go further by creating an ad-hoc legal framework and governance for this new kind of market," said Perthuis, a former head of climate at the 'Caisse des dépôts et consignations', an investment group controlled by the French government.

The 'great carbon theft' that took place on 19 January led to the suspension of trading on carbon spot markets and prompted shut-downs of national registries in a number of European countries. Millions of EU carbon allowances disappeared from national carbon registries, raising security issues.

In the wake of the theft, spot markets were closed and only futures markets continued to operate normally.

But Perthuis underlined that in the long run, futures markets need spot markets to function properly.

"The futures market cannot operate sustainably if the spot market does not restart. In the short term, restoring confidence in the market infrastructure is paramount," he said.

Perthuis believes that confidence can be restored with tighter controls to prevent fraudsters from opening an account.

"All of the stolen permits must be identified and no bona fide buyer must be penalised," he said, adding: "We must simultaneously strengthen controls on all account applications across registers to stem fraudsters."

Defending the carbon market's track record

Perthuis also spoke out in defence of the EU's carbon market, which has been criticised for its limited progress on reducing emissions while companies continue to cash in on the free pollution permits they receive.

"During the first period, from 2005 to 2007, our ex-post evaluations indicate emission reductions of about 40 to 100 million tonnes of CO2 per year – or 2-5% of total emissions," said Perthuis. "Do you know any other public policy instrument that has managed to reduce even a fifth of these emissions in Europe?" he asked.

He also cited the comparatively low volatility of CO2 prices compared to gas and electricity costs, which gives investors more predictability.

The professor admitted, however, that the market had so far failed to trigger a wave of investment in low-carbon technology.

"The majority of emission reductions have been achieved by better use of existing production tools," Perthuis said, with electricity production shifting from coal to gas and hydro, for example. More biomass is also now being used in coal plants and more recovered biological products are being employed in cement factories, he said.

"But the system has not yet triggered a wave of investment in the low-carbon economy," the academic said.

To do this, Perthuis argued that the credibility of the carbon market must be improved – both on the spot and futures markets.