The FT’s Lex column has a super piece today on what is happening to the price of carbon credits in the fledgling EU emissions trading scheme.

‘Cheap permits will give companies little incentive to invest in clean technologies in the near term. However, a drop in output should make it easier for countries to hit their long-term emissions targets’

Despite the descent of the Euro Area economy into recession and in particular a sharp decline in industrial production, the price of carbon credits has jumped higher from February 2009 lows. Prices are volatile and probably remain too low to give proper leverage to companies looking to invest in clean-energy technology. The column can be found here - good for supporting a topic that figures prominently on the OCR 2888 pre-release materials and also on the AQA unit 4 and 5 syllabus.