In an op-ed published by The Diplomat on June 23, 2016, ASPI's Director for Asian Sustainability Jackson Ewing argues that the time is now for carbon market cooperation among China, Japan, and South Korea.

The major economies of Northeast Asia are developing carbon markets to help meet their climate change commitments. They would benefit from doing so in concert.

Like much in the current climate change arena, market activities beneath the global scale are booming. Carbon markets have almost doubled since 2012, with 40 states and 23 cities, regions, and provinces pricing emissions worth some $50 billion. Amid vocal calls from the business community for greater continuity in carbon pricing policies, market linkages among national and subnational systems are gaining traction.

Linking carbon markets in Northeast Asia would represent the greatest such connectivity to date, and provide one of the world’s most populous and economically dynamic regions with an integrated platform for reducing emissions.

China, Japan, and South Korea have each made carbon markets a key element of their climate change mitigation strategies—providing the starting point for regional linkage efforts.

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