From late August to early September 2014, the 11th ICAP Summer School on Emissions Trading brought together experts from emerging economies and developing countries to learn about emissions trading as a tool for climate protection, and to discuss the options of implementing such systems in developing countries. The course in Paris continues a successful series of past ICAP events held around the world including Berlin, The Hague, Beijing, Madrid, Dublin, Istanbul and Santiago. 25 mid-career professionals from twelve countries attended the course, which was facilitated by Benjamin Görlach and Matthias Duwe.

Ecologic Institute designed the curriculum and helped organize the course, which was carried out under the auspices of the International Carbon Action Partnership (ICAP) in close cooperation with CDC Climat, which hosted the event. ICAP is a forum of 29 national and regional governments and jurisdictions, including several EU countries, the EU Commission, as well as a number of US states and Canadian provinces part of the Western Climate Initiative(WCI) and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative(RGGI), Australia, New Zealand and Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG), aiming to advance international cooperation on carbon markets. The course was funded by the EU Commission.

During the two-week Summer School, participants gained an in-depth understanding of the design and implementation of carbon trading systems as a tool to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. They had the opportunity to discuss various aspects of emissions trading with experienced practitioners from the EU Commission, several EU Member States, Tokyo and the US. The faculty also included experts from academia and think tanks in North America and Europe, as well as representatives from business and civil society.

Course topics addressed during the two weeks included the economics of climate change, choosing and combining policy instruments for climate protection, design and scope of emissions trading, allocation mechanisms, GHG inventories and registries, the link of domestic ETS to the international climate regime, carbon market dynamics, and other advanced aspects of ETS design and implementation. In discussing these issues, the course relied on interactive formats and group work, and made ample use of first-hand experience gained with the existing trading schemes in Europe, North America and the Asia/Pacific region.

The course was attended by decision makers and future leaders from government, NGOs, academia and the private sector. Participants came from Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kazachstan, Peru, Russia, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam. They were selected from several hundred applicants worldwide.