Many countries have submitted their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the 2015 Paris Agreement whereby they specify voluntary CO2 abatement targets
as part of the international effort to limit the global mean temperature increase to less than 2_x000E_C. Korea has committed to an emission reduction of 37% from the
Business-As-Usual (BAU) level by 2030 in its NDC. Attainment of this emission reduction target is expected to be realized through both domestic and international
policy measures; domestically, a 25.7% reduction from BAU is to be achieved from a national emission trading system (ETS), while the remaining 11.3% reduction from BAU (or 96.1 MtCO2eq.) is to be accomplished through an international ETS. While the precise delineation of the amount of reduction to be accomplished through domestic
vis-à-vis international ETSs suggests that this delineation was made on the basis of extensive analyses, a close examination of the underlying analyses reveals
otherwise. In fact, the NDC was issued without a full scenario analysis which examined, among other things, how partially linking or fully integrating a domestic ETS
and international ETSs might impact the economy and energy systems of Korea (and potential international counterparts). This is a crucial gap in our understanding of how Korea can most effectively and efficiently meet its obligations to mitigate climate change, and how Korea can best partner with its international neighbors in doing so. This thesis helps to fill this gap.
This thesis models the linkage of emission trading systems among Korea, China, and Japan by cap-and-trade under the CO2 emission targets in their NDCs. The CO2
abatement, CO2 price stabilization effect, the total abatement cost, the size of the emission trading market, and the gains from emission trading are summarized as
effects of ETS linkage. The results indicate that the three countries could obtain gains from trade by collaborative mitigation through ETS linkage under the decarbonization targets in their NDCs. In the case of Korea, there are dual prices in the partially-linked ETS case because the CO2 prices determined in the domestic ETS and the international ETS are different. Due to the dual prices for the CO2 permits, there could be an incentive to purchase CO2 permits through the international ETS rather than the domestic ETS. By choosing the partially linked ETS rather than the
full linked ETS in 2030, Korea could lose $1.84 billion of potential economic benefit and 48 MtCO2 of the CO2 abatement. Also, this thesis clarifies the CO2 emissions,
CO2 abatement, and the demand and supply of the CO2 permits using the change in the unit CO2 cost and CO2 emissions by technology level. For all countries, the
CO2 abatement is generated mainly from the coal utilization technology. As a result of ETS linkage, CO2 permits demand is generated from the coal utilization technology in Korea and Japan, while the CO2 permits are supplied from the further CO2 abatement from the coal utilization technology of China.
The NDCs target achievement domestically or through ETS linkage can transform the overall energy system into cleaner energy systems in Korea, China, and Japan. Moreover, as decarbonization targets become more ambitious, greater economic and environmental benefits can be expected through ETS linkage. Indeed, as the collective mitigation represented by the international community’s NDCs under the Paris Agreement is being increasingly seen as inadequate, we can reasonably expect
more ambitious CO2 abatement targets to come. As a policy tool, ETS linkage provides CO2 abatement, along with relieving the uncertainty incurred by the lack of
domestic CO2 mitigation options. Furthermore, it is a means of connecting the energy and environmental energy systems indirectly. Finally, it is critically important to expand our understanding of ETS linkage in international energy and environmental
cooperation through long-term international research.