Watch | 40-Year Stories: The Birth of Emissions Trading

Every climate solution starts with an idea—and someone willing to prove it can work.

Watch "CCAP & the Birth of Emissions Trading" to discover how one bold idea helped change the course of climate policy.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/ecc04e_c16f4283779b4c6a95bd82f371a543c0/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Stanislav Kolar discusses how CCAP founded the concept of emissions trading

In the early 1990s, long before international emissions trading became part of the Kyoto Protocol, CCAP helped turn a bold concept into reality. Working with the city of Děčín (Czech Republic) and three U.S. utility companies, we demonstrated that emissions trading wasn't just a theory—it could deliver real-world results.

As former CCAP Director for Europe & Asia Programs (1993–2021), Stanislav Kolar reflects:

"With this Děčín project, that really played a very pivotal role in convincing governments in Europe and elsewhere around the world that international emissions trading should be part of any international climate negotiated agreement because we basically proved it can be done—and how it can be done."

This pioneering framework helped lay the foundation for one of the world's most influential climate policy tools and demonstrated how bold ideas, backed by practical action, can shape global climate policy.

CCAP's groundbreaking project linking the city of Děčín with three U.S. utility companies began years before the Kyoto Protocol formally recognized international emissions trading.

Forty years later, our mission remains the same: turning innovative ideas into practical climate solutions with real-world, measurable results.

This is just one chapter in our 40-year journey. Visit our 40th Anniversary page to explore the people, partnerships and ideas that have shaped climate policy over the past four decades: https://www.ccap.org/ccap40years

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CCAP’s mission is to support every step of climate action, from ambition to implementation. A recognized world leader in climate policy and action, CCAP creates innovative, replicable climate solutions, strengthens capacities, and promotes best practices across the local, national, and international levels to accelerate the transition to a net-zero, climate resilient future. CCAP was founded in 1985 and is based in Washington, DC.