What is the rationale for individuals buying permits and taking them out of the market?

By buying a permit for one tonne of emissions and taking it out of a market we take it out of the hands of would-be polluters and force them to invest more in cleaning up their act. The market contains many millions of permits so each individual action has only a small effect but it does genuinely mean one less tonne of permitted emissions. If lots of us buy permits, however, it will become more expensive to pollute and then cleaner ways of doing things will receive more investment.

By destroying a permit you are also making yourself a stakeholder in this important issue showing decision makers that you are prepared to pay now to help solve the problem.  Since solving climate change is all about time and money this is an important action.

Traded markets in pollution rights can be hugely important forces for change if they are designed and implemented correctly. Produce a low number of permits and the world emits less and the cost of permits rise. Produce too many and nobody has to do anything and prices fall to zero.  Pollution markets are created by Governments. They come under pressure from emitters to keep the number of permits generous. They also worry about higher prices pushing up the cost of living. This makes them very, very cautious. By applying pressure in the other direction - by showing we are prepared to pay for fewer permits to be in circulation we can help to ensure trading really delivers change at the scale and pace necessary to tackle this problem.