The Tokyo Metropolitan Government and neighboring Saitama Prefecture will unify rules for their carbon emissions markets starting in 2012 so that businesses in both areas can trade credits, Nikkei English News reported.
The governments will sign the agreement soon, Nikkei reported, without saying where it obtained the information. Tokyo introduced its cap-and-trade system in April and Saitama is planning to begin its system next year, the report said.
Tokyo’s program currently allows businesses to buy emissions quotas only from others operating in the capital, the report said. Factories and office buildings over a certain size must reduce their annual carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 8 percent, according to the report.
The new rules will allow about 1,300 businesses in Tokyo and 600 in Saitama, to the north of the capital, to trade emissions credits, Nikkei said.
