Reducing Building Greenhouse Gas Emissions : New York City’s Local Law 97 Trading Program

Global cities emit a large percentage of all global carbon related to climate change with buildings contributing one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Because of this carbon emissions concentration, focusing on cities to reduce global carbon emissions provides a logical policy mechanism to mitigate climate change. Both Tokyo and a number of Chinese cities have put in place programs using a carbon trading system to reduce carbon emissions from commercial facilities. Experiences from both countries provide insight into the challenges and opportunities of such programs. In 2019, New York City implemented a mandatory program on a much larger scale than Tokyo or China. Local Law 97 includes carbon reduction from buildings using a cap and trade scheme. The law will take effect in 2024 for 50,000 buildings, when a baseline emission value (kgCO2e/sf) will be established based on a buildings gross area in square feet to set a carbon emission target. Buildings that reduce their emission below this baseline carbon value will be able to trade these offsets in a marketplace helping to reduce the overall efficiency and cost of reducing carbon. The concept of developing a carbon trading program to only including buildings, is controversial. This paper will investigate how effective the programs in Tokyo and China have progressed and how these experiences may affect the implementation in New York City