So Cap & Share is what is called an “upstream system”. The cap is enforced by requiring the fossil fuel suppliers to have permits to bring fossil fuels into the economy. The number of permits determines the size of the cap.
And who’s in charge of the permit system? WE are! Here’s how it works:
Each year you get a certificate for your share of the country’s CO2 emissions allowance. It might be for 10 tonnes of CO2, say. It’s free, and every adult in the country gets the same.
The fossil fuel suppliers (oil, coal and gas companies) have to buy these certificates (you’d sell them via banks or post offices) and they become the permits. If a fossil fuel company buys your certificate, this allows them to bring in as much fossil fuel as will emit 10 tonnes of CO2 when it’s burnt (somewhere down the line). The more certificates they buy, the more fossil fuels they can bring in. Certificates are in demand, and are worth serious money.
