ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the role of international policy diffusion and domestic politics in shaping the design of emissions trading in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan's turn to emissions trading featured the adoption of central laws in 2010, 2011 and 2012, as well as a one-year pilot phase that started in 2013. The domestic influences on the adoption and design of the Kazakhstan emissions trading system (KzETS) have shifted in the course of the implementation period. The chapter provides an overview of the central design features of the KzETS. The design features are: Type of system, Ambition level, Allocation mechanisms, Coverage, Offsets and linking, Monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) and enforcement. The Doha pledge has influenced the level of ambition of the KzETS. Policy diffusion mechanisms – particularly emulation and learning – can help explain some of the design similarities between the two systems, not least regarding allocation mechanisms, coverage and Monitoring, reporting and verification.
