Tradable Energy Quotas

David Fleming first published on the TEQs model in June 1996 (although at this time he used the name DTQs - Domestic Tradable Quotas). This was followed by discussion papers, a journal publication and a series of presentations to Governmental organisations and NGOs. Working with Richard Starkey of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, Fleming was eventually invited to give evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology, and this was followed by a Ten Minute Rule Bill, presented to Parliament by Colin Challen MP on July 7, 2004.[2][3]

After its mention in the UK Parliament, TEQs became widely studied by research centres internationally, including the Environmental Change Institute (Oxford University), the Natural Environment Research Council, the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce and the Institute for Public Policy Research, among others. A number of academic papers were produced, followed by Mayer Hillman's book How We Can Save The Planet.[4]

In 2005, David Fleming published the first edition of his popular guide to TEQs, Energy and the Common Purpose (now in its third edition). TEQs were by that time widely discussed in books, academia and the research world, and in 2006 David Miliband, then Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, commissioned the Centre for Sustainable Energy to produce a scoping study into the idea. This had the headline finding that "a personal carbon allowance and trading system has the potential to achieve emissions savings in a fairer way than carbon taxes, and would reward people for leading low-carbon lifestyles".[5] Accordingly, a full Government pre-feasibility study into the scheme was launched, made up of four reports (as well as a synthesis report), which were published in May 2008.[6][7]

The headline finding of the 2008 pre-feasibility study was that "personal carbon trading has potential to engage individuals in taking action to combat climate change, but is essentially ahead of its time and expected costs for implementation are high".[8][9] Following this, the Government announced that it "remains interested in the concept of personal carbon trading and, although it will not be continuing its research programme at this stage, it will continue to monitor the wealth of research focusing on this area and may introduce personal carbon trading if the value of carbon savings and cost implications change".[10]

This finding was challenged by numerous research groups, including the UK Parliament's own Environmental Audit Select Committee, who stated that "although we commend the Government for its intention to maintain engagement in academic work on the topic, we urge it to undertake a stronger role, leading and shaping debate and coordinating research".[11]

In 2011, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Peak Oil produced a report, jointly authored by David Fleming and Shaun Chamberlin, pulling together the various critiques and urging the Government to move forward towards implementation of TEQs. This was endorsed by a number of MPs and received significant international media coverage.[12][13]

In 2015, Chamberlin, Victoria Hurth and Larch Maxey authored a peer-reviewed paper on the design, history and necessity for TEQs, arguing that the carbon pricing approach to climate policy is doomed to fail, and should be replaced by TEQs' hard cap on emissions.[14] This stimulated further academic debate, and a European Commission debate in Brussels in 2018, but failed to prompt meaningful action from legislators.[15]