First Tokyo carbon credits trade for $142/tonne

LONDON (Reuters) - The first carbon credits in Tokyo's new cap-and-trade scheme traded on Monday for 12,000 yen ($142.2) per tonne, well above market rates for units of the climate-warming gas, Point Carbon News reported.

Twenty-two tonnes of carbon dioxide were bought by energy brokers Ginga Energy Japan Co. over an online marketplace operated by CoalinQ, a subsidiary of trading house Sojitz Corp., and Smart Energy Co., Sojitz said.

The carbon credits traded were generated from an energy saving project operated by Daiwa House Industry and Taisei Rotec.

Prices were much higher than the current 1,500 yen ($17.78) per tonne rate for UN-backed carbon offset credits traded in the Japanese market.

Tokyo launched an emissions trading programme in April capping the city's top 1,400 emitters and making it the nation's first mandatory cap-and-trade scheme.

Under the plan, large-scale businesses must cut their emissions by an average 7 percent between 2010 and 2014.

Home to some 13 million people, the city is responsible for around 5 percent of Japan's total carbon emissions. Japan has pledged to cut its national emissions by 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.

Sojitz said it expects the online marketplace to handle around 800,000 tonnes of CO2 in 2015, rising to 1.3 million tonnes by 2020.

CoalinQ operates an e-commerce site for coal transactions while Smart Energy is a consulting firm specializing in climate change-related services.

The firms launched the online platform in July, which handles carbon credits generated and issued in Japan, including those issued by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Environment Ministry, and the Tokyo metropolitan government.

(Reporting by Michael Szabo; Editing by William Hardy)