View source for Company:Chicago Climate Exchange

{{Infobox exchange
|name       = Chicago Climate Exchange
|logo       = [[Image:Chicago Climate Exchange Logo-FAIRUSE.png|250px|Chicago Climate Exchange]]
|image      = 
|type       = [[Finance:Stock exchange|Stock exchange]]
|city       = Chicago
|country    = United States
|foundation = 2003
|owner      = Climate Exchange PLC
|key_people = Richard L. Sandor (founder)
|currency   = United States Dollar
|listings   =    
|mcap       = 
|volume     = 680 million metric tons of {{CO2}}
|indexes    =  
|homepage   = {{URL|www.chicagoclimatex.com}}
}}
The '''Chicago Climate Exchange''' '''(CCX)''' was a voluntary, legally binding [[Chemistry:Greenhouse gas|greenhouse gas]] [[Earth:Emissions trading|reduction and trading system]] for emission sources and offset projects in North America and Brazil.

CCX employed independent verification, included six greenhouse gases, and traded greenhouse gas emission allowances from 2003 to 2010.<ref name=ng2010 /><ref name="ft2010">{{cite web|last=Weitzman|first=Hal|title=End of US carbon trading looms |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3fe91576-e5de-11df-af15-00144feabdc0.html|work=Financial Times|accessdate=November 7, 2010}}</ref> The companies joining the exchange committed to reducing their aggregate emissions by 6% by 2010.  CCX had an aggregate baseline of 680 million metric tons of CO<sub>2</sub> equivalent.<ref>CCX Program-Wide Baseline and Compliance Reports {{cite web |url=http://chicagoclimatex.com/content.jsf?id=250 |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2010-05-24 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100424202311/http://www.chicagoclimatex.com/content.jsf?id=250 |archivedate=April 24, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

CCX ceased trading carbon credits at the end of 2010 due to inactivity in the U.S. carbon markets,<ref name="reuters-2010">{{cite news| url=https://www.reuters.com/article/carbon-ccx-layoffs-idUSLDE6791WI20100812 | publisher=Reuters | title=ICE cuts staff at Chicago Climate Exchange-sources | date=12 August 2010 | access-date = 3 February 2016}}</ref> although carbon exchanges were intended to still be facilitated.<ref name="ft2010" /><ref name=ng2010>{{cite news |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/news/energy/2010/11/101103-chicago-climate-exchange-cap-and-trade-election/ |title=A U.S. Cap-And-Trade Experiment to End |newspaper=National Geographic |date=November 3, 2010 |last= Lavelle |first=Marianne |accessdate=3 February 2016}}</ref>

== Climate Exchange PLC ==
Until July 2010, CCX was operated by the public company Climate Exchange PLC, which also owned the [[Company:European Climate Exchange|European Climate Exchange]].<ref>[http://climateexchangeplc.com Climate Exchange PLC]</ref>  Richard Sandor, creator of the Sustainable Performance Group, founded the exchange and has been a spokesman for it.  The exchange traded in emissions of six gases: [[Chemistry:Carbon dioxide|carbon dioxide]], [[Chemistry:Methane|methane]], [[Chemistry:Nitrous oxide|nitrous oxide]], [[Chemistry:Sulfur hexafluoride|sulfur hexafluoride]], perfluorocarbons, and hydrofluorocarbons. CCX started trading in October 2003, prior to the commencement of trading in the European Union through the [[Earth:European Union Emission Trading Scheme|ETS system]].

IntercontinentalExchange ({{NYSE|ICE}}), a leading operator of regulated global futures exchanges, clearing houses and over-the-counter (OTC) markets, announced in April 2010 that it had agreed on terms to acquire Climate Exchange plc.<ref>[http://ir.theice.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=465267 IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. – Press Releases]. Ir.theice.com.</ref> That acquisition was completed in July 2010<ref>[http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2266215/ice-completes-395m-climate ICE completes £395m Climate Exchange acquisition, eyes global expansion – 09 Jul 2010 – News from]. BusinessGreen.</ref> and was followed by an announcement that half of the company's Chicago-based workforce would be laid off due to inactivity in the U.S. carbon markets.<ref name="reuters-2010" /> In November 2010, the Climate Exchange stated that it would cease trading carbon credits at the end of 2010, although carbon exchanges will still be facilitated.<ref name=ng2010 /><ref name=ft2010 />

== Final trading position ==
The effective final CFI position was reached in November 2010 when the carbon credit price per metric ton of CO2 was between 5 and 10 US cents, down from its highest value of 750 US cents in May 2008. Trading reached zero monthly volume in February 2010 and remained at zero for the next nine months when the decision to close the exchange was announced.

[[Image:CCX 2004 Vintage Price Chart.svg|thumb|400px|right|Historic price fluctuations in 2004 vintage carbon credits on CCX]]

== Carbon Sequestration Atlas of the United States and Canada==

The Valley Wood Carbon Sequestration Project, the first such project to be verified through the Chicago Climate Exchange, was the recipient of offset funding generated through a unique partnership, developed in 2008 by Verus Carbon Neutral, that brought together 17 merchants of Atlanta's Virginia-Highland shopping and dining neighborhood retail district to establish the first Carbon Neutral Zone in the united States.<ref>{{cite web | last = Jay | first = Kate | title = First Carbon Neutral Zone Created in the United States | date = November 14, 2008 | url = https://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS164153+14-Nov-2008+PRN20081114 | work = Reuters | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20090907024146/http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS164153+14-Nov-2008+PRN20081114 | archivedate = September 7, 2009 | df = mdy-all }}
</ref><ref>{{Cite news | last = Auchmutey | first = Jim | title = Trying on carbon-neutral trend | newspaper = Atlanta Journal-Constitution | date = January 26, 2009 | url = http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2009/01/26/carbon0126b.html }}</ref>

== Components of the trading system ==

The trading system had the following three parts.<ref>CCX Trading System Overview {{cite web |url=http://chicagoclimatex.com/content.jsf?id=823 |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2010-05-24 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100919025059/http://chicagoclimatex.com/content.jsf?id=823 |archivedate=September 19, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

# The ''Trading Platform'' was a marketplace for executing trades among Registry Account Holders. For instance, National Farmers Union's Carbon Credit Program was a multi-state program that allowed farmers and landowners to earn income by storing carbon in their soil through no-till crop production and long-term grass seeding practices. Farmers Union had earned approval from the Chicago Climate Exchange to aggregate carbon credits. Farmers Union was enrolling producer areas of carbon into blocks of credits that were traded on the Exchange, much like other agricultural commodities are traded.
# The ''Clearing and Settlement Platform'' processed all transaction information.
# The ''Registry'' was the official database for Carbon Financial Instruments owned by Registry Account Holders.

== Participants ==
The exchange had more than 400 members ranging from corporations like Ford, [[Company:DuPont|DuPont]], and Motorola, to state and municipalities such as Oakland and Chicago, to educational institutions such as University of California, San Diego, [[Organization:Tufts University|Tufts University]], [[Organization:Michigan State University|Michigan State University]] and [[Organization:University of Minnesota|University of Minnesota]], to farmers and their organizations, such as the National Farmers Union and the Iowa Farm Bureau.<ref>CCX Membership List {{cite web |url=http://chicagoclimatex.com/content.jsf?id=64 |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2010-05-24 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100202014432/http://www.chicagoclimatex.com/content.jsf?id=64 |archivedate=February 2, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

The government run passenger rail corporation, Amtrak, was a member of the exchange from 2003.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com.au/books?id=gofzQ1ecze0C|title=High-speed Passenger Rail: How Fast Will it Get Here?|publisher=US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation|year=2009|location=Washington, DC|pages=54}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Company:European Climate Exchange|European Climate Exchange]]
*[[Finance:International Petroleum Exchange|International Petroleum Exchange]]
*List of futures exchanges
*The Climate Registry
*Dow Jones Indexes

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.djindexes.com/insights/index.cfm Related article in Dow Jones Insights magazine]
* [https://www.dumpsexpert.com/ https://www.dumpsexpert.com/]

[[Category:Climate change policy]]

{{Sourceattribution|Chicago Climate Exchange}}