As the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol approaches, the carbon market has shifted from buyers to a sellers market, becoming more active as project developers increasingly engage in market based transaction. There was a marked change in market activity in 2005 when the Kyoto Protocol came in to force and the European Union’s Emission Trading Scheme started, with the latter dominating the market (in terms of value). The carbon market nearly tripled in value from $10 billion in 2005 to over $27 billion by the end of 2006. Project-based transactions (mainly from developing countries) represented one-quarter of the volume traded and slightly more than one-tenth of global value, with average prices rising at around $10.50 per tonne in the first three-quarters of 2006. With the current regulatory period ending at 2012, there is little demand from buyers to purchase beyond 2012. Click here to see the structure of the market 2006.