Climate policies are often evaluated using criteria that are heterogeneous and misaligned with the stated aims of these policies. By combining legal research methods with insights from economic theory, we systematically map and analyze the legal objectives of the European Union (EU) Emissions Trading System (ETS), a key climate policy instrument. We find that the EU ETS is shaped by a nuanced internal normative framework, the principal goal of which is emissions reduction, combined with three secondary goals of cost-effectiveness, economic efficiency and equity, and a meta-goal of coherence. Based on the contents and interrelations of these legal objectives, we formulate evaluation criteria that can be used to critically analyze and evaluate the EU ETS performance in a more comprehensive, transparent, and comparable manner. The resulting methodology is applicable to other environmental policies and jurisdictions.

气候政策通常使用不同的标准进行评估，并且与这些政策的既定目标不一致。通过将法律研究方法与经济理论的见解相结合，我们系统地绘制和分析了欧盟 (EU) 排放交易体系 (ETS) 这一关键气候政策工具的法律目标。我们发现，欧盟排放交易体系是由一个细致入微的内部规范框架塑造的，其主要目标是减排，结合成本效益、经济效率和公平三个次要目标，以及一致性的元目标。根据这些法律目标的内容和相互关系，我们制定评估标准，用于以更全面、透明和可比的方式批判性地分析和评估EU ETS的绩效。由此产生的方法适用于其他环境政策和司法管辖区。