Abstract:Road transport carbon emission is the focus of global climate change governance accounting for a large proportion and continuing to grow. In the face of the uncertainty and rebound effect of existing emission reduction policies, the carbon emissions trading which is based on the total control and market mechanism becomes an important means of controlling carbon emission in road transport sector. This paper reviews the research status of road transport carbon emission trading. According to the main body of emission trading who holds the carbon allowance, the road transport carbon emission trading can be divided into three trading mechanisms: upstream, midstream and downstream. The progress of these three mechanisms are discussed, and the respective quota principles, mechanisms of action, the advantages and disadvantages are compared. In order to realize the collaborative optimization on three driving factors of road traffic carbon emission: fuel emission factor, vehicle energy consumption rate and traffic activity demand, this paper proposes to establish a carbon emission trading scheme for road transport sector based on governmententerpriseresident collaborative governance. The principles and future directions of this new scheme are analyzed.