Disappointing but hardly surprising: EU Industry emissions rise
April 17th 2007 CO2 emissions from participants in the European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) have risen above those of 2005. The preliminary figures for 2006 show that 93%, or about 9,000-10,000 heavy industrial plants covered by the scheme have recorded a 1%-1.5% overall rise in emissions.
However, this is still less than the amount for which emissions permits were issued.
The Commission says it wants to avoid a repetition of last year's crash when lower-than-expected emissions data for the first year of the EU-ETS sent carbon prices crashing.
Since then the EU Executive has taken a tougher stance, rejecting the overly-generous limits set out in national allocation plans for the next trading period (2008-2012); the credibility of the ETS scheme relies on creating a scarcity in the market for pollution allowances, which in turn leads to high carbon prices and incentives for companies to cut emissions.
The spot price of a tonne of carbon fell by about a quarter to €1 upon release of the news, however the Commission pointed to a rise in the future price of carbon for 2008 to €17 a tonne.
Chris Davies, Liberal Democrat environment spokesman in the European Parliament, said that the rise in emissions is "disappointing, but hardly surprising...the operation of the EU emissions-trading scheme is a success but it will not start to bite until national caps on carbon emissions are firmly in place, and for that we must wait until 2008 at the earliest".
The Commission also announced on 2 April 2007 that it would accept Austria's national action plan (NAP) as long as it reduced its proposed amount of allowances by 6.4%. Austria is the 18th country to have its plan approved.
"The Commission is assessing all national plans in a consistent way to ensure equal treatment of member states and to create the necessary scarcity in the European carbon market," comments Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas. "This is how we have assessed the plan decided today, and the same standards will be applied to all others."
The Commission says full verified data for 2006 will be published after 15 May.
For further information, just  click here. More articles from WEE newsdesk: | 
