Emissions Trading System (ETS)

DEFINITION: A market-based ‘cap and trade’ on emissions that allows parties to buy and sell permits for emissions or credits. The ETS covers 45% of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions emitted from energy-intensive sectors. In the UK, more than 700 UK-based energy intensive installations, including power stations, manufacturing facilities and oil refineries, participate in the system.

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The EU's Emissions Trading System is the world’s biggest scheme for trading emissions allowances

European Parliament adopts draft reform of carbon market

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What the report clearly stresses is the need for a transitional arrangement to smooth the path to Brexit

Report maps UK's 'uncertain' energy landscape post-Brexit

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The members are calling for a cap of 550g of CO2 per kwh for generators receiving capacity mechanism subsidies in the EU

Energy giants back calls to cut financial support for polluting powerplants

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Under the proposal, a $40 carbon tax, rising over time, would be levied on emissions in order to encourage a shift towards renewable energy sources such as solar and wind

Exxon, BP and Shell back carbon tax proposal to curb emissions

Oil giants ExxonMobil, Shell, BP and Total are among a group of large corporations supporting a plan to tax carbon dioxide emissions in order to address climate change.

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The call for action will sting European leaders, who have presided over a carbon trading scheme since 2005 that currently charges major polluters just €6 (£5.20) for every tonne of carbon

Sky-high carbon tax needed to avoid climate catastrophe, say experts

A group of leading economists warned on Monday that the world risks catastrophic global warming in just 13 years unless countries ramp up taxes on carbon emissions to as much as $100 (£77) per metric tonne.
The coalition aims to expand carbon pricing to cover 25% of global emissions by 2020

Coalition calls for worldwide carbon price to avert climate crisis

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A capitalist agenda based on unbound profitability is being challenged by a new wave of economies focused on sustainable and responsible growth

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A subsea interconnector being built between Norway and the UK - expected to be 740km long - will allow the two countries to share surplus renewable energy from 2020

Norway's climate secretary expects deepened UK energy ties post-Brexit

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The document said that leaving the loophole open risked 133 million tonnes of unearned carbon credits falling into governments hands

Leaked paper exposes EU countries' abuse of climate loophole

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Last week EU member states voted to approve a package of reforms to the mechanism to tackle a long-running oversupply of allowances

'Difficult to see' UK remaining in EU ETS

The UK is unlikely to remain part of the EU emissions trading system (ETS) following Brexit, an academic from the Institute for European Environmental Policy has told edie's sister title Utility Week.
Member states approve changes, including €12bn innovation fund, to emissions plan for cleaner technology and pollution cuts

Reform of EU carbon trading scheme agreed

An overhaul of the EU's flagship trading scheme for cutting carbon emissions by European industries has been approved by the member states.
The Government told the EAC that it intends to base its carbon policy for the runway on scenarios that use assumptions about passenger use and demand

Report: Heathrow expansion will create a 'black hole' in future carbon budgets

The UK Government's lack of commentary on how it plans to mitigate the environmental impacts of the third runway expansion at Heathrow Airport could create a "black hole" in future carbon budgets, a new report has warned.
Dr William Kyte OBE proposed the creation of a UK-based ETS scheme which mirrors the EU model

Does Brexit offer a ‘golden opportunity’ to pursue EU ETS alternatives?

With MPs set to vote on the final amendments of the bill to withdraw the country from the European Union (EU), the debate surrounding the UK's future involvement in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) has intensified this week with a lively debate in Parliament.

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Tabled amendments to the EU ETS scheme include additional subsidies being given to pollution-heavy industries such as the steel and energy sector

Polluting industries stand to gain from EU ETS reform, report claims

A reform of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), which is being voted on by the European Parliament next week, could end up giving more than €230bn in subsidies to polluting industries, a new report has claimed.
While things look good for the EU in the short-term, the report warns that raised efforts were a necessity in reaching longer-term goals

European Union 2020 energy targets 'well within reach'

European Union (EU) Member States are collectively on course to meet 2020 targets for renewables, energy efficiency and emissions reductions, although a new report has warned that long-term objectives are at risk of falling short.
Chile and South Africa are mooted to add carbon prices, but it is the potential inclusion on China that would see carbon pricing account for at least 20% of global emissions next year

Quarter of global emissions could be covered by a carbon price in 2017, says World Bank

If policymakers can embed a carbon price within "complimentary" green legislation, then climate change mitigation costs could fall by almost a third by 2030, a new report from the World Bank has found.
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Global aviation climate deal agreed: 'Mission accomplished' or 'timid step' forward?

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Joining the CPLC is the latest of the London-based firm’s global climate change mitigation drives - which also saw company lawyers play a “key role” in the COP21 process.

Baker & McKenzie becomes first law firm to join carbon price coalition

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New analysis has claimed that despite needing an upgrade, the current EU ETS is functioning with the “potential to deliver real emissions reductions”

Is 'imperfect' ETS a better option for aviation emissions than a voluntary ICAO draft?

As nations meet today (26 September) to edge a global aviation deal closer, new analysis has suggested that the European Union's Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is still "superior" to the drafted proposal offered by the United Nation's International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
One potential method to reduce emissions from shipping is the use of biofuels. The Sustainable Shipping Initiative is already exploring how biofuels could be used as an energy source

European Commission urged to revamp bioenergy and shipping policies

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According to plans currently under consideration, the global market-based system would be fully up and running in 2027 only, six years later than the initial 2021 deadline

MEPs shocked by 'secretive' ICAO plan to cut aviation emissions

A six-year delay, exemptions for poor nations, and a gradual phase-in system for participating countries are all being considered as part of talks to curb aviation pollution at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), MEPs discovered at a hearing in Parliament today (1 September).