Back-load of 900 million allowances proposed

December 2012

The European Commission proposed on 12 November the “back-loading” of 900 million carbon allowances. These are allowances originally intended to be used in 2013–2015 that instead will be released to the market in 2019–2020. The final decision must be taken as an amendment to the EU emissions trading system (ETS) auctioning regulation by member state representatives on the Climate Change Committee.

Back-loading is believed to be a quick fix to restore the failing ETS market, where the oversupply of credits has been a major problem. The wind power trade association and the UK government have said that the measure is not enough and advocates that more allowances should be back-loaded or removed permanently from the auctioning period of 2013–2020.

Source: ENDS Europe Daily, 13 November 2012
 

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