EU carbon emissions ‘rise 1st time in 7 years’

LONDON-Reuters

Emissions regulated under Europe’s carbon market rose for the first time in seven years in 2017 due to stronger industrial output, data published yesterday by the European Commission and examined by carbon analysts at Thomson Reuters showed.

Around 45 percent of the European Union’s output of greenhouse gases is regulated by the Emissions Trading System (ETS), the bloc’s flagship policy to tackle global warming by charging for the right to emit carbon dioxide (CO2).

The ETS is expected to contribute around two thirds of the reductions needed to meet the EU’s target of slashing emissions by 20 percent from 1990 levels.

According to the analysts’ interpretation of the data, emissions totaled 1.756 billion tons of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) last year for companies under the ETS excluding airlines, up 0.3 percent on the previous year.

Capped emissions from power and heating generation fell by 1 percent, but the overall figure was lifted by a 1.8 percent rise in emissions from industrial manufacturers.

The ETS caps the emissions of around 12,000 power plants, factories and airlines, forcing them to surrender one carbon permit for every ton of carbon dioxide emitted annually by the end of April of the following year.

The emissions figure is keenly watched by participants in the EU’s ETS as it provides a first indication of the supply and demand balance.
Under the ETS, airlines have to report emissions for all flights that begin and end within the EU.