(5 years, 9 months ago)
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The Minister for Energy and Clean Growth (Claire Perry)
On 11 March, the Government published legislation which changed the compliance deadline to surrender allowances for the 2018 reporting year under the EU emissions trading system (ETS) from 15 March to 26 March.
Today, the Government are publishing further legislation in relation to the EU ETS compliance deadline. This legislation will amend the compliance deadline from 26 March 2019, to 22:59 on 29 March 2019. It will also allow further changes to the compliance deadline to either the revised EU exit date, or 30 April 2019 if such a date is 1 May 2019 or later.
Extending the compliance deadline will allow all UK operators additional time to meet their EU ETS compliance requirements, and if extended to 30 April, enable them to comply at the same time as operators in other EU member states. UK operators would still be able to surrender allowances to meet their 2018 compliance obligations on any date before the compliance deadline.
The Government remain committed to meeting their target to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% by the year 2050, relative to 1990 levels. The UK also remains strongly committed to achieving the climate goals of the Paris agreement. This includes our commitment to carbon pricing as an emissions reduction tool, supporting a level playing field across the EU, while ensuring energy and trade-intensive businesses are appropriately protected from any detrimental impacts on competitiveness.
Our participation in the EU ETS has shown the benefits of carbon pricing, which gives emitters a choice to reduce their emissions where it is economic to do so, achieving our environmental goals in the least-cost way to society. The EU ETS covers around 1,000 installations and approximately 140 aircraft operators in the UK. Across the EU ETS, the scheme covers around 45% of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions.
EU ETS participants are required to monitor their emissions during each calendar year and, at the end of each reporting year, surrender one emissions allowance for every tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) they have emitted, to meet their EU ETS obligations. This extension does not change the requirement for all UK operators to fully comply with all their obligations under the EU ETS.
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