TheCompensators*think that an immediate set-aside of carbon emission allowances is necessary to take overallocation out of the market. This would then give the time to design a longterm mechanism which relates the number of allowances to the success of e.g. renewable energy policies. This mechanism should then automatically and predictably reduce emission allowances in the market depending on renewable energy technologies installed as well as other factors.

Thus, it would then be guaranteed that installing solar panels or wind turbines will reduce carbon emissions and rather than providing free emission allowances for dirty technologies such as lignite and coal.

As always, let us remind you that you can already help reduce emissions in the market by buying and deleting EUAs with TheCompensators*.

As you might already have noticed, TheCompensators* have got a new website. We hope that our new layout and the new structure help people to find faster all necessary information on the site.

Oh, and we also have got a new donation tool – generously written by Gerrit. Try it now – and compensate your emissions!

P.S. We are quite sure that there are some mistakes on our new website. Please do not hesitate to send us a short message if you discover one. Just leave us a comment below or write us through our contact form!

The reason is that there has been a recent change to emissions trading. Until now our broker had to pay VAT for emissions certificates. This is why we always had to add the taxes on the current emissions price. From now on, it is up to the buyer of EUAs to pay VAT – hence theoretically us. But as we are a non-profit organisation, we are exempt from paying the tax!

In a few words: We have got to pay around 20% less for emissions rights! Thus, compensating is becoming a lot less expensive for everyone of you. This does also mean that spending the same amount of money we can take away a lot more emissions rights from industry.

Due to this change in legislation we also have got more money left to delete pollution rights. As for a long time it was not clear if we had to pay VAT, we had always put aside money to pay the taxes. Now we can now use this amount to buy and delete more EUAs!

Compensate your emissions now!

They point out the two main shortcomings of the ETS and suggest a two pronged approach to address these. On the one hand, there is oversupply of certificates at the moment; on the other hand, there is uncertainty with regards to EU policy concerning the ETS beyond 2020.

The approach they propose therefore includes a strengthening of the long-term ETS carbon caps with the EU’s official 2050 target of reducing GHG emissions by 80%, and to set down more precise intermediate targets for 2030.

What is more, the authors point out that the European Commission has the option of limiting the supply of certificates for short periods by delaying auctioning. The problem with the latter approach is, though, that the EUAs are not deleted, their issuance is merely postponed.

Therefore, TheCompensators* point out that civil society, including you, can contribute to reducing the availability of EUAs by buying and deleting CO2 emissions. These certificates are then removed from the market for good and cannot be used ever again!

In light of the fact that large amounts of emission certificates and the fact that they are largely allocated free of charge, TheCompensators* consider this uproar to be unjustified and demand that fewer certificates be handed out as well as that a larger portion of certificates be sold at auction. For 2012, 221,420,279 tonnes of CO2 have been allocated to the aviation industry. Of this amount, 85% will be handed out free of charge in 2012, while 15% will be sold at auction. From 2013 on, 82% will be allocated free of charge, 15% will be auctioned off and 3% will be put aside, for example for new airlines. There are voices who even claim that airlines could make a profit from the ETS.

In sum, the addition of the aviation industry is an important step for the European Emissions Trading Scheme. It remains that too large a portion of the industries’ emissions is free. This is why TheCompensators* encourage you to continue compensating for the emissions incurred during unavoidable air travel yourselves.

Many thanks and a happy and low carbon 2012!

Drafts of the document circulate already in Brussels, and the “European Energy Review” gives an overview of the different stakeholder’s opinions on it.

The article refers to the position of the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA). According to the review, EWEA’s Senior Regulatory Affairs Advisor on Climate and Environment, Rémi Gruet, advocates not only a target for renewable energies, but also a stronger carbon market. According to EWEA, the cap of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme for emissions “will need to be tightened to set the EU on track to an 80% domestic emission reduction by 2050″.

One solution currently in discussion is to decrease the number of pollution rights in the ETS. This would allow the European Union to set a new emission reduction goal of 30% in 2020 instead of 20%. According to the European Energy Review, this idea is “starting to garner some support beyond the NGO community, but many in the power sector say 2020 is ‘tomorrow’ and it makes more sense to concentrate on 2030 now.”

TheCompensators* support the idea to raise the emission reduction goal to 30% by axing the number emissions allowances. Now it’s up to you to do your share by deleting your own emissions!

Furthermore, TheCompensators* acknowledge that some of the most progressive utilities have started to join the decarbonization movement. According to the European Energy Review “three utilities in particular stepped out from the mould in November with a call for the Commission to present a second EU climate and energy package that would set binding targets for emission reductions, renewables and efficiency for 2030.”

According to the article Eneco from the Netherlands, SSE from the UK and DONG Energy from Denmark say “they need long-term predictability to invest in the technological innovations needed and bring down costs.”

Support TheCompensators* and compensate your emissions right now!

PlanetHelp is an organisation which helps collect donations through online shopping. In other words, you can make a contribution to our work while shopping on the internet – without paying more money!

You will pay exactly the same price as everyone else and we will then receive a certain percentage of the money you spent.

There is a whole host of vendors who have agreed to join PlanetHelp, so there will definitely be something there for you.

So think of us when you do your online Christmas shopping (or any other shopping for that matter). It won’t cost you a penny, but it’ll mean a great deal to us!

Start shopping now and compensate your emissions!

(Please note that this is a German language website!)

“A physically and commercially integrated European electricity market combined with greater compatibility among national regulatory frameworks and a sufficiently restrictive carbon regime provide the foundation for achieving established GHG abatement objectives affordably, reliably and securely. However, progress on market integration is lagging and the current ETS linear reduction factor of 1.74% needs to be adjusted to align with the 2050 target of 80% domestic GHG abatement.”

TheCompensators* agree that the ETS reduction factor needs be adapted. Instead of waiting for politics to do that, you can delete emissions today with TheCompensators*!

Find out how to do that here.