Eurobrief November 2011

On 23 November 2011, the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) adopted MEP Mario Pirillo’s (Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrat, Italy) opinion on a “Roadmap for moving to a competitive low carbon economy in 2050”.

On 8 November 2011, the European Commission submitted the draft regulation on the Monitoring and Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme to the Climate Change Committee.

On 18 November 2011, the European Commission formally adopted the registry rules of the EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS). These were published in the Official Journal on 29 November and entered into force on 30 November.

On 15 November 2011, the International Federation of Industrial Energy Users (IFIEC-Europe) called on the European Commission to ensure that sectors at risk of carbon leakage receive full compensation for the indirect effects of the EU’s Emission Trading Scheme (ETS).

On 17 November 2011 the European Commission’s second decision on the sectors and subsectors which are deemed to be exposed to a significant risk of carbon leakage was published in the Official Journal.

According to Swiss bank UBS, the price of carbon could tumble to as low €3 per tonne in the EU next year. This is believed to be the result of the ongoing debt crisis and the oversupply of permits. UBS also indicated that the Emissions Trading Scheme "isn't working" as carbon prices are "already too low to have any significant environmental impact."

On 14 November 2011, the European Commission published an online Q&A regarding the use of international credits in the 3rd phase of the EU’s Emission Trading Scheme.

On 16 November 2011 the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the climate change conference in Durban (COP17).