The UK government is introducing fast-track legislation to bring forward the country’s compliance with 2018 EU-ETS (energy trading scheme) emissions obligations.
The measure will require UK emitters to present their 2018 verified emissions to the EU by 11 March 2019, (as opposed to the standard deadline of 31 March), and to surrender the corresponding number of EUAs by 15 March 2019. The new deadline is six weeks earlier than the standard compliance deadline of 30 April. The proposed legislation has been put before the UK parliament and is due to enter into force on 27 December under a fast-track procedure that does not require a formal vote to pass.
The move is in with an agreement reached in the EU’s Climate Change Committee on 30 November. It is designed to prevent disruption to the EU-ETS in the event that the UK were to leave the European Union without a formal agreement. In exchange for this UK legislation, the European Commission will not mark or restrict the use of the UK’s 2018 allowances when they start to be issued from January.
