Reforms to EU ETS raise emissions prices, make system more relevant – analysis

German energy think tank Agora Energiewende*, together with the Institute for Applied Ecology (Öko-Institut), has published a new analysis of the recent reforms to the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). After remaining in the single digits for years, the cost of each emissions certificate has risen to and stabilised at roughly 15 euros in the wake of the recent changes to the system, Agora Energiewende writes in a press release. Next decade, excess certificates will begin to be removed from the market so as to give regulated firms greater incentive to reduce their emissions. “The recent reform to the emissions trading system has taken an important first step to once again making carbon pricing a relevant part of the climate policy toolkit,” says Felix Matthes, research coordinator for energy and climate policy at Öko-Institut.

Read the press release in German here and the analysis in German here.

For background, read the factsheet Understanding the European Union’s Emissions Trading System.

*Like the Clean Energy Wire, Agora Energiewende is a project funded by Stiftung Mercator and the European Climate Foundation.