BEIS ) published updated guidance on participating in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (
UK ETS ) which launched on 1 January 2021. While the UK ETS closely follows the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (
EU ETS ), for now at least, it is a standalone scheme, established by the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Order 2020 (
TSO ). It is intended to provide some continuity with how the EU ETS works in regulating the greenhouse gas (
GHG ) emissions of the UK s most energy intensive industries, whilst keeping the UK in check with its net zero ambitions. On 4 March 2021, BEIS also published updated compliance guidance for aircraft operators subject to the UK ETS to follow up previous guidance from December 2020. We consider below the main features of the UK ETS, its divergence from the EU scheme and the potential implications of the new standalone scheme for UK industry.
Ministers resist calls from top adviser to tie UK carbon market to Brussels
The Government s official climate change adviser urged ministers to link its new carbon trading scheme to the EU s amid competition fears
24 May 2021 • 9:00am
The UK’s top climate change adviser has urged ministers to link the country’s new post-Brexit carbon market to an existing European Union scheme amid fears that firms will otherwise face an uneven playing field.
Officials at the Climate Change Committee (CCC) said the new Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) should be tied with Europe’s as soon as possible after the UK carbon market kicked off last week.