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€2bn

Daily trading volume

13,000+

Entities covered

1.2bn

Tonnes of emissions covered per year

40%

EU’s total emissions covered by the system

How it works

Incentivising CO2 reduction.

To cap pollution in Europe, the EU Commission forces industrial firms to obtain "permits to pollute", called carbon allowances or EUAs.

  • 1 carbon allowance ⇒ 1 tonne of CO2
    Under a Cap-and-Trade system, industrial firms that emit CO2 must obtain Carbon Emission Allowances from regulators – each allowance permits them to emit 1 tonne of CO2
  • Supply of allowances is reduced annually
    Legislation automatically reduces the supply of allowances each year, decreasing emissions over time and increasing scarcity value of allowances
  • Incentivises polluters to reduce emissions
    An increase in the price of allowances forces firms to switch to greener solutions and reduce their greenhouse emissions

1 Data from ICIS as of 31st July 2021
2 Analysts' high-low forecasts complied by Carbon Pulse
3 EU Commission

Why is carbon of interest today.

As of July 2022, the price of European carbon allowances was €80 per tonne of CO2.[1] The EU plans to increase its 2030 emission reduction target, and expand the scope of the Emissions Trading System to include maritime emissions as well as imported emissions for certain goods. The legislative process for these reforms is expected to conclude in 2022. Analysts forecast prices of up to €150 by 2030[2]

* Past performance and forecasts are not reliable indicators of future results

1 Data from ICIS as of 14th June 2022
2 Analysts’ high-low forecasts compiled by Carbon Pulse

Why accelerate decarbonisation

The time to act is now.

Finance industry agrees carbon is THE problem to solve

Climate “first among equals” in MSCI’s ESG trends to watch1 “Decarbonise or die”, world’s biggest investor warns business chiefs2

1 MCSI, 2022 ESG Trends to Watch
2 The Sydney Morning Herald

Politicians have created an unrealistic pathway

Meeting our climate goals requires a drastic cut to emissions in the future – double the reductions seen during Covid

Early action creates economic and environmental benefits

  • More attainable pathway
  • Less environmental damage
  • More realistic 2050 emissions
  • Faster adoption of new solutions

Preventing emissions

What triggers the cancellation of carbon allowances and their removal from the system?

The Market Stability Reserve: Brief history

During the financial crisis, the EU had no way of adjusting supply

This created an overhang of supply that suppressed prices for years afterwards

In response, the MSR was introduced to automatically adjust supply whenever emissions levels change

The effectiveness of the solution has been demonstrated by the price history

How the Market Stability Reserve works

  1. European Emissions Trading System surplus is greater than 833m allowances in circulation1
  2. 24% of surplus EUAs are withheld from future auctions and transferred to Market Stability Reserve (MSR)
  3. Amount of allowances in MSR above previous year’s auction volume are cancelled (as of 2023)

Driven by EU regulation

“Withholding 0.92 carbon allowances for 10 years prevents 1 tonne of financed emissions”

The emission reductions are driven by the cancellation effect of the Market Stability Reserve. Download the research paper for more information.

Read Paper
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