CO2 Fix May Boost State Revenues by Half, EU Note Shows


Excerpt:

European Union government revenue from carbon permit auctions may increase by an average 51 percent in the three years to 2015 should member states approve a plan to delay some sales, according to an EU document.

The measure drafted by the European Commission to postpone selling 900 million allowances until 2019-2020 would boost the cost of emission permits in the EU market to 10 euros a metric ton in 2013, compared with a scenario where no volumes are postponed, according to the document obtained by Bloomberg News. Poland, which opposes the proposed EU strategy, said its own analysis showed it will cut revenue for some central and east European countries.

At stake are prices in the world’s biggest cap-and-trade emissions system after they plunged 76 percent since the beginning of 2008 as the economic crisis hurt industrial output.

The proposed stopgap measure, known as backloading, would alleviate oversupply which swelled to almost half of the average annual pollution limit in the 27-nation EU amid the downturn.

“Backloading is expected to deliver positive fiscal impact for member states in times of austerity,” Isaac Valero-Ladron, climate spokesman for the commission, said today by e-mail. “Fiscal impact is one element considered by member states in forming positions on back-loading.” bloomberg.com/