EU advocates stronger carbon-market security

The European Commission is advocating that European governments strengthen security measures for the European carbon market. On Jan. 19, the commission suspended transactions because of repeated thefts that were reportedly worth millions of euros.

The commission on Feb. 23 outlined a list of security recommendations that it has submitted to the EU Climate Change Committee. Allowances to emit carbon dioxide are traded on the carbon market.

Connie Hedegaard, European Commissioner for Climate Action, said possible short-term actions include regularly reviewing security plans, reinforcing registry account policies and identity checks, and training registry users.

“For the medium- and long-term, we reinforce efforts to identify solutions in cooperation both with member states and through a regular dialogue with stakeholders,” Hedegaard said. A March meeting is planned for stakeholders to discuss addressing stolen allowances.

The commission soon plans to propose modifying the EU Registry regulation to provide a stronger legal protection to safeguard the integrity of the carbon market and to uphold the reputation of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.