Over 500 emission quotas allocated in Finland

Deadline for emission permits set at end of February

print this

A couple of dozen Finnish organisations included among those in need of an emissions quota have yet to acquire one, despite the fact that the European Union's internal emission quota trading commenced at the beginning of the year.
      The companies have until the end of February to provide the Energy Market Authority, EMV, which is the supervising emissions trading authority in Finland, with the necessary information for the allocation of emission quotas.
      The government granted the individual quotas for each organisation in December, but the emission permit has to be applied for from the EMV.
      Each company is required to open an emissions account with the EMV before the end of this month. The account cannot be opened unless an emissions permit has first been granted.
     
Finland has allocated 544 emission quotas in all. The permits allocated at this point all relate to carbon dioxide emissions between 2005-2008.
      An emissions permit is required, for example, of all combustion plants over 20 Megawatts in size. A corporation that owns several plants has to acquire a separate permit for each one of them. Hence, the 544 permissions actually only relate to fewer than 300 different companies.
      The companies themselves are responsible for monitoring their emissions, and of reporting to the EMV.
      Companies are also able to trade their emission quotas with other firms.
      Tomorrow, Wednesday, sees the coming into effect of the landmark Kyoto Protocol on global warming, with most of the industrialised world committing itself to slash gas emissions, but with the United States, China, and Australia still holding out.
     
The treaty calls for the industrial world as a whole to slash its greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2 percent by 2012, with targets set according to each country's pollution level. Finland's emissions in the period 2008-2012 can be no greater than they were in 1990. The emissions trading scheme that started in January is part of the EU's commitment to reduce CO2 emissions under the terms of the treaty.
      Emissions will either become a source of wealth or added costs for companies and countries, depending on whether they are in a position to sell quotas to others or need to buy in from the market. Poland, whose quotas are based on a previously high level of emissions, is likely to be among the biggest EU beneficiaries.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  EU Commission takes legal action against Finland over emissions trade (20.1.2005)
  Minister Pekkarinen claims climate goals unreachable by EU alone (12.11.2004)
  Kyoto Treaty emissions trade could raise Finnish electricity prices significantly (8.10.2004)

Helsingin Sanomat