The British government said on Monday it will establish a domestic emissions trading scheme (UK ETS) from Jan. 1 to replace the current EU regime, as it presented its long-awaited white paper on energy policy.
Source: Reuters
Britain exits the EU ETS at the end of the Brexit transition period and had previously said it may introduce either a domestic ETS or a carbon tax.
“It will be the world’s first net-zero carbon cap and trade market, and a crucial step towards achieving the UK’s target for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050,” the government said.
It said the scheme would be more ambitious than the EU system it replaces, reducing the cap on emissions allowed within the system by 5% from day one, and may link to other international schemes in future.
Britain exits the EU ETS at the end of the Brexit transition period and had previously said it may introduce either a domestic ETS or a carbon tax.
“It will be the world’s first net-zero carbon cap and trade market, and a crucial step towards achieving the UK’s target for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050,” the government said.
It said the scheme would be more ambitious than the EU system it replaces, reducing the cap on emissions allowed within the system by 5% from day one, and may link to other international schemes in future.
This includes 1 billion pounds for carbon capture and storage, 240 million pounds to fund 5 gigawatts (GW)of hydrogen production by 2030, and up to 385 million pounds to support new nuclear technologies.
A further 2.3 billion pounds was pledged to the rollout of electric vehicle charging points and the electrification of cars and a 6.7 billion package of measures to help low-income households with energy bills.
By 2030, Britain plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 68% by 2030, over 1990 levels, and to ban new petrol cars.
($1 = 0.7467 pounds)
