GHG Daily
1/27/2016
Following five years of negotiations, Switzerland and the European Union have struck an agreement to combine their carbon emissions trading systems, the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment announced Monday. “Linking the Swiss and EU CO2 emissions markets would be beneficial for both environmental policy and the economy. The technical negotiations have been concluded and an agreement has been initialled. For the treaty to enter into force, it must be signed and ratified by both sides. The timetable for this is open,” the announcement says.
The EU carbon emissions trading system is far larger than the Swiss trading scheme, covering 11,000 stationary installations that emit about 2 billion tonnes of CO2 per year. The Swiss emissions market consists of only 50 companies emitting roughly 5.5 million tonnes of CO2. Under the new agreement, Swiss companies will be able to trade with a much larger group and would thus “enjoy greater flexibility in meeting their CO2 targets,” according to the announcement. Furthermore, Swiss companies will now be able to operate in the same emissions market as their business partners in the EU.
