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Projects : Domestic Offsets in the EU: Article 24a

Can European Union member states host domestic offset projects? Climate Focus is facilitating discussions about how provisions under Article 24a of the amended Directive establishing a European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) can create incetives for the generation of domestic offsets within the EU.

As the first Kyoto commitment period closes and the EU ETS' enters its third trading phase in 2012, new rules promise to reshape the structure of the EU carbon market. The European Commission and EU Member States are considering allowing project offset trading among Member States under Article 24a of the trading system’s rules. Climate Focus, together with Caisse des Dépôts and the Belgian Ministry of Health Food Chain Safety and Environment, organized a roundtable-workshop on 1 March 2010 to initiate action and prepare a roadmap for the establishment of a new mechanism for domestic offset trading in the EU.

Representatives from nearly a dozen EU states assembled to exchange experiences with domestic offsets such as Joint Impelmentation, inform participants of regulatory initiatives on domestic offsetting projects, and look for common ground on the use of Article 24(a) to stimulate domestic action and help establish a common approach for action at the European level.

Climate Focus is planning a follow-up event to the March roundtable addressing the private sector as well as EU Members States, the Commission and policy makers. It is hoped this effort will support a cost-effective and environmentally sound domestic EU offset mechanism post-2012. For background documentation and presentation of the March Roundtable, please click here.

You can find more information about our work under related sections on services (Policy, Legal, and Finance), and focus areas (EU Emission Trading System).