Austria has purchased an additional 3.5 million Czech emission credits
Press release: 13.10.2009
Today in Vienna, Minster of the Environment Ladislav Miko along with his Austrian federation colleague Nikolaus Berlakovich signed an agreement for the sale of an additional 3.5 million Czech AAU [1] units to Austria.
“Through this transaction, the Green Light for Savings Programme, focused on the installation of renewable sources of energy as well as investments into energy savings in households, shall receive additional funding,” says Minster of the Environment Ladislav Miko. “Interest in this programme has seen significant growth in recent weeks. In September, I signed decisions to grant subsidies, with an aggregate value of 15 million Czech crowns, to the first 107 successful applicants. During the next few days, I will receive approximately 400 more applications, worth a total of 50 million Czech crowns, and the State Fund for the Environment shall process hundreds more such applications,” adds the Minister.
As with the two previous instances of concluded contracts, the negotiated price of an AAU unit as well as the total financial volume of the Czech-Austrian agreement shall remain confidential.
The Czech Republic obtained the right to sell AAU Units, thanks to the fact that it managed to lower its greenhouse gas emissions by 2008, by approximately 24% in comparison with 1990. The Czech Republic had committed to lower these emissions by 8% in the Kyoto Protocol. As a result, the Czech Republic can sell unused authorisation to release greenhouse gases to other countries in the form of AAU units.
The sale of emission credits has its own strict rules. Profits for credits sold, which a country obtains from other countries, who are not succeeding at fulfilling the Kyoto Protocol, must be utilised by the selling country exclusively for specialised programmes targeted at lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, as a result of polluting emissions in one country, greenhouse gas emissions are lowered in another country.
Pursuant to the Act on the Terms of Trading Greenhouse Gas Emission Allowances, the Ministry of the Environment is responsible for handling AAU units and resulting profits are added to the State Fund for the Environment, which then invests them exclusively into the Green Light for Savings Programme.
Jakub Kaspar, Spokesperson of the MoE
Photos from the Vienna Ministerial meeting are to be found in our photo gallery.
Notes:
[1] AAU (Assigned Amount Unit) is a unit, defined within the Kyoto Protocol, which represents a country’s trade-eligible right to release one ton of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, during the 2008 – 2012 period. A country, which has lowered emissions more than its commitment in the Kyoto Protocol, may sell any excess units to other countries. In essence, assigned amount units represent an “emission budget” for an industrially developed country, which it has received on the basis of its emission target in the Kyoto Protocol. AAU units are used for calculating commitments within the Kyoto Protocol and thus form an “international currency”, which in accordance to Article 17 of the Kyoto Protocol can be flexibly traded between countries for the purpose of obtaining the reduction commitments. According to its Kyoto commitment, the Czech Republic is entitled to release an approximate total of 900 mil tonnes of CO2eq into the atmosphere, during the 2008–2012 period. This right is expressed in assigned amount units (AAU). According to current analyses, the actual amount of emissions released, shall be approx. 17% lower than our targets in the Kyoto Protocol. The Czech Republic can sell this difference, in the form of AAU units, to countries, which are not succeeding at fulfilling the Kyoto Protocol.
The difference between AAU units and emission allowances (EUA): EUA allowances and AAU units are often confused. EUA emission allowances are traded exclusively within the European Emission Trading System (EU ETS) by the various individual polluters, meaning the enterprises themselves. Beginning in 2013, firms will no longer be allocated emission allowances free of charge and they will be required to purchase them in auctions. AAU units are part of the worldwide mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol, under which the Czech Republic was obliged to reduce its production of greenhouse gases by 8% in comparison with 1990.
