Isra-Mart srl: EU Emissions Trading Scheme subject of new inquiry

An inquiry has been launched by the Energy and Climate Change Committee into the European Union's (EU) Emissions Trading System (ETS).

The committee has launched a call for written evidence as part of an investigation into whether the ETS can help the EU meet its climate change targets without an international agreement on the issue.

Next year will see commitments under the Kyoto Protocol come to an end and climate change summits in Copenhagen and Cancun have failed to create a legally-binding framework to replace them.

"The scheme was intended to form the core of a global carbon market, but is looking increasingly isolated after the failure to achieve binding emissions reduction commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change," a statement from the committee said.

According to the committee, the ETS has so far provided much of the business for the offsets available under the Kyoto Protocol, as well as providing a model for other similar cap and trade schemes.

The scheme covers power generation and the major energy intensive industries, which collectively account for around 48 percent of UK CO2 emissions.