Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
It also deserves to be mentioned briefly about Directive 2004 /101/EC the so-
called “Linking Directive” (European Commission 2004 ). This is an amendment to
Directive 2003 /87/EC aimed to enable the exchange within the EU of credits from
JI and CDM projects (European Commission 2003 ). The purpose of the directive
is to increase the trade of ETS within the EU and to reduce the total costs of imple-
menting the Kyoto Protocol.
The important points of the Linking Directive are the following.
There is a limit to the use of CERs/emission reduction units (ERUs) within the
EU ETS. Each member state shall decide on the use of such instruments in accor-
dance with the supplementarity principle indicated by the convention, according to
which the use of flexible mechanisms must be supplemental to domestic actions to
reduce GHG emissions. Moreover, since 2008, the national governments determine
a limit on CERs and ERUs converted by firms and show it in the NAPs. The supple-
mentarity principle is subject to the supervision of the European Commission, on
which member states are obliged to report on national actions undertaken in terms
of GHG reductions. The NAP must contain both the expected amount of CERs and
ERUs that can be used by operators and the percentage of allocation to each firms
within which managers are allowed the use of ERUs and CERs in the EU scheme
during the period considered. CERs and ERUs generated from nuclear power plants
are not recognized valid for the purposes of the exchange of emission credits within
the EU market, as well as reductions in emissions from carbon uptake activities of
land use, change in its land use, and forestry. CERs and ERUs from projects for the
production of hydroelectric power with a generating capacity exceeding 20 MW
shall be considered valid if these projects meet certain international rules on the
protection of dams, or the requirements established by the World Commission on
Dams. There is no double counting of units: member states may not issue CERs
and ERUs from project activities, which in turn lead to reductions or limitations
of direct or indirect GHG emissions achieved through projects carried out by the
installations covered by the ETS Directive, unless an equal number of allowances is
deleted from the national register by the firm considered.
The economic rationale at the bottom of the flexibility mechanisms in general
lies in the exploitation of differences in marginal costs of interventions aimed at
reducing GHG emissions in the different parts of the framework convention.
The Kyoto Protocol establishes mechanisms but it does not contain specific rules
on them and how they work. For example, it sets no upper limit to the size of the
total contribution of GHG reduction that may be satisfied through the use of flex-
ibility mechanisms rather than through domestic initiatives and actions to reduce
GHG emissions. Nevertheless, the Kyoto Protocol explicitly provides for the re-
quirement of supplementarity, according to which the parties should give priority to
domestic actions that represent a significant part of their overall efforts in the fight
against climate change.
The Kyoto Protocol, therefore, proposes a set of tools for action: strengthening
of national policies to reduce emissions by improving energy efficiency, the pro-
motion of sustainable forms of agriculture, RES implementation, cooperation with
other parties, such as the exchange of experience and information, the coordination
of national policies, etc.
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