Emissions Trading / Carbon Market News (26/05/2025)

Dear Sir or Madam,

Last week, the United Kingdom and the European Union announced their intention to link their emissions trading systems (ETS). The linking of the UK and EU systems is intended to create a larger and more efficient market, which will reduce the costs of emissions reduction while increasing the effectiveness of the measures.

Linking the UK and EU emissions trading systems offers a number of advantages. A larger market increases liquidity and reduces price volatility, leading to more stable and predictable prices for emission allowances. This, in turn, gives companies greater planning certainty and facilitates investment in decarbonisation technologies.

By linking the systems, the UK ETS and the EU ETS can better coordinate their climate policies. This is particularly important at a time when international cooperation and ambitious measures are needed to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. Close cooperation between the UK and the EU can also serve as a model for other countries and regions to link their emissions trading systems and create global markets for emission allowances, as is already the case between the Swiss trading system and the EU ETS.

In addition, trade barriers such as the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), which the UK will also introduce in 2027, would be removed, benefiting both parties.

The UK and EU governments have announced that they will work closely together in the coming months to plan and implement the linking of the systems. This includes consultations with stakeholders, technical feasibility studies and the adaptation of the legal framework.

The prices of British and European emission allowances responded to this information with corresponding price gains, with UKA rising by 6% in the short term.

Following US President Trump’s announcement that he intends to impose tariffs on imports of goods from the EU from 1 June 2025, prices on the markets fell significantly and EU emission allowances also lost ground, dropping from a daily high of 73.00 euros to a daily low of 70.00 euros in the benchmark contract.

By the end of the trading day, the market uncertainty triggered once again by Donald Trump had subsided somewhat and the closing price recovered to 71.56 euros. On a weekly basis, the trading week ended with a moderate gain of 0.8%.

After a conversation that was certainly not particularly pleasant for Ms von der Leyen, Trump decided yesterday to postpone the tariffs on EU goods until 9 July.

Due to the public holiday, auctions at the EEX will only take place on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, with a total volume of 5,318,000 EUAs.

Instrument16/05/2523/05/25Change
EUA (December-25-Future)70.99 EUR71.56 EUR+0.57 EUR
EUA 2 (December-28-Future)79.16 EUR81.03 EUR+1.87 EUR
nEZ (national Emission Allowances (D))55.00 EUR55.00 EUR+0.00 EUR
UKA (December-25-Future (UK))48.36 GBP51.69 GBP+3.33 GBP
UK Natural Gas (December-25-Future)96.12 GBP98.93 GBP+2.81 GBP
ICE Brent Crude Oil (December-25-Future)63.70 USD63.15 USD-0.55 USD
EURO (Forex)1.1164 USD1.1364 USD+0.0200 USD

(EUA, EUA 2, UKA, Natural Gas, Crude Oil and Euro Currency shows day-end-exchange quotes of the benchmark contract. This market information has just an informational character and are no advice or offer to trade emission allowances or their futures and options. If you want to unsubscribe, please reply to this mail.)

Please call our international carbon desk if any further questions exist: +49.2831.1348220 or book here a call with one of our specialists.

With kind regards,

Your Advantag – Team

Emissions Trading / Carbon Market News (19/05/2025)

Dear Sir or Madam,

On 15 May 2025, the German Advisory Council on Climate Change published its latest report on the progress and challenges of national climate policy. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the measures taken to date to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and analyses their effectiveness and the challenges that remain.

According to the report, significant progress has been made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Germany since 2020. Emissions have fallen by more than 35% compared to 1990. This reduction is mainly due to the expansion of renewable energies, improvements in energy efficiency and the decline in coal combustion.

Renewable energies have made a significant contribution to energy supply in recent years. In 2024, renewable energies accounted for around 46% of gross electricity consumption. Wind and solar energy in particular have established themselves as pillars of the energy transition. However, the report emphasises that the further expansion and integration of these energies into the electricity grid must be accelerated in order to achieve the climate targets.

Improving energy efficiency in various sectors, particularly in the building sector and industry, is highlighted as a key measure for reducing emissions. The report shows that significant savings can be achieved through energy-efficient renovations and the use of more efficient technologies. Nevertheless, further efforts are needed to exploit the full potential.

The transport sector continues to pose a major challenge. Despite some progress in the electrification of transport and the promotion of public transport, emissions in this sector have only fallen slightly. The report therefore calls for stronger measures to promote electric mobility, expand the charging infrastructure and create incentives for a shift to climate-friendly modes of transport.

The transport and buildings sectors are currently priced through the national emissions trading system in Germany and are to be transferred to the EU ETS 2 from 2027 for pricing on the free market.

Last week, Poland, in its capacity as chair of the EU Council of Ministers, spoke out in favour of postponing EU ETS 2 by at least one year and announced that it would otherwise apply for a derogation for Poland if the necessary majorities were not achieved.

Prices for emission allowances in EU ETS 1 were relatively volatile last week, trading in a range between 70.52 and 75.02 euros in the EUA benchmark contract. Prices are thus significantly higher than the 200-day line, which currently stands at 69.67.

However, on a weekly closing basis, they gained only 60 cents, as the closing price stood at 70.99 after rising sharply to over 75 euros on Friday.

As there is no significant resistance nearby, both a further rise and the possibility of profit-taking after the rise of the past weeks are possible.

A total of 11,343,500 EUAs will be auctioned on the Leipzig EEX this week, and due to Ascension Day, only 5,318,000 emission allowances will be auctioned on two trading days next week. 

Instrument09/05/2516/05/25Change
EUA (December-25-Future)70.39 EUR70.99 EUR+0.60 EUR
EUA 2 (December-28-Future)77.71 EUR79.16 EUR+1.45 EUR
nEZ (national Emission Allowances (D))55.00 EUR55.00 EUR+0.00 EUR
UKA (December-25-Future (UK))51.39 GBP48.36 GBP-3.03 GBP
UK Natural Gas (December-25-Future)95.06 GBP96.12 GBP+1.06 GBP
ICE Brent Crude Oil (December-25-Future)62.63 USD63.70 USD+1.07 USD
EURO (Forex)1.1250 USD1.1164 USD-0.0086 USD

(EUA, EUA 2, UKA, Natural Gas, Crude Oil and Euro Currency shows day-end-exchange quotes of the benchmark contract. This market information has just an informational character and are no advice or offer to trade emission allowances or their futures and options. If you want to unsubscribe, please reply to this mail.)

Please call our international carbon desk if any further questions exist: +49.2831.1348220 or book here a call with one of our specialists.

With kind regards,

Your Advantag – Team

Emissions Trading / Carbon Market News (12/05/2025)

Dear Sir or Madam,

On Tuesday, the new Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany was elected, albeit at the second attempt. The failure of the election at the first attempt initially unsettled the financial, energy and commodity markets, but over the course of the week, the DAX reached a new all-time high at 23,543 and EU emission allowances also broke through the €70 mark.

Chancellor Merz made his inaugural visits to Paris and Warsaw. On Thursday, he also had his first telephone conversation with US President Trump, during which both sides held out the prospect of an agreement in the tariff dispute, putting the financial markets in a bullish mood.

And on Tuesday, there was another first – the first futures contract for the EU ETS II, known as EUA 2, was issued by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which is why we have included it in our price monitoring. The ICE has chosen December 2028, probably to define a benchmark contract for the first year of the EU-wide emissions trading system for buildings and transport, which will begin in 2027.

On Tuesday, five contracts corresponding to 5,000 EUA 2 were traded at a price of EUR 73.57 at the start of trading. The bid price then rose briefly to EUR 150, but later fell back again.
There were no further trades in the past week, and the closing price on Friday was EUR 77.71.

As the trading volume was very low in the first week, with only five futures contracts, the price development is not particularly meaningful. It can therefore only be seen as an initial price indication. The closer we get to the start of EU ETS II, the stronger the volume and the number of market participants will increase, whose market assessments will then be reflected in the price.

The European Energy Exchange (EEX) will launch its first futures contract for EUA 2 with a maturity date of December 2027 on 7 July 2025, with additional maturities to follow.

Prices in the EU ETS I rose for the fifth week in a row last week amid easing tensions over US tariff policy. The EUA benchmark contract closed the trading week up just under one per cent above the 70 euro mark compared with the previous week.

After 11,343,500 EUAs were auctioned on the Leipzig Energy Exchange (EEX) last week, a total of 13,416,000 will be auctioned on all five trading days this week, representing an increase of 18.3%.

Instrument02/05/2509/05/25Change
EUA (December-25-Future)68.76 EUR70.39 EUR+1.63 EUR
EUA 2 (December-28-Future)0.00 EUR77.71 EUR+77.71 EUR
nEZ (national Emission Allowances (D))55.00 EUR55.00 EUR+0.00 EUR
UKA (December-25-Future (UK))49.63 GBP51.39 GBP+1.76 GBP
UK Natural Gas (December-25-Future)91.72 GBP95.06 GBP+3.34 GBP
ICE Brent Crude Oil (December-25-Future)60.68 USD62.63 USD+1.95 USD
EURO (Forex)1.1300 USD1.1250 USD-0.0050 USD

(EUA, EUA 2, UKA, Natural Gas, Crude Oil and Euro Currency shows day-end-exchange quotes of the benchmark contract. This market information has just an informational character and are no advice or offer to trade emission allowances or their futures and options. If you want to unsubscribe, please reply to this mail.)

Please call our international carbon desk if any further questions exist: +49.2831.1348220 or book here a call with one of our specialists.

With kind regards,

Your Advantag – Team

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Emissions Trading / Carbon Market News (05/05/2025)

Dear Sir or Madam,

Last year, Germany imported fossil fuels worth €76 billion, mainly in the form of oil and natural gas. These energy sources are almost entirely imported.

Greater independence from these greenhouse gas-intensive fuels is therefore desirable from both a global political and economic perspective.

However, the German electricity grid must be made more flexible, even though it had to cope with 32.8% less electricity last year than in the peak year of 2017. Although it is significantly less vulnerable than the Spanish electricity grid, for example, thanks to redundant safety mechanisms, blackouts such as those experienced on the Iberian Peninsula last week cannot be completely ruled out.

The expansion of renewable energies poses a particular challenge. According to the photovoltaic industry association BSW Solar, growth of 17.5 gigawatts is expected this year, which would mean that PV would overtake coal-fired power generation.

Currently, plants with a capacity of 105 gigawatts are in operation in Germany, and according to the federal government’s plans, a total installed capacity of 215 GW is to be achieved by 2030.

According to BSW Solar, the five million PV systems installed last year alone reduced CO2 emissions by a total of 50 million tonnes. If expansion doubles, approximately 100 million fewer emission allowances will be required annually in the German energy sector.

The prices for these emission allowances in the European Emissions Trading System (EU ETS I) ended last Friday’s trading week with a gain for the fourth week in a row. The benchmark contract closed the trading week with a gain of 3.5% just below the 69 euro mark, after resistance around 50 cents above that level proved stable.

After lower auction volumes on the European Energy Exchange in the last three weeks due to the holidays, a total of 11,343,500 EUAs will be auctioned this week, representing an increase of 32.5% compared to the previous week.

Instrument25/04/2502/05/25Change
EUA (December-25-Future)66.43 EUR68.76 EUR+2.33 EUR
nEZ (national Emission Allowances (D))55.00 EUR55.00 EUR+0.00 EUR
UKA (December-25-Future (UK))47.46 GBP49.63 GBP+2.17 GBP
UK Natural Gas (December-25-Future)89.82 GBP91.72 GBP+1.90 GBP
ICE Brent Crude Oil (December-25-Future)64.40 USD60.68 USD-3.72 USD
EURO (Forex)1.1363 USD1.1300 USD-0.0063 USD

(EUA. UKA, Natural Gas, Crude Oil and Euro Currency shows day-end-exchange quotes of the benchmark contract. This market information has just an informational character and are no advice or offer to trade emission allowances or their futures and options. If you want to unsubscribe, please reply to this mail.)

Please call our international carbon desk if any further questions exist: +49.2831.1348220.

With kind regards,

Your Advantag – Team