Dear Madam or Sir,
Last week, the German Economics and Climate Minister Robert Habeck presented Germany’s figures for greenhouse gas emissions last year.
According to these figures, a total of 10.1% or 76 million tonnes of CO2e less was emitted in 2023 in Germany than in the previous year, which is the sharpest decline since 1990. However, the transport sector is still 13 million tonnes above the target value, which is why the Federal Environment Agency sees an urgent need for action here, even though there was a reduction of 1.2% compared to the previous year.
The building sector, which is also priced in national emissions trading alongside transport, recorded a decrease of 7.5% or 8.3 million tonnes of CO2. However, the mild winter temperatures are partly responsible for this.
The energy sector has made good progress here, having emitted just under 52 million tonnes less thanks to the expansion of renewable energies and is therefore responsible for the lion’s share of the greenhouse gas reduction.
Industry also emitted 13 million tonnes of CO2 or almost 8% less. This means that emissions fell for the second year in a row, although this is largely due to the weakening economy in Germany.
For the third week in a row, prices for EU emission allowances have risen slightly compared to the previous week and are only just below the 60 euro mark, which was briefly exceeded on Friday.
Even if some readers consider the current prices to be far too low, pricing via the market is a great thing and is proving its advantage over a fixed tax on greenhouse gas emissions, especially at the present time, by relieving the economy and consumers in difficult times, as shown by falling inflation.
A total of 12,005,500 EU emission allowances will be auctioned this week, including 906,000 allowances for aviation on Wednesday. However, these can also be used for stationary installations. Compared to the previous week, the auction volume has therefore fallen by 10.4%.
| (Average Quotes Exchange / OTC) | |||
| Instrument | 08/03/24 | 15/03/24 | Change |
| EUA (December-2024-Future) | 58.39 EUR | 59.39 EUR | +1.00 EUR |
| VER (Natural Carbon Offsets) | 1.37 USD | 1.22 USD | -0.15 USD |
| VER (CORSIA eligible Carbon Offsets) | 0.46 USD | 0.42 USD | -0.04 USD |
| nEZ (German National Carbon Units) | 45.00 EUR | 45.00 EUR | +0.00 EUR |
| ICE Brent Crude Oil (Benchmark Future) | 81.64 USD | 84.89 USD | +3.25 USD |
| EURO (Currency, Forex) | 1.0946 USD | 1.0887 USD | -0.0059 USD |
(The VER quotes are average rates (carboncredits.com), which can be used within the framework of CORSIA and voluntary carbon offsetting. EUA, Crude Oil and Euro Currency shows day-end-exchange quotes. This market information has just an informational character and are no advice or offer to trade carbon emission rights 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,
ADVANTAG Services GmbH