Dear Sir or Madam,
Last Thursday, the UN General Assembly adopted a historic resolution that legally obliges all member states to take stronger action on climate change. It is based on a landmark advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2025. According to this opinion, failure to meet climate protection targets is unlawful, and affected states may claim compensation.
The initiative stems from a campaign by law students from small island states such as Vanuatu, which are particularly threatened by rising sea levels. They had also prompted the ICJ’s advisory opinion of July 2025.
141 countries voted in favour of the resolution. 28 states abstained, including India and several major oil-producing nations. Eight states rejected it, including the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Iran. Even states that, like the US under Donald Trump, withdrew from the Paris Agreement again in early 2026 remain bound by these obligations under customary international law.
As the World Bank reported last week, global revenue from carbon pricing has tripled over the last decade – from under $30 billion in 2016 to more than $107 billion for public budgets in 2025, according to a report published last week by the World Bank Group.
Just over 29% of global greenhouse gas emissions are currently covered by direct CO₂ pricing, such as the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). This share would rise to around a third if the instruments currently under development were introduced in other major emerging economies.
In Washington, Donald Trump now expects an agreement with Iran to be imminent and the Strait of Hormuz to be fully reopened within 30 days of the agreement. And this would be urgently needed, as oil reserves are falling daily and, should the conflict continue and oil supplies from the region remain cut off, would only last until the end of the summer. However, even a prompt resolution is expected to bring increasing supply uncertainty in the autumn.
Prices in the EU ETS1 rose by 1.7% last week compared with the previous week to 76.92 euros in the benchmark contract. EUAs traded within a range of 74.52 to 77.17 euros.
Due to Whit Monday, there will again be only four auctions on the European Energy Exchange this week; the total volume stands at 8,042,500 EUAs, which is 12.9% lower than the previous week.
| Instrument | 15/05/26 | 22/05/26 | Change |
| EUA (December-2026-Future) | 75.60 EUR | 76.92 EUR | +1.32 EUR |
| EUA2 (December-2028-Future) | 66.75 EUR | 66.87 EUR | +0.12 EUR |
| nEZ25 (national German Emission Certificates) | 55.00 EUR | 55.00 EUR | +0.00 EUR |
| UKA (December-2026-Future (UK)) | 51.13 GBP | 53.45 GBP | +2.32 GBP |
| UK Natural Gas (December-2026-Future) | 124.79 GBP | 122.82 GBP | -1.97 GBP |
| ICE Brent Crude Oil (December-2026-Future) | 90.98 USD | 88.28 USD | -2.70 USD |
| EURO (Forex) | 1.1626 USD | 1.1604 USD | -0.0022 USD |
(EUA, EUA2, 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