Emissions Trading / Carbon Market News (06/01/2025)

Dear Sir or Madam,

The old year seems to have flown by and here we are in 2025.

But what’s new in the field of carbon emissions trading? The price per tonne of CO2 in the national German emissions trading scheme has risen from 45 to 55 euros net, an increase of 22.22% after a 50% increase in the previous year.

In addition, due to the new elections in Germany on 23 February 2025, the start of auctions in national emissions trading has been postponed from mid-January to the second quarter of 2025; it will probably not be possible to participate in an auction here before May. We will keep you informed.

In the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), however, auctions will resume tomorrow and a total of 10,170,500 EUAs from the contingents of the EU, Poland and Germany will be auctioned on all remaining trading days this week.

But there is also a lot going on in emissions trading outside the EU. Dubai is introducing a digital platform for aviation emission certificates (CORSIA) and since the United Arab Emirates also wants to be climate neutral by 2050, a reporting requirement will come into force in May for companies that emit more than 500,000 tonnes of CO2. This is intended to be a preliminary stage for an emissions trading system that follows the EU’s cap-and-trade mechanism.

In the aforementioned election campaign in Germany, some parties want to blame the miserable economic situation in Germany on climate protection. Professor Ottmar Edenhofer, climate economist and director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), has clearly shown that this is not the case.

In an interview with the Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung, he explained that a quarter of all global emissions are already priced and that 30% of the world’s regions have managed to decouple their economic growth from emissions growth.

In the new year, prices for greenhouse gas emissions in the EU ETS rose significantly again. Based on the weekly closing prices, the benchmark future for December 2025 rose by a further 6% over the four trading days, with EUAs managing to return above the 75-euro mark.

The reasons for this included a rise in the gas price due to the alleged intentional destruction of the Estlink2 power cable and the restart of auctions this week on the EEX.

If you need the year-end-quotes 2024 for your bookkeeping, you can find it on our website.

      (Average Quotes Exchange / OTC)       
Instrument27/12/2403/01/25Change
EUA (December-2025-Future)71.56 EUR75.94 EUR+4.38 EUR
VER (Natural Carbon Offsets)0.44 USD0.40 USD-0.04 USD
VER (CORSIA eligible Carbon Offsets)0.40 USD0.44 USD+0.04 USD
nEZ (German National Carbon Units)45.00 EUR55.00 EUR+10.00 EUR
ICE Brent Crude Oil (Benchmark Future)73.80 USD76.88 USD+3.08 USD
EURO (Currency.. Forex)1.0421 USD1.0307 USD-0.0114 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,

Your Advantag – Team

Emissions Trading / Carbon Market News (30/12/2024)

Dear Sir or Madam,

Supplying industry and consumers with affordable energy is already an important topic in the German election campaign, with the parties sometimes far apart in their views on the type of energy generation. After the coal phase-out in the UK a few weeks ago, the option of nuclear energy is also appearing in some election programmes.

Globally, nuclear energy is growing again after many years of decline. According to forecasts by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the number of nuclear reactors worldwide is expected to more than double from 413 at the end of last year to 950 by 2050, and capacity is expected to increase from 372 gigawatts to 950 gigawatts.

There are currently 59 new nuclear reactors under construction, 24 of which will generate energy in China alone. And many other countries, including the US, the UK and Japan, want to triple their nuclear energy production by 2050. German neighbouring countries the Netherlands and Belgium have postponed their phase-out, and Poland is considering entering the nuclear energy market.

In the future, so-called new ‘small modular reactors’, or SMRs for short, are also to be used. These are small nuclear power plants that, among other things, can be transported and interconnected as needed.

Technology companies such as Microsoft, Oracle, Google and Amazon are backing nuclear energy in order to obtain both low-cost electricity and to be able to meet their climate protection targets.

It is therefore difficult to imagine that Germany, as an industrialised country, can avoid this topic, because the industrial electricity price in particular is a frequent cause for the relocation of production.

Whatever the future government in Berlin looks like, there will certainly be debates about re-entering the nuclear energy market, weighing up the opportunities for faster greenhouse gas reduction and the risks of the final storage problem of the fuel rods.

However, it is rather unlikely that the increased use of nuclear energy will have a major impact on prices in carbon emissions trading, since the market stability reserve would take effect in the event of a significant oversupply of emission allowances.

In the Christmas week, the prices of emission rights continued to show a bullish trend and visibly exceeded the 70-euro mark with a weekly gain of almost 5%.

The closing price on Friday was close to a resistance line, and it remains to be seen whether this will hold or whether the price will continue to perform bullishly around the turn of the year.

We wish you a happy new year 2025!

    (Average Quotes Exchange / OTC)       
Instrument20/12/2427/12/24Change
EUA (December-2025-Future)68.20 EUR71.56 EUR+3.36 EUR
VER (Natural Carbon Offsets)0.56 USD0.44 USD-0.12 USD
VER (CORSIA eligible Carbon Offsets)0.45 USD0.40 USD-0.05 USD
nEZ (German National Carbon Units)45.00 EUR45.00 EUR+0.00 EUR
ICE Brent Crude Oil (Benchmark Future)73.11 USD73.80 USD+0.69 USD
EURO (Currency.. Forex)1.0429 USD1.0421 USD-0.0008 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,

Your Advantag – Team

Emissions Trading / Carbon Market News (23/12/2024)

Ladies and gentlemen,

Last Tuesday, a group of Eastern European EU member states called for the entry into force of the EU ETS 2 for the buildings and transport sector to be postponed, as they fear social and economic consequences.

The politicians led by Czech Environment Minister Petr Hladik (EPP) expect petrol and diesel prices to rise by several dozen cents when it comes into force at the beginning of 2027.

The Alliance argues that a postponement by one year to 2028 would lead to greater acceptance and could also reduce market volatility, which would mean a reduction in the social impact. Some countries are even calling for a three-year postponement.

The market stability reserve, which would be used if prices were too volatile, should also be worth discussing.

In addition to the Czech Republic, Italy, Slovakia and Latvia are said to be open to such plans and France has also declared partial flexibility in this regard.

However, the EU Commission clearly spoke out against changes.

Last week, the previous benchmark contract for EUA December 2024 futures expired and the December 2025 contract has now taken over its function.

After prices trended significantly southwards on the first two trading days of last week, this trend came to a halt on Wednesday and, under the support of bullish gas prices, EUAs rose significantly on the last two trading days, closing the week with a price gain of 2.6%.

Interestingly, the support line at just under EUR 65 held and the 200-day line is now the next resistance level, currently at EUR 69.01.

As there will be no auctions in the EU ETS on the Leipzig EEX until January 16, 2025, pricing will now be determined entirely by fundamental news, the market environment and chart technology.

In addition, it has often been the case in recent years that institutional investors are still buying, which would give prices a bullish impetus.

    (Average Quotes Exchange / OTC)       
Instrument13/12/2420/12/24Change
EUA (December-2025-Future)66.47 EUR68.20 EUR+1.73 EUR
VER (Natural Carbon Offsets)0.40 USD0.56 USD+0.16 USD
VER (CORSIA eligible Carbon Offsets)0.44 USD0.45 USD+0.01 USD
nEZ (German National Carbon Units)45.00 EUR45.00 EUR+0.00 EUR
ICE Brent Crude Oil (Benchmark Future)74.56 USD73.11 USD+1.45 USD
EURO (Currency.. Forex)1.0497 USD1.0429 USD-0.0068 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,

Your Advantag – Team

Emissions Trading / Carbon Market News (16/12/2024)

Dear Sir or Madam,

In 2027, Germany’s national emissions trading under the Fuel Emissions Trading Act is to be transferred to the new second European Emissions Trading System EU ETS 2.

Now, the European Commission has set a quantity of 1,036,288,784 emission allowances for the buildings and transport sectors in relation to the 2027 cap. Here, too, an allowance represents the right to emit one tonne of CO2 with fossil fuels. No figures have yet been set for 2028.

According to the Commission, these 1.04 billion tons correspond to the average CO2 emissions in the priced sectors in the EU in 2016-2018. For 2028, the average emissions from 2024-2026 will be used as the baseline.

Buildings equipped with photovoltaic systems and/or heat pumps will therefore have significantly less to contribute under the EU ETS 2 carbon pricing system, and drivers of electric vehicles will also have a significant financial advantage.

Since the EU ETS 2 is expected to be particularly volatile in the first few months, it is advisable to work with a partner that has many years of experience in the EU ETS 1 and can recommend an appropriate optimal procurement strategy for the emission rights. Please feel free to contact us today if you will be participating in the EU ETS 2.

In the past week, EU ETS 1 emission allowances fell significantly in the run-up to the expiry of the December 2024 futures contract, losing almost 6% on a weekly closing price basis.

Today, the last auction of EU emission allowances (EUA) at the Leipzig EEX this year will also take place, with 3,428,000 certificates from EU stocks. 

Should the market remain bearish, we see support in the area of around 62.50, after which the 60-euro mark could provide market-psychological support. On the upside, the 200-day moving average is now a resistance level at 66.36 and just under 69 another resistance line.

    (Average Quotes Exchange / OTC)       
Instrument06/12/2413/12/24Change
EUA (December-2024-Future)68.31 EUR64.43 EUR-3.88 EUR
VER (Natural Carbon Offsets)0.36 USD0.40 USD+0.04 USD
VER (CORSIA eligible Carbon Offsets)0.46 USD0.44 USD-0.02 USD
nEZ (German National Carbon Units)45.00 EUR45.00 EUR+0.00 EUR
ICE Brent Crude Oil (Benchmark Future)71.35 USD74.56 USD+3.21 USD
EURO (Currency.. Forex)1.0568 USD1.0497 USD-0.0071 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,

Your Advantag – Team

Emissions Trading / Carbon Market News (09/12/2024)

Dear Sir or Madam,

Last Thursday, the final auction for 2024 in the German national emissions trading system took place and the next auction is scheduled to take place in the second quarter of 2025, according to the German Emissions Trading Authority. Due to the deadline of September 30, 2025 for the emissions of 2024, this seems to be a negligible problem. However, companies that do not yet have all the necessary national emission certificates (nEZ) should already be devising an appropriate procurement strategy, and we would be happy to advise you on this.

In exactly one week, the last auction for EU emission rights in the EU ETS will also take place on the EEX, and it will remain interesting to see how prices will develop in view of this fact and the expiration of the December 2024 EUA futures contract on EEX and ICE, as well as the so-called “roll-over” into the next benchmark contract December 2025 by the end of the year.

In EU emissions trading, the deadline for surrendering emission rights for the year 2024 is also at the end of September 2025, with shipping companies with ships of more than 5,000 gross register tons participating in mandatory EU emissions trading for the first time this year. We are also happy to advise maritime companies in this area and, with our market-based procurement strategy, we also procure the required emission certificates.

Last week, EU emission rights fluctuated between 67.13 and 70.14 euros. After prices presented themselves bullishly in the middle of the week, the bears prevailed towards the end of the week in a rather negative environment on the energy market and closed with a moderate minus of nine cents or 0.13% compared to the previous week at 68.31.

This week, a total of 11,951,000 European Allowances (EUAs) will be auctioned on all five trading days at the Leipzig EEX, which represents an 18% decrease from the previous week, as only 198,000 EUAs will be offered at the Polish auction on Wednesday.

It will be interesting to see what the demand will be in the remaining six auctions this year.

    (Average Quotes Exchange / OTC)       
Instrument29/11/2406/12/24Change
EUA (December-2024-Future)68.40 EUR68.31 EUR-0.09 EUR
VER (Natural Carbon Offsets)0.40 USD0.36 USD-0.04 USD
VER (CORSIA eligible Carbon Offsets)0.44 USD0.46 USD+0.02 USD
nEZ (German National Carbon Units)45.00 EUR45.00 EUR+0.00 EUR
ICE Brent Crude Oil (Benchmark Future)72.81 USD71.35 USD-1.46 USD
EURO (Currency.. Forex)1.0575 USD1.0568 USD-0.0007 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,

Your Advantag – Team