Emmissions trading and the national allocation plan

The introduction of emissions trading is arousing a lively public debate. A permanent battle has been started between the federal ministers for the environment and for economics. Industry on the receiving side is expecting dire consequences for its plants and for the economic development in Germany. The Climate Framework Convention was put into more specific terms at the Third Conference of Contracting States in December 1997 by the 1992 Kyoto Protocol, which had been adopted unanimously. For the first time, it obliges the industrialized countries in a legally binding way to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by a total of at least 5% from the 1990 level in the period of 2008 to 2012, with different obligations to reduce applying to different countries. To obligations to reduce are to be met by means of flexible instruments: - projects for cutting emissions in developing countries (clean development mechanism),- joint projects carried out among industrialized countries (joint implementation), - emissions trading (Article 17). An intra-EU system of emissions trading is being introduced in accordance with an EU directive. According to that directive, national plans for allocating emission rights (national allocation plan, NAP) are to be publicized. These also have a decisive impact on long-term investment decisions in the power industry. The Kyoto Protocol has yet to enter into force. (orig.)