Den Europæiske Unions CO2-kvotepris faldt onsdag til sin laveste siden sidst i 2018, da den spredte coronavirus forventedes at reducere emissionerne fra industri og luftfart.
De nationale ledere i EU blev tirsdag enige om at lukke de ydre grænser for de fleste europæiske lande i 30 dage.
CO2-kvoteprisen blev handlet 10,7% lavere fra den forrige afvikling på 16,35 euro pr. ton – Det er den laveste pris siden november 2018, skriver Reuters.
Som et tegn på, at efterspørgslen faldt, annullerede den europæiske energibørs, EEX, en auktion på 3,1 mio. europæiske kulstoftilladelser på tirsdag, fordi den samlede mængde bud ikke var tilstrækkelig.
Reuters skriver desuden:
Some traders feared a UK auction of 5.7 million permits on Wednesday morning might fail but it settled at 16.11 euros a tonne. That was lower than other recent auction results over 20 euros.
“Although the auction cleared it (the price) was low. We are in the midst of a sell-off,” a trader said.
The EU’s output of greenhouse gases is regulated by the Emissions Trading System (ETS), the bloc’s flagship policy to tackle global warming by charging for the right to emit carbon dioxide.
Under the scheme, industry, utilities and airlines flying to and from EU airports pay to buy permits if their CO2 output is higher than a cap or can sell them if they emit less.
Graphic: Benchmark EU carbon price at its lowest since November 2018, here
LOCKDOWN
“As the COVID-19 outbreak is now spreading rapidly in Europe, it will start to reduce emissions as lockdowns are put in place in multiple countries,” said consultancy Energy Aspects.
The European Commission said on Friday that the EU economy was expected to contract by 1% in 2020, compared to a forecast in February that it would grow by 1.4%.
“The new forecasts suggest an absolute drop in industrial emissions of at least 10 million–20 million tonnes in 2020 – provided industrial production falls in line with GDP,” it added.
