Aug. 26, 2007
Germany's Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel announced in early June that companies should eventually pay for carbon dioxide (CO2) permits. Under the EU's current Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), governments issue most of the permits free of charge — a process that has been extremely profitable to power companies but has passed on the costs of ETS participation to consumers.
The trading scheme is the EU's main line of attack on global warming; companies, however, are allowed to trade certificates based on whether they overshoot or undershoot their targets.
"We will probably receive proposals to auction at least 50 percent [of the certificates]," Gabriel told the press at a meeting of EU environment ministers. "If you really take this instrument seriously, you will have to auction 100 percent at some point in time."
