European Union Environmental Trading System (EU ETS)

European Union Environmental Trading System (EU ETS)

What is the stated purpose behind the EU ETS?

The European Union Emissions Trading System is the first system of its kind. The system which was launched in the year 2005 has been designed or the stated purpose of combating the climatic changes around the globe. This forms the foundation of the climate policy in European Union. The objective of the EU ETS is to cover factories, installations that involve heat over 20 MW and power stations. This will help the world in fighting against the climate changes (European Commission, 2008). The rapid changes in climate mean that the geography of future will not be the same as the geography of yesteryears. There are many causes of the changes in earth's climate, some of which are quite complex. The EU ETS has been designed to help the European Union as well as Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland meet these challenges.

The installations that are currently covered by EU ETS include installations that are responsible for over 50 percent of the emissions of CO2 in European Union. Also, they emit 40 percent of the total greenhouse emission from the EU. The trading system also tries to neutralize the irregularities in emissions. These irregularities happen because of extreme weather conditions such as very hot and cold weather (The Economist, 2012).

Why do you agree or disagree with the concept of the EU ETS?

I think I agree with the concept of EU ETS because over a period of years, the earth has not only had episodes of warming but also episodes of cooling. The issues of climate change today relate to global warming. Global warming means that the overall temperature of the earth is rising. This has an impact on sea ice, glaciers and polar ice caps. Some of the major causes of global warming include the emission of greenhouse gases which may be produces as a consequence of various activities of humans. In addition, the burning of fossil fuels is also hazardous for the ozone layer and has caused global warming over the years (Karp, 2012).

I also agree with the concept in that the battle which has been going on in the European Union for ages regarding the industrial emission of greenhouse gases will be resolved in a cost effective manner. By charging the emission of greenhouse gases, the EU ETS has proven that there is a possibility of trading greenhouse gas emissions. The declining number of installations emissions of the greenhouse gases is a testament of the above statement.

What are the current and potential environmental results of the EU ETS?

EU ETS has led to a structural reform. This is one of the biggest feat of the trading system. The EU ETS has led to an overall reduction in greenhouse emissions. According to the latest report published by the European Commission for the year 2010, the total emission of greenhouse gases has declined by 17,000 tonnes per ...