EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS)

15 Oct 2018 01:23 PM

The Welsh and Scottish Governments have expressed serious concerns with the UK Government’s plans to replace the EU ETS with a carbon tax if there is a ‘no deal Brexit’, and insisted that any approach must maintain accountability to devolved administrations and legislatures.

The Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths and  Environment Secretary, Roseanna Cunningham, in a joint letter to the Chancellor and Minister of State for Energy & Clean Growth, call for the UK Government to initiate immediate Ministerial discussions to determine successor long-term arrangements in line with the devolution settlements.

Under proposals laid out in their latest tranche of ‘no deal’ Technical Notices, the UK Government has proposed to replace the long-standing emissions trading arrangements – reached by agreement between all four administrations – with a UK wide carbon tax, without discussion with the Devolved Administrations at a Ministerial level.