Identifying green and grey CERs

Green CERs are ones which can be used for compliance in the EU ETS in Phase 3.  Grey CERs can only be used for compliance up to compliance year 2012, that is, up to the compliance date of 30th April 2013.

Unfortunately it does not say on a CER whether it is green or grey; you cannot see its colour.

So if you have CERs and you want to hold over green CERs for Phase 3 but you want to use up grey CERs in Phase 2, then you need a way of checking.  Alternatively, give us a ring and we can check for you at no charge.  But if you want to do it yourself, here’s how:

1.       Find out what project the CER comes from

To do this you need the serial number of the CERs you have.  At the end of the serial number is the UNFCCC project number.   This is what you need.

Here is a screenshot of a holding of CERs on a registry account.

 

2.       Find your project on the UNFCCC website

On this page http://cdm.unfccc.int/Projects/projsearch.html you can search for your project on the UNFCCC CDM project database.  Type in the project number in the box “Reference number” and search.

 

3.       Check the methodology of the project

Where your project is listed you will see a column for the methodology.  It is the fifth column in the table.

4.       Is it a disallowed methodology?

There are two kinds of projects which are disallowed so far under the grey CER rules (Commission Regulation no 550/2011, Article 1): those involving the destruction of HFC23 and of adipic acid.

These project kinds are covered by the following methodologies (you can check this here)

So, if the Methodology is either AM0001 or AM0021 then those CERs are grey.  If not, they are green.  In the above example the units are from project 0838 in India which indeed is an HFC23 project using AM0001.  So these are grey CERs… unfortunately!

5.       What next?

If you are planning to surrender the units in April 2013, then you can use grey ones for this.  In this case, if you find green CERs on your account, you can swap them for grey ones and benefit from a small premium, since green CERs are worth more than grey ones.

If you are not planning to surrender CERs in April 2013 but you want to hold them and carry them forward to Phase 3, then make sure that any grey CERs are sold or swapped in time, before 30th April 2013.

Remember: we are happy to check green and grey CERs for you at no charge.

Posted in EU ETS, Guidance Notes | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Union Registry

THE UNION REGISTRY WILL SOON BE READY TO USE

The European Commission has announced that the Union Registry will open on 20th June.  From 3rd June all transfers will be suspended on national registries to allow the migration of 30,000 EU ETS accounts from national registries to the Union Registry. Account holders in the EU ETS will be unable to access their existing accounts at member state registries during that period.

IMPORTANT IMPLICATIONS

  • No transfers can be made on registries between 3rd June and 20th June 2012
    • Therefore, take this into account when you are planning transactions, fulfilling delivery obligations or receiving units.

TIMELINE

From 14 May: Account holders will not be able to open or close accounts or to modify account and account representative details, neither in national registries nor in the Union Registry.

From 3 June: The operation of national registries and the Union Registry will be suspended and account holders will not be able to access registry accounts – including allowances held in these accounts.

On 20 June: The Union Registry is activated!  Users of existing national registries will be able to use the Union Registry once they receive authentication credentials from their national administrator.  All emissions units will be transferred to the Union Registry

ACCESSING THE UNION REGISTRY

Account holders will have to comply with increased documentation requirements and security features to access them.  To obtain access a user has to be nominated by the account holder as an authorised representative, and must provide copies of their identity, home address and their criminal record.  These documents must be notarised or, if from a non-EU body, legalised.

FUNCTIONALITY OF THE UNION REGISTRY

The security functions of the Union Registry are advanced.  They include:

  • 26 hour pending period for transfers
  • “4 eye” approval, meaning two people need to approve a transfer
  • SMS passwords for approvals

There is little information available today on new user functionality.  We do know of these two features:

  • Trusted account list – accounts to which transfers can be made without the 26 hour pending delay
  • Functionality to participate in auctions

More to come on this.

Some functionality will not be ready at the time of the activation.  The schedule for updates will be communicated by 15 July.

Posted in EU ETS | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Guidance Notes – Units of trade

A short note on different kinds of emissions trading units.

GN004_Airlines_Units

Posted in EU ETS, Guidance Notes | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Guidance Notes – Registries

This is a short introduction to registries.  It is aimed at people not yet familiar with the EU ETS.

GN003_Airlines_Registries

Posted in EU ETS, Guidance Notes | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Guidance Notes – getting ready to trade and using CERs and ERUs

We have sent to aviation clients very basic guidance on various emissions trading issues.  These are not for advanced users, but for readers who are new to the EU ETS and looking for information on basic questions.

Here are links to the first two guidance notes:

Getting ready to trade: GN001_VEF_Airlines_Getting_ready_to_trade

Use of CERs and ERUs for compliance: GN002_Airlines_Using_CERs_and_ERUs

These aren’t legal advice, but they are useful for the basics.

Posted in Guidance Notes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment