Emissions trading is not only an effective tool for climate protection, but also offers many companies the opportunity to create a competitive advantage for themselves. Trading emission credits even offers an additional source of income. This was stressed by the German Environment Minister Juergen Trittin at a seminar at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences. Mr Trittin said: "The German business sector has competitive advantages at present due to the success of our climate protection policy and the switch to renewable energy sources initiated by the German government. Those who invested in climate protection in the past few years shall reap their rewards now."
The first phase of emissions trading in Europe will start in 2005 and will first encompass high-energy installations. The Federal Environment Ministry is working on the establishment of a national allocation plan and developing rules and criteria for the allocation of emissions certificates. The national governments and the Länder have agreed on the procedure for collecting necessary data.
Minister Trittin pointed out that expanding the use of renewable energy sources together with improving energy efficiency and emissions trading formed the central pillars of climate protection policy. Emissions trading is an industry-compatible instrument of climate protection, because it enables cost efficient reduction of greenhouse gas emissions." The EU Commission estimates that the costs for reducing CO2 emissions by emissions trading will be 35 % lower than by means of other instruments.
"Climate change is the biggest challenge of this century," emphasised Minister Trittin. "The Federal Republic of Germany will continue to be the front runners in climate protection policy. In the framework of the Kyoto Protocol and the EU burden sharing, Germany has committed itself to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 21 percent by 2008/2012. I'm very optimistic about achieving our reduction targets. We have already reached a 19.5 % reduction." Jürgen Trittin pointed out that Germany will strive for a reduction of 40 % provided that the EU commits to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2020. He called upon Russia to ratify the Kyoto Protocol so that it can finally enter into force.