Greenhouse gas emissions register launched

17 November 2005

BRUSSELS — Federal Environment Minister Bruno Tobback launched on Wednesday a national register for greenhouse gases where companies with high energy use can buy emission rights.

The exchange is designed to stimulate companies with high energy use to reduce their emissions or cut back on their energy use.

The government issues companies a certain amount of emission rights. At the end of the year, they need to give back an equal amount of rights to the amount of greenhouse gas they produced.

Firms that fail to do so will be fined an amount currently about double the shortfall in rights, newspaper ‘De Standaard’ reported on Thursday.

The companies that produce more greenhouse gases than they have rights for can avoid paying a fine by buying more rights via the national register.

On the other side, companies that emit fewer greenhouse gases than the amount of rights they have can sell their surplus rights to other businesses.

Every EU member state will set up a similar register and all registers will be linked so that emission rights can be traded on a European level.

In general terms, there are consciously too few rights issued so that companies that can reduce their emissions are stimulated to actively do so.

The entire system is designed to help nations reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet their environmental targets outlined in the Kyoto Protocol.

Subject: Belgian news