Legal background

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC, entered into force 1995) is the international legal background for saving the world’s climate situation. The UNFCCC’s objective is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.

A milestone in the history of international climate protection is the Kyoto Protocol (1997) which determined binding reduction targets for industrialized countries and established mechanisms such as Joint Implementation, Clean Development Mechanism and International Emissions Trading. The Kyoto Protocol entered into force in Austria in 2005 (Federal Gazette No III 89/2005).

In this regard the European Union enacted several directives and regulations. The Registry Regulation 2013/389/EU – directly binding in Austria – is one of the most important regulations to be mentioned and regulates especially:

• that a registry for emissions allowances is to be established
• how accounts in the registry are to be managed
• how allowances are surrendered, retired and cancelled
• how the compliance status of operators is calculated and
• which information in the registry is public.

Due to the obligation to transpose European directives into Austrian law the “Emissionszertifikategesetz 2011” (Austrian Act on Emissions Allowances 2011, Federal Gazette No I 2011/118 as amended) is the centrepiece in the Austrian legislation regarding Emission Trading. The EZG 2011 transposed the European directives 2003/87/EC and 2009/29/EC. It regulates

• which installations have to participate in the emission trading system in Austria
• how installations get the permit to emit greenhouse gases
• how emissions are monitored and verified
• how allowances are to be allocated and
• how allowances are to be surrendered and retired.

According to § 43 EZG 2011 the Austrian legislative authority enacted the so-called Registerstellenverordnung (Federal Gazette No II 2012/208) which statutes the Umweltbundesamt GmbH as the national administrator.

The national allocation plan 2013-2020 (NIM) is based on Directive 2003/87/EC.

Moreover the contractual relations between national administrator and the single account holders are liable to the Terms and Conditions of Use.

In order to link the EU Emissions Trading Scheme to international emissions trading, the European Union passed Directive 2004/101/EC establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community, in respect of the Kyoto Protocol’s project mechanisms with EEA relevance.