Finland 2005 Emissions Below Quota, Official Says
Date: 08-May-06
Country: FINLAND
"That's correct, but we are not going to publish the data until May 15," ministry counsellor Paivi Janka told Reuters, when asked if Finland's CO2 output in 2005 was below its quota.
"The basic message is right, but we have ... decided we are not going to publish the figures until that date."
Several European countries last week announced lower than expected carbon emissions in 2005, showing companies had used fewer rights to pollute than they were allocated. That stoked a carbon credit price dive, slashing the cost to industry of polluting.
To avoid further disruption to the market from such announcements, the European Commission has asked remaining EU states not to disclose their 2005 emissions until May 15, when it plans to release a report.
The Finnish allocation for 2005 totalled 45.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, according to European Union data.
Janka said one of the main reasons Finland was able to keep its emissions down last year was a higher than average supply of hydro-electric power in the Nordic market.
Its allocations for the second phase of the emissions trading scheme -- from 2008-2012 -- would be lower so it could meet its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, Janka said.
"We have our Kyoto target for the next period so we will allocate well below what we allocated for this period," she said, adding: "The total amounts for the emissions trading haven't been decided yet."
Finland's allocation for the first phase of emissions trading was split equally between the three years 2005-2007.
The scheme allows energy-intensive companies such as power producers and refiners to buy credits if their CO2 output exceed the number of credits they were issued.