Why does the Commission not propose to include forestry credits in the EU ETS earlier than 2020?
In the climate and energy package launched at the beginning of the year, the Commission has tabled a proposal for the review of the EU ETS which is currently under consideration in the Council and the Parliament. The impact assessment conducted in this context concludes that recognition of forestry credits in the EU ETS would not be realistic at present. Emissions from deforestation are roughly three times higher than the amount of emissions regulated under the EU ETS. As the EU ETS is currently the only major operational trading system in the world, allowing companies to buy avoided deforestation credits would result in serious imbalances between supply and demand in the scheme.
