Spate of European Carbon Credit Frauds highlight Emissions Trading Deficiencies

Carbon Emissions Trading has always had profiteering built into it as private companies try to game a government regulated system for reducing GHG emissions.Carbon Trading which came into being after the birth of the Kyoto Protocol has got a lot of consultants and investment banks involved.While many of the schemes to earn carbon credits seem unethical they are not illegal.However a number of frauds have been unearthed in Europe which is the ground zero  for Emissions Trading.The number of frauds have only increased since then with Italy suspending trading and 1.6 million carbon credits stolen from a Romanian carbon registry.The complexity and information asymmetry has always put the insiders in an advantageous position.The red tape and bureaucracy associated with the Carbon Trading Scheme ensures that common people and small business cannot take advantage of the carbon reduction scheme.

Italian Exchange Halts ‘Abnormal’ EU Carbon Trading

Italy’s Gestore dei Mercati Energetici SpA suspended trading of European Union carbon permits on its exchange, citing “abnormal trading” and “presumed irregular or unlawful behaviors.”

Vitelli said it isn’t clear why prices on GME were “significantly lower” than prices on other exchanges, which also include the ICE Futures Europe in London, Climex in Utrecht, Netherlands, NordPool in Oslo and the European Energy Exchange in Leipzig, Germany.

The best example of the Kyoto Protocol and Carbon Trading deficiency is that a luxury hotel can get money for energy efficiency by using LED lighting while a poor person cannot.Also the complex forms,compliance,submission results in a massive amount of money being siphoned off by middlemen  instead of beneficiaries.This has made the Carbon Trading a big cash cow for a lot of investment banks.This has also resulted in voices being raised against Climate Change Mitigation efforts as a way to further increase the profits of banks instead of helping fight Global Warming.

EU warns emissions traders about registry requests

The European Commission has warned participants in its emissions trading scheme (EU ETS) not to respond to requests for account registration information from a Brussels-based company, the Commission said on its website.The Commission first warned participants about the European Climate Registry in 2009.The German emissions registry on Monday told the Commission its members had received more unsolicited emails from the firm requesting they register on its website.

It charges users an activation and maintenance fee of 1,512 euros ($2,016) a year, followed by an installation fee of 144 euros per account, according to its website. Participants in the EU ETS are on high alert after 1.6 million carbon permits went missing from the Romanian registry account of cement manufacturer Holcim last month.