Finland plans to submit its new carbon dioxide (CO2) emission plan for 2008-2012 in the European Union trading scheme to the European Commission in early September, a senior official said. "We will submit it in about three weeks time," Taisto Turunen, director general of the energy department at the Trade and Industry Ministry, told a news conference.

The allocations in Finland s National Allocation Plan (NAP) are set to be some 18 percent lower than projected emissions in the 2008-2012 period, with the heaviest cuts falling on electricity producers, according to the ministrys proposal published in May.

Finland plans to issue on average 39.6 million CO2 emission rights a year for the period, down about 13 percent from current allowances that it undershot in 2005. The NAPs -- which make up the cornerstone of the EUs efforts to fight climate change and meet Kyoto Protocol emissions reduction goals -- outline how much CO2 industries in each EU state can emit in the 2008-2012 period.

The member states had to submit their NAP proposals by end June, but only few countries have so far presented their plans to the commission. In early August the commission said it had sent letters to 14 states that had not turned in their new CO2 plans, pressing them to submit details within a month.

The EU emissions trading scheme sets limits on how much CO2 high-polluting industries can emit. Companies must buy CO2 allowances if they pollute above their limit, or they can sell extra permits if they come in below their targets. The Commission, which can accept or reject the plans, is expected to be tougher on the 2008-2012 plans than it was on plans for the 2005-2007 period after 2005 data showing a surplus of CO2 credits led to a crash in carbon prices.
(Planet Ark, 17/08/2006)