Transcript The Registries for GHG in the CEE Countries

The Registries for GHG in the
CEE Countries
(The Czech Republic, Hungary,Latvia,
Poland, Romania, Slovenia)
Maria Khovanskaia
Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe
7 June 2003, SB 18, Germany
THE REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER
for Central and Eastern Europe
Main facts about the project
 Main objective: To identify the best option
among the available types of Registries for a
particular country
 Participants: Regional Environmental Center for
Central and Eastern Europe and CEE NGOs from
the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania,
Slovakia and Slovenia
 Duration: October 2002 – April 2003.
Milestones:
I. Kick-off meeting
Authors had to:
• Compare the different possible options in respect with establishment of
the National Registry;
• Review the existing Registries in light of the future needs;
• Analyse the institution and legal basis for the building of the National
System in the future;
• Make a preliminary estimation of the costs of the establishment of the
National Registry;
• Draw up recommendations to the Ministry in charge.
II. Interim Meeting.
Participants reported their findings on the already existing environmental
Registries: UK, Denmark, USA as well as summary of UNFCCC and EU
requirements.
III. Final Meeting.
Poland (ISD – capacity-building approach)
Main questions to answer:
• In which direction should the work to establish the
Registry proceed?
• What may be the nature of its links with the Registries
to be established under EU ET scheme and domestic
emissions trade in Poland?
Study divided in the following parts:
• An assessment of the situation with the climate protection
in Poland
•The already existing systems
•Dilemmas related to the National Registries in Poland
•Recommendations to the Government.
THE REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER
for Central and Eastern Europe
Legal Framework
Achievements:
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Environmental Protection Act is adopted
National Environmental Policy for 2003-2006 along with an Outlook for
2007-2010 is adopted by the Council of Ministers in December 2002
(However: the Policy is not yet adopted by the Polish Government)
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Short-term objectives:
The creation of organizational, institutional and financial conditions for
Poland’s meeting of its commitment in the scope of reporting, monitoring
and verification of the emission level achieved;
The creation of the conditions for the participation of Polish companies in
emissions trading and the implementation of this mechanisms
Entire set of tasks are envisaged, several of which relate directly to the
development of the National Registry
The system of fees and the system of recording emissions
At the different level of administration a number of measures are taken to record
and verify data on pollutant emissions including GHG.
•
Measures implementing the provisions of the national legislation – system of
fees for the use of the environment (several thousands of entities)
 The user of environment pays for the release of pollutants (almost all GHG)
 The user calculates the fees based on the quantity released and rates laid by
the MOE
 The user is obliged to keep the records of its data
 The user submits the data at the same day as she effectuates payment to the
local Marshall’s office (the basis for control system)
 The user should also obey the accounting regulation is this field
The system of fees and the system of recording emissions
•
Measures implementing provisions of the international obligations – system
of emissions recording
 National Center for Recording Emissions;
 NCRE makes national emissions inventories and inventory reports which are
to be submitted to the various european and international organizations;
 NCRE creates, developes and updates the database necessary for performance
of the above task containing:
data on emission sources and their activities;
emission factors;
estimated emission levels.
The system of fees and the system of recording emissions
The above systems can NOT be sufficient basis for National Registries either for
conducting Emission Trade.
However, they can:
• Determine emission level of the individual entities obliged to pay fees
• Collection of the emission data at the regional level
• The data collected under the system of fees can be useful for verification the
transactions registered in the National Registry – in order to determine
whether the seller meets its obligations in terms of emission levels
The knowledge of the manner of the opeeration of these systems can be
useful when designing the National Registry
Main Dilemmas
1.
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Level at which transactions should be concluded:
All transactions (irrespective of mechanisms) can be concluded by
the State only;
Each transaction can be concluded by any interested party, with the
government exercising supervision and control only over the correct
course.
2, Integration of the National Registry (to which extent different registries
should be integrated in one another):
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Three separate registries;
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One common Registry;
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Two Registries – one to cover domestic transaction and one to cover
international (Kyoto and EU) ones
Latvia
Latvian Development Agency (LDA) – the same approach
1.
2.
3.
4.
Legal framework is even less developed than the Polish one – no
clear mandate for the development of the National Registry for
GHG.
Assessment of IT capacities in the country – enough to create the
own software for the Registry
Existing registries inside the country and the requirement to comply
with the mega-registry (registry of registries).
Dilemma “consolidated vs separate”with EU or/and other Baltic
States
Hungary
Hungarian Environmental Economics Center – cost assessment
approach
Tasks associated with setting up and maintaining a registry system:
• Determining system requirements: an operative description of the
functions a registry should be able to perform based on the UNFCCC
decisions regarding registries (as well as domestic and EU requirements);
• System Development:
 Functional decisions, a task for experts on the KP and other UNFCCC
requirements affecting registry development;
 Technical decisions on e.g hardware capabilities, database software,
physical communications protocol necessary for the functioning of the
system etc
Costs and reference cases
Costs of setting up the system come from the following:
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Software costs (registry and system software);
Hardware costs;
Secure environment for the locating system;
Setting-up communication protocols;
System maintenance;
Personnel training.
Reference cases (both inventories and registries, internet-based, real-time with
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user access through the user name and password):
EATS (Emissions and Allowance Tracking System). Developed by US EPA.
Supports all the emission trading inventory and registry for SO2 and Nox;
Environmental Resource Trust;
UK Emission Trading Registry.
Software
Dilemma: to develop tailored to the needs of the developer or to purchase
with the further adjustment to the needs of purchaser.
Costs of development:
EATS – between $ 750,000 and 1 million
UK ETR – GBP 800,000 over 18 months
Hungary – since precise description of the registry function has not been
decided yet, neither its connection to the other systems, it is difficult to
make an estimation. Labor costs will be definitely less.
Costs associated with purchasing a license:
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Any customization or modification of the software;
Training of personnel;
Installation, including providing the necessary hardware and secure
environment;
Translation;
On-going technical support
Other interesting findings
1.
2.
Public vs Private Entity to operate Registries.
Conclusions: both government institutions and several
private companies are able to operate the Registry.
National or consolidated Registries – no specific
conclusions.
THE REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER
for Central and Eastern Europe
Main findings of the final meeting
1.
1. The lack of Climate Change Mitigation Strategy. In some of the
CEE countries (for example, Slovenia, Latvia) the Climate Change issues are
not on a list of priorities. This results in the absence of Climate Change
Mitigation and GHG Abatement Strategies. Poor Registry development and
the lack of provisions in the national legal systems are mainly due to the lack
of a clear strategy in the field of Climate Change.
2.
2. Upcoming EU Accession and joining EU Emission Trade Scheme. The
main discussion went on the issue of consolidate vs. separate national
registries. The participants agreed that the time schedule is very tight, and
much urgent work has to be done on the hard-and software for the registry/s,
including assurance of compatibility through the properly designed
communication protocol, and capacity building. Some participants suggested
that the transition period should be granted for the accession countries under
the EU ET Directive. The participants also investigated whether EU is willing
to provide the basic software for its member states since the French software
company is contracted to design the Registry architecture for the EU.
3.
Main findings of the final meeting
1. 3. Cooperation with financial institutions. Several times it was pointed out that
the Registry is not a simple database, but a database which should be linked to the Internet
and this database is to be modified through the web-access instructions. Thus, the experience
of the financial system is valuable. However, even if the GHG registry is designed
completely separately, the close link to the financial system should remain since the
Emission Trade includes also a money transfer.
4. Need for the institutional set-up. The participants expressed several times their
concern about the lack of institutions maintaining the Registries. Another question is
whether these operators should be public or private. The main conclusion was that the
responsibility for the Registry should lie with a government since the government is
responsible for the task of meeting Kyoto target of a country. At the same time some tasks
could be out-sourced.
THE REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER
for Central and Eastern Europe
Main findings of the final meeting
1.5. Country-specific needs. The Registry can serve for other country
needs, for example, for monitoring if a country is willing to combine
monitoring and verification activities with the Registry.
6. National Allocation Plan. It was pointed out that the expensive
process of the Registry design should not be started before the final
decision on the allocation plan is made.
Consolidated vs National
Among the advantages of the
separate national registries:
1.
Governments will fill more in
control;
2.
Capacity building for the
individual countries;
3.
Customizing the Registries for
the country-specific needs;
4.
National language makes
Registries more user-friendly.
Among the advantages of the
consolidated registries:
1.1. Fewer costs for the individual
countries;
Le2. Lesser risk of confusion between
different traded units,
Fr3. Avoid fraud and double-selling;
Le4 Lesser work on the development of
the communication protocols.