Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology, and market infrastructure, today announced that, ahead of the first auction of UK emissions allowances for the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) due to commence on May 19, the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has published updated guidance on the eligibility criteria for participating in the auctions.
The updated guidance can be found here. Auction participants will need to register with ICE. Market participants who are interested in bidding in UK ETS auctions should contact sales-utilities@ice.com.
ICE was appointed to host emissions auctions on behalf of BEIS following the announcement from the UK Government and Devolved Administrations of the planned launch of a UK ETS to replace the UK’s participation in the EU ETS.
Full details of the UK Allowance (UKA) auctions, including the auction calendar, can be found here. ICE plans to launch UKA Futures contracts on May 19, coinciding with the launch of the first auction, with UKA Daily Futures following on May 21, subject to regulatory approval. These will clear at ICE Clear Europe alongside ICE’s global environmental complex, including European Union Allowances (EUA), California Carbon Allowances (CCAs) and California Carbon Offsets (CCOs).
“We believe the UK ETS will be pivotal in supporting the climate ambitions of the UK”, said Gordon Bennett, Managing Director of Utility Markets at ICE. “Reliable and liquid carbon and energy benchmarks are critical for markets to deliver an efficient transition from high to low carbon energy generation and carbon cap and trade programs have proved to be an incredibly successful policy tool in abating emissions.”
ICE offers customers access to the largest and most liquid environmental markets in the world. More than 14 gigatonnes of carbon trades on ICE annually, which is equivalent to approximately 40% of the world’s total annual energy-related emissions footprint based on current estimates.
ICE has been a leader in environmental markets for nearly two decades. A wide and increasing group of stakeholders use the price signals from ICE’s markets and indices to help assess climate transition risk in their portfolios, and access liquidity pools for compliance purposes, managing risk and allocating capital to benefit from energy transition opportunities.
