The European Commission today released the number of international carbon offsets used for compliance in the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS) during 2010. Initial analysis shows just under 140million offsets used at a cost of €1.8bn. This year’s figures show a surge in offset usage, up 56million credits from the year before. As in previous years, credits from the clean development mechanism (CDM) dominated the offset market, however, 2010 saw a fivefold increase in the use of credits originating from joint implementation (JI) projects. The table below shows offset usage by credit type during Phase II of the EU ETS. The new data takes EU spending on international offsets for use within the EU ETS to €4bn.
