Germany – Government services – Betrieb des AGE-Sekretariats und Unterstützungsleistungen für AGE

With the Paris Agreement (PA) of 2015, 197 states, including the European Union (EU) and Germany (D), agreed, among other things, to keep man-made global warming well below 2°C and, if possible, below 1.5°C, calculated from the beginning of industrialisation, by the end of the century. To comply with the commitments of the PA, the EU decided in 2021 with Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 to become the first continent to be climate-neutral by 2050. D has set itself the goal of achieving net greenhouse gas neutrality by 2045 in § 3 para. 2 of the Federal Climate Protection Act (KSG). To achieve the ambitious climate goals of the PA, Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 and the KSG, effective and cost-efficient instruments are needed – and emissions trading is central to this. International, national and regional emissions trading systems (ETS) set targeted incentives for emission reduction and enable set climate goals to be implemented in a planned and market-based manner. To fully unfold their effect, such systems should be as widely anchored, interconnected and internationally coordinated as possible. Linking ETS – i.e. mutual recognition of emission rights – increases the market size, lowers the overall macroeconomic costs and leads to better planning for energy-intensive companies through higher price stability. However, this requires technical compatibility, mutual trust and the building of institutional knowledge. In 2000, the then Federal Government, under the leadership of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, set up a permanent Working Group on Emissions Trading to Combat the Greenhouse Effect (AGE) to consult with stakeholders on the introduction and further development of emissions trading. The AGE has a permanent secretariat that, among other things, coordinates and administratively prepares the meetings. The service advertised includes the operation of the AGE secretariat and the provision of further support services for the preparation, implementation and follow-up of the AGE meetings and its sub-working groups (SWG). The task is financed from federal funds and contributions from the members. The AGE currently has 45 paying members. The AGE is tasked with comprehensively evaluating questions arising in connection with the use and further development of emissions trading in the climate protection measures package and, if necessary, issuing general recommendations for the design of this instrument. The background to the AGE's consultations are both the international discussions on the use of so-called market mechanisms and the design and implementation of the European emissions trading, the long-term strategy and the design and implementation of the national fuel emissions trading. The continuous improvement and review of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and the national fuel emissions trading play an important role in order to be able to act as examples and role models in the international arena. For this, continuous involvement of the various interest groups in D is an important factor. The AGE is a suitable forum for this task. Thus, the national fuel emissions trading according to the Fuel Emissions Trading Act (BEHG), which has benefited significantly from the discussions within this group in its design, further development and support, can be considered as a model for the European ETS 2. Originally founded to support the introduction of emissions trading in D, the AGE has grown into a forum that, on the one hand, critically accompanies the further development of the EU ETS, but on the other hand also represents a pool of experts around emissions trading that is requested by interested third countries.