The European Commission said on Monday a proposal to limit the use of some carbon credits from industrial gas projects in its emissions trading scheme might be unveiled during a United Nations climate summit in Mexico next week.
Last week, the Commission said it was aiming to get the proposal ready before the meeting begins on November 29 in Cancun, Mexico.
With only one week remaining before the two-week summit, time is tight.
“We are trying to have it ready for Cancun, and that might be in the first week or the second week of the meeting,” a commission spokeswoman told Reuters.
The carbon market is looking for clarity over the use of U.N.-backed carbon credits from some controversial projects which destroy the potent greenhouse gas hydrofluorocarbon-23 (HFC-23).
A U.N. panel is scrutinizing such projects over fears that some project developers were adjusting their plants to produce more of the gas and then destroying it to climate profitable carbon credits.
The EU Commission is discussing whether to propose curbs or a ban from 2013 on such offsets in its carbon trading scheme.
Last week, two green groups accused Italy and some energy firms of trying to thwart the Commission’s efforts because they were defending their investment interests.
