The discount of United Nations emission credits compared with European Union permits widened to near its biggest level in almost two years after regulators increased the supply of new credits.
A decision to change the time when developers of projects can claim Certified Emission Reduction credits will boost supply through 2012 and encourage abatement efforts, Camco International Ltd., a London-based developer of greenhouse-gas project, said today. UN credits can be used for compliance in the EU carbon program, the biggest emissions market.
The discount for December 2012, traded as a separate contract, widened 1.6 percent to 4.36 euros ($5.96) a metric ton on the ICE Futures Europe exchange as of 2:30 p.m. and was as wide as 4.40 euros earlier today. The spread traded as high as 4.45 euros on Nov. 29, the biggest discount since May 2009.
The executive board of the Clean Development Mechanism decided Feb. 18 to move registration to “the date on which a complete request for registration has been submitted,” according to a meeting report on the website of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Registration previously was effective at the end of the approval process.
The change will mean developers get credits and potentially cash from selling them as much as a year sooner, Yariv Cohen, Camco president, said in an interview today. The change may bring forward credits by at least two months, he said. “This is good news for everyone.”
