A quick recap on EU ETS, UK ETS, and CH ETS 2021 reporting

For the 2021 verification, EU ETS reporting remains largely unchanged with a few changes in the EU ETS scopes. The EU ETS full scope has now shrunk to exclude the UK and the reduced scope has also been modified to only include flights from the EEA to the UK in it. Flights from the UK to the EEA now fall under the purview of the UK ETS. (read our UK ETS FAQs, UK ETS webinar slides).  

Due to the linking of the EU ETS and CH ETS from 2020, flights from the EEA to Switzerland will also be reported under EU ETS, while the flights in the opposite direction are reported under CH ETS in the same annual emissions report (together with intra-Swiss flights) – just like last year.

We would like to take this opportunity to remind all operators who were previously administered by the UK for EU ETS of their reassignment to new EU ETS Competent Authorities. The new Competent Authority may have different submission procedures and/or a different deadline, so we strongly urge all operators to communicate with their new Competent Authority regarding this.
 

Following Brexit, the UK acted quickly to introduce an emissions trading system, the UK ETS, with 2021 as the first monitoring period. With the completion of the monitoring period, it is now time to prepare for the first reporting and verification process under UK ETS.

As a quick reminder, commercial aircraft operators who have operated more than 243 'full scope' flights in at least one four-month period, whose 'full scope' emissions exceed 10,000 tonnes CO2, and who have had at least one UK ETS aviation activity (“UK ETS reduced scope”) flight, have a UK ETS reporting obligation. The definition for full scope and reduced scope UK ETS are explained below.

UK ETS full scope: All flights to/from the United Kingdom (and Gibraltar) + all flights to/from EEA Member Countries (including all flights to/from EEA outermost regions).

UK ETS Aviation Activity (i.e., reportable flights):
(1) all flights departing from the United Kingdom and arriving in EEA Member Countries (excluding outermost regions),
(2) all flights within the United Kingdom,
(3) all flights between the United Kingdom and Gibraltar, and
(4) all flights departing from the United Kingdom and arriving at offshore installations of EEA Member Countries/United Kingdom that are outside territorial waters (e.g., oil and gas production or exploration platforms).

To meet that obligation, aircraft operators must have their UK ETS annual emissions report verified by a UKAS-accredited verifier. More information about the UK ETS can be found on our UK ETS webpage or from the UK Government website.

The UK ETS legislation includes several civil penalties for missing deadlines, so it is paramount that operators meet the March 31^st 2022 reporting deadline, by when verified annual emissions reports must be submitted through the ETSWAP portal.

The UK ETS allowances equal to the UK ETS aviation activity emissions must be surrendered through the UK Registry by the 30^th of April. It is important to note that UK ETS and EU ETS allowances are not interchangeable, i.e., EU ETS allowances cannot be used in UK ETS (nor vice-versa).

> To learn more about CH ETS, please click here.

> Click here to find FAQ 1 and FAQ 2 related to CH ETS linking with EU ETS.

> Click here to find the FAQ's of EU ETS.

> Click here to read about "Fit for 55", the European Commission's legislative proposal to revise the EU ETS.

> Click here to find the steps involved in the verification and the accreditation used.

> Click here to read some of the feedback from our clients

Verifavia is pleased to offer UK ETS verification services to all airlines worldwide! We are currently in the process of transitioning our EU ETS accreditation to a UK ETS accreditation with UKAS, which will be completed very shortly.

Feel free to contact us at corsia@verifavia.com if you have any questions about your UK ETS obligations and/or to receive a customized proposal for verification. We also continue to offer EU ETS, CORSIA, and Carbon Footprint verifications, and can meet all your emissions verification requirements in a single package.