CIG has learned that Lithuania is on the verge of marketing 50 million tonnes of carbon emission rights that are excess from its 2008- 2012 quota.
Nations comfortably under their greenhouse gas emission targets are able, under the Kyoto Protocol, to market their excess emission certificates to other nations or businesses as credits known as Assigned Amount Units (AAU’s).
"Lithuania wants to sell 50 million AAUs, and we want to do that as soon as possible," a spokes person for the Environment ministry was quoted as saying, CIG understands.
"We have signed protocols of intent with several countries, and we hope to close the deals by year-end," the spokesperson continued.
Lithuania whose principle resource is agricultural land and as such is not an intensely industrialized nation was allocated 221.3 million tonnes of emission rights for the entire 2008-2012 period.
The ministry had previously calculated an increase in the nation’s emission volumes to around 31 to 37 million tonnes next year from an estimated 24 to 27 million tonnes this year after the country shuts down its Soviet-era Ignalina nuclear power plant, proposed for December 2009.
Present EU market trends indicate a positive climate for the sale as the market remained buoyant after the announcement that there is no possibility of a climate pact to come from the Copenhagen climate talks in December, but rather only toward the end of 2010 at the soonest.
