Sistema De Troca De Voz

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Sistema de comércio de emissões da UE (EU ETS) O sistema de comércio de emissões da UE (EU ETS) é uma pedra angular da política da UE para combater as alterações climáticas eo seu instrumento fundamental para reduzir as emissões de gases com efeito de estufa de forma rentável. É o primeiro mercado mundial de carbono e continua sendo o maior. Opera em 31 países (todos os 28 países da UE mais Islândia, Liechtenstein e Noruega) limita as emissões de mais de 11.000 instalações que utilizam energia pesada (centrais eléctricas e instalações industriais) e as companhias aéreas que operam entre estes países cobrem cerca de 45 emissões de gases com efeito de estufa da UE. Um sistema de limites máximos e de trocas comerciais O regime de comércio de licenças de emissão da UE funciona com base no princípio da limitação e do comércio. É fixado um limite para a quantidade total de determinados gases com efeito de estufa que podem ser emitidos pelas instalações abrangidas pelo sistema. A tampa é reduzida ao longo do tempo para que as emissões totais caem. Dentro do limite máximo, as empresas recebem ou compram licenças de emissão que podem negociar entre si, conforme necessário. Eles também podem comprar quantidades limitadas de créditos internacionais de projetos de poupança de emissões em todo o mundo. O limite do número total de licenças disponíveis assegura que estas tenham um valor. Depois de cada ano uma empresa deve entregar subsídios suficientes para cobrir todas as suas emissões, caso contrário multas pesadas são impostas. Se uma empresa reduz suas emissões, pode manter os subsídios de reposição para cobrir suas necessidades futuras ou então vendê-los para outra empresa que está aquém de subsídios. Trading traz flexibilidade que garante que as emissões são cortadas onde custar menos para fazê-lo. Um preço robusto do carbono também promove o investimento em tecnologias limpas e de baixo carbono. Principais características da fase 3 (2013-2020) O RCLE-UE está agora na sua terceira fase, significativamente diferente das fases 1 e 2. As principais alterações são: Um limite único, a nível da UE, sobre as emissões aplica-se ao sistema anterior de capitalizações nacionais. O leilão é o método predefinido para a atribuição de licenças de emissão (em vez da atribuição gratuita) e as regras de atribuição harmonizadas aplicam-se às licenças ainda concedidas De forma gratuita Mais sectores e gases incluíram 300 milhões de licenças reservadas na Reserva de Novos Participantes para financiar a implantação de tecnologias inovadoras de energia renovável e captura e armazenamento de carbono através do programa NER 300 Sectores e gases cobertos O sistema abrange os seguintes sectores e gases com a Centrar-se nas emissões que podem ser medidas, comunicadas e verificadas com um elevado nível de precisão: dióxido de carbono (CO 2) proveniente de sectores industriais que consomem energia e energia, incluindo refinarias de petróleo, siderurgia e produção de ferro, alumínio, metais e cimento , Cal, vidro, cerâmica, polpa, papel, cartão, ácidos e produtos químicos orgânicos a granel aviação comercial óxido nitroso (N 2 O) da produção De ácidos nítrico, adípico e glioxílico e glioxal perfluorocarbonos (PFC) da produção de alumínio A participação no RCLE-UE é obrigatória para as empresas destes sectores. Mas em alguns sectores apenas são incluídas instalações acima de um determinado tamanho certas pequenas instalações podem ser excluídas se os governos implementarem medidas fiscais ou outras que irão cortar as suas emissões por um montante equivalente no sector da aviação, até 2016 o ETS da UE se aplica apenas aos voos Entre os aeroportos situados no Espaço Económico Europeu (EEE). Realização de reduções de emissões O ETS da UE provou que a aplicação de um preço sobre o carbono e o seu comércio podem funcionar. As emissões provenientes das instalações do sistema estão a diminuir, conforme previsto, em cerca de 5 em comparação com o início da fase 3 (2013) (ver números de 2015). Em 2020. As emissões dos sectores abrangidos pelo sistema serão 21 inferiores às de 2005. Desenvolvendo o mercado de carbono Criado em 2005, o ETS da UE é o primeiro e maior sistema internacional de comércio de emissões, representando mais de três quartos do comércio internacional de carbono. O RCLE-UE também está a inspirar o desenvolvimento do comércio de emissões noutros países e regiões. A UE pretende ligar o RCLE-UE a outros sistemas compatíveis. Principais regulamentos do ETS da UE Relatórios do mercado do carbono Revisão do RCLE-UE para a fase 3 Implementação Legislative History of Directive 200387EC Trabalhos anteriores à proposta da Comissão Proposta da Comissão de Outubro de 2001 Resposta da Comissão à leitura da proposta no Conselho e Parlamento Todas as perguntas Perguntas e Respostas sobre o Sistema de Comércio de Emissões da UE (Dezembro de 2008) Qual é o objectivo do comércio de emissões O objectivo do Sistema de Comércio de Licenças de Emissão da UE (EU ETS) é ajudar os Estados - Emissões de CO2 de forma rentável. Permitir que as empresas participantes adquiram ou vendam licenças de emissão significa que os cortes de emissões podem ser alcançados a um custo mínimo. O RCLE-UE é a pedra angular da estratégia da UE para combater as alterações climáticas. É o primeiro sistema internacional de comércio de emissões de CO 2 no mundo e está em funcionamento desde 2005. A partir de 1 de Janeiro de 2008, aplica-se não só aos 27 Estados-Membros da UE, mas também aos outros três membros do Espaço Económico Europeu Noruega, Islândia e Liechtenstein. Abrange actualmente mais de 10.000 instalações nos sectores da energia e da indústria que são colectivamente responsáveis ​​por cerca de metade das emissões de CO 2 da UE e 40 das suas emissões totais de gases com efeito de estufa. Uma alteração à Directiva relativa ao regime de comércio de licenças de emissão da UE acordada em Julho de 2008 introduzirá o sector da aviação no sistema a partir de 2012. Como funciona o comércio de direitos de emissão O RCLE-UE é um sistema de comércio máximo, ou seja, , Dentro desse limite, permite que os participantes no sistema comprem e vendam licenças conforme exigirem. Estes subsídios são a moeda de troca comum no coração do sistema. Um subsídio dá ao titular o direito de emitir uma tonelada de CO 2 ou a quantidade equivalente de outro gás com efeito de estufa. A limitação do número total de licenças cria escassez no mercado. No primeiro e segundo períodos de comércio no âmbito do regime, os Estados-Membros tinham de elaborar planos nacionais de atribuição (PNA) que determinassem o seu nível total de emissões de ETS eo número de licenças de emissão que cada instalação recebe no seu país. No final de cada ano, as instalações devem devolver licenças equivalentes às suas emissões. As empresas que mantêm suas emissões abaixo do nível de suas licenças podem vender suas licenças excedentes. Aqueles que enfrentam dificuldades em manter as suas emissões em conformidade com os seus subsídios podem escolher entre tomar medidas para reduzir as suas próprias emissões, tais como investir em tecnologias mais eficientes ou utilizar fontes de energia menos intensivas em carbono ou comprar as licenças extras de que necessitam no mercado ou Uma combinação dos dois. Essas escolhas provavelmente serão determinadas por custos relativos. Desta forma, as emissões são reduzidas onde for mais rentável fazê-lo. Quanto tempo o sistema de comércio de licenças de emissão da UE tem estado a funcionar O regime de comércio de licenças de emissão da UE foi lançado em 1 de Janeiro de 2005. O primeiro período de comércio durou três anos até ao final de 2007 e foi uma fase de aprendizagem para preparar o segundo período de negociação crucial. O segundo período de comércio começou em 1 de Janeiro de 2008 e tem uma duração de cinco anos até ao final de 2012. A importância do segundo período de comércio decorre do facto de coincidir com o primeiro período de compromisso do Protocolo de Quioto, durante o qual a UE e outros Os países industrializados devem cumprir suas metas para limitar ou reduzir as emissões de gases de efeito estufa. Para o segundo período de comércio, as emissões do RCLE-UE foram limitadas a cerca de 6,5 abaixo dos níveis de 2005 para ajudar a garantir que a UE no seu conjunto e os Estados-Membros individualmente cumprem os seus compromissos de Quioto. Quais são as principais lições aprendidas com a experiência até agora O ETS da UE colocou um preço sobre o carbono e provou que o comércio de emissões de gases com efeito de estufa funciona. O primeiro período de comércio estabeleceu com êxito a livre negociação de licenças de emissão em toda a UE, criou a infra-estrutura necessária e desenvolveu um mercado dinâmico de carbono. O benefício ambiental da primeira fase pode ser limitado devido à atribuição excessiva de licenças de emissão em alguns Estados-Membros e em alguns sectores, devido principalmente à utilização de projecções de emissões antes da disponibilização de dados de emissões verificadas no âmbito do RCLE-UE. Quando a publicação dos dados de emissões verificadas para 2005 destacou essa sobrealocação, o mercado reagiu como seria de esperar, reduzindo o preço de mercado das licenças de emissão. A disponibilidade de dados de emissões verificadas permitiu à Comissão garantir que o limite máximo das dotações nacionais durante a segunda fase seja fixado num nível que resulte em reduções reais das emissões. Para além de sublinhar a necessidade de dados verificados, a experiência até agora demonstrou que uma maior harmonização no âmbito do RCLE-UE é imprescindível para garantir que a UE atinge os seus objectivos de redução de emissões ao menor custo e com distorções concorrenciais mínimas. A necessidade de uma maior harmonização é mais clara no que diz respeito à forma como é fixado o limite máximo das licenças de emissão globais. Os dois primeiros períodos de comércio mostram igualmente que os métodos nacionais de atribuição de licenças de emissão relativamente às instalações ameaçam a concorrência leal no mercado interno. Além disso, é necessária uma maior harmonização, clarificação e aperfeiçoamento no que se refere ao âmbito do sistema, ao acesso aos créditos de projectos de redução de emissões fora da UE, às condições de ligação do RCLE-UE aos sistemas de comércio de emissões noutros locais e ao acompanhamento, Relatórios. Quais são as principais alterações ao RCLE-UE e a partir de quando serão aplicáveis? As alterações de concepção acordadas serão aplicáveis ​​a partir do terceiro período de comércio, ou seja, Janeiro de 2013. Embora os trabalhos preparatórios sejam iniciados imediatamente, as regras aplicáveis ​​não mudarão até Janeiro de 2013 Para garantir que a estabilidade regulatória é mantida. O RCLE-UE no terceiro período será um sistema mais eficiente, mais harmonizado e mais justo. O aumento da eficiência é conseguido através de um período de comércio mais longo (8 anos em vez de 5 anos), um limite de emissões robusto e anualmente em declínio (21 em 2020 comparado com 2005) e um aumento substancial do leilão (de menos de 4 Na fase 2 para mais da metade na fase 3). Foi acordada uma maior harmonização em muitos domínios, nomeadamente no que diz respeito à fixação de limites (um limite máximo a nível da UE em vez dos limites nacionais nas fases 1 e 2) e as regras aplicáveis ​​à atribuição transitória de licenças de emissão. A equidade do sistema foi substancialmente reforçada pela adopção de regras de atribuição de licenças gratuitas a nível da UE para instalações industriais e pela introdução de um mecanismo de redistribuição que autoriza os novos Estados-Membros a licitar mais licenças. Como se compara o texto final à proposta inicial da Comissão Os objectivos em matéria de clima e energia acordados pelo Conselho Europeu da Primavera de 2007 foram mantidos e a arquitectura global da proposta da Comissão sobre o RCLE-UE permanece intacta. Ou seja, haverá um limite máximo a nível da UE sobre o número de licenças de emissão e este limite diminuirá anualmente ao longo de uma linha de tendência linear, que continuará para além do final do terceiro período de comércio (2013-2020). A principal diferença em relação à proposta é que o leilão de licenças será introduzido mais lentamente. Quais são as principais alterações em relação à proposta da Comissão Em resumo, as principais alterações introduzidas na proposta são as seguintes: Certos Estados-Membros podem beneficiar de uma derrogação facultativa e temporária à regra de não atribuição gratuita de licenças de emissão Aos produtores de electricidade a partir de 2013. Esta opção de derrogação está à disposição dos Estados-Membros que preenchem determinadas condições relacionadas com a interconectividade da sua rede eléctrica, a quota de um único combustível fóssil na produção de electricidade ea GDPcapita em relação à média da UE-27. Além disso, o montante das licenças de emissão gratuitas que um Estado-Membro pode atribuir às centrais eléctricas limita-se a 70% das emissões de dióxido de carbono das instalações pertinentes na fase 1 e diminui nos anos subsequentes. Além disso, a atribuição gratuita na fase 3 só pode ser atribuída a centrais eléctricas que estejam operacionais ou em construção até ao final de 2008. Ver resposta à questão 15 infra. Haverá mais pormenores na directiva sobre os critérios a utilizar para determinar os sectores ou subsectores considerados expostos a um risco significativo de fuga de carbono. E uma data anterior à publicação da lista das Comissões de tais sectores (31 de Dezembro de 2009). Além disso, sujeito a revisão quando um acordo internacional satisfatório for alcançado, as instalações de todas as indústrias expostas receberão 100 licenças gratuitas na medida em que utilizem a tecnologia mais eficiente. A afectação gratuita à indústria está limitada à percentagem destas emissões das indústrias no total de emissões entre 2005 e 2007. O número total de licenças atribuídas gratuitamente às instalações dos sectores industriais diminuirá anualmente, em conformidade com o declínio do limite das emissões. Os Estados-Membros podem também compensar determinadas instalações pelos custos de CO 2 repercutidos nos preços da electricidade se os custos de CO 2 puderem de outro modo os expor ao risco de fuga de carbono. A Comissão comprometeu-se a alterar as orientações comunitárias relativas aos auxílios estatais a favor do ambiente a este respeito. Ver resposta à pergunta 15 infra. O nível de leilão das licenças de emissão para as indústrias não expostas aumentará de forma linear, tal como proposto pela Comissão, mas em vez de atingir 100 até 2020, chegará a 70, com vista a atingir 100 em 2027. Conforme previsto na proposta da Comissão , 10 das licenças de leilão serão redistribuídas dos Estados-Membros com elevado rendimento per capita para aqueles com baixo rendimento per capita, a fim de reforçar a capacidade financeira destes últimos para investir em tecnologias favoráveis ​​ao clima. Foi adicionado um outro mecanismo redistributivo de 2 licenças de leilão para ter em conta os Estados-Membros que, em 2005, tinham conseguido uma redução de, pelo menos, 20 em emissões de gases com efeito de estufa em comparação com o ano de referência estabelecido pelo Protocolo de Quioto. A percentagem de receitas de leilão que os Estados-Membros são recomendados para lutar e adaptar-se às alterações climáticas, principalmente na UE, mas também nos países em desenvolvimento, é aumentada de 20 para 50. O texto prevê um complemento ao nível permitido proposto De utilização de créditos JICDM no cenário 20 para os operadores existentes que receberam os orçamentos mais baixos para importar e utilizar tais créditos em relação às dotações e ao acesso a créditos no período 2008-2012. Novos sectores, novos operadores nos períodos 2013-2020 e 2008-2012 poderão também utilizar créditos. Contudo, o montante total dos créditos que podem ser utilizados não será superior a 50% da redução entre 2008 e 2020. Com base numa redução mais rigorosa das emissões no contexto de um acordo internacional satisfatório, a Comissão poderia permitir um acesso adicional às RCE e às URE para Operadores no regime comunitário. Ver resposta à pergunta 20 infra. O produto da venda em leilão de 300 milhões de licenças da reserva para novos operadores será utilizado para apoiar até 12 projectos de demonstração e captura de carbono e demonstrações de tecnologias inovadoras de energia renovável. Um certo número de condições estão associadas a este mecanismo de financiamento. Ver resposta à pergunta 30 abaixo. A possibilidade de optar por pequenas instalações de combustão, desde que sejam objecto de medidas equivalentes, foi alargada a todas as pequenas instalações independentemente da actividade, o limiar de emissão aumentou de 10 000 para 25 000 toneladas de CO 2 por ano eo limiar de capacidade As instalações de combustão têm de cumprir, além disso, foi aumentada de 25MW para 35MW. Com estes crescentes limiares, a percentagem de emissões cobertas que seria potencialmente excluída do sistema de comércio de licenças de emissão torna-se significativa e, por conseguinte, foi acrescentada uma provisão para permitir uma redução correspondente do limite de licenças de emissão a nível da UE. No seu PAN para o primeiro (2005-2007) e o segundo (2008-2012) períodos de comércio, os Estados-Membros determinaram a quantidade total de licenças de emissão a emitir e como estas Seriam afectados às instalações em causa. Esta abordagem tem gerado diferenças significativas nas regras de atribuição, criando um incentivo para que cada Estado-Membro favoreça a sua própria indústria e conduziu a uma grande complexidade. A partir do terceiro período de comércio, haverá um limite único a nível da UE e as licenças serão atribuídas com base em regras harmonizadas. Os planos nacionais de atribuição não serão, pois, necessários. Como será determinado o limite de emissões na fase 3. As regras para o cálculo do limite máximo à escala da UE são as seguintes: A partir de 2013, o número total de licenças de emissão diminuirá anualmente de forma linear. O ponto de partida desta linha é a quantidade total média de licenças de emissão (limite de fase 2) a emitir pelos Estados-Membros para o período 2008-2012, ajustada para reflectir o alargamento do sistema a partir de 2013, bem como quaisquer pequenas instalações que os Estados-Membros Estados-Membros optaram por excluir. O factor linear pelo qual o montante anual deve diminuir é de 1,74 em relação ao limite da fase 2. O ponto de partida para a determinação do factor linear de 1,74 é a redução global dos gases com efeito de estufa em relação a 1990, o que equivale a uma redução em relação a 2005. No entanto, é necessário uma redução maior do RCLE-UE porque é mais barato reduzir Emissões de CO2 nos sectores do RCLE. A divisão que minimiza os custos globais de redução equivale a uma redução de cerca de 10 em relação a 2005 para os sectores não abrangidos pelo RCLE-UE. A redução de 2020 em 2020 resulta num limite de ETS em 2020 de um máximo de 1720 milhões de licenças e implica uma PAC de fase 3 média (2013-2020) de cerca de 1846 milhões de licenças e uma redução de 11 em comparação com o limite de fase 2. Todos os valores absolutos indicados correspondem à cobertura no início do segundo período de negociação e, por conseguinte, não têm em conta a aviação, que será adicionada em 2012, e outros sectores que serão adicionados na fase 3. Os valores finais dos limites de emissões anuais Na fase 3 serão determinados e publicados pela Comissão até 30 de Setembro de 2010. Como será determinada a cobertura das emissões para além da fase 3? O factor linear de 1,74 utilizado para determinar o limite da fase 3 continuará a ser aplicado para além do final do período de comércio em 2020 e determinará o limite para o quarto período comercial (2021 a 2028) e para além deste. Pode ser revisto até 2025, o mais tardar. De fato, reduções significativas de emissões de 60-80 em relação a 1990 serão necessárias até 2050 para atingir o objetivo estratégico de limitar o aumento da temperatura média global a não mais de 2C acima dos níveis pré-industriais. Será fixado um limite máximo para as licenças de emissão a nível da UE para cada ano. Isto reduzirá a flexibilidade das instalações em questão? Não, a flexibilidade das instalações não será reduzida de modo algum. Em qualquer ano, as licenças a licitar ea distribuir devem ser emitidas pelas autoridades competentes até 28 de Fevereiro. A última data em que os operadores entregarão licenças de emissão é 30 de Abril do ano seguinte ao ano em que as emissões ocorreram. Assim, os operadores recebem subsídios para o ano em curso antes de terem de entregar subsídios para cobrir as suas emissões do ano anterior. Os subsídios permanecem válidos durante todo o período de negociação e quaisquer excedentes podem agora ser depositados para utilização em períodos de negociação subsequentes. Nesse aspecto nada mudará. O sistema permanecerá baseado em períodos de comércio, mas o terceiro período de comércio durará oito anos, de 2013 a 2020, em vez de cinco anos para a segunda fase de 2008 a 2012. No segundo período de comércio, os Estados-Membros decidiram, em geral, Quantidades totais de licenças de emissão para cada ano. A diminuição linear a cada ano a partir de 2013 corresponderá melhor às tendências de emissões esperadas durante o período. Quais são os valores anuais provisórios do TCE para o período de 2013 a 2020 Os valores provisórios do limite anual são os seguintes: Estes valores baseiam-se no âmbito do RCLE aplicável na fase 2 (2008 a 2012) e nas decisões da Comissão sobre a Planos de atribuição nacionais para a fase 2, no montante de 2083 milhões de toneladas. Estes números serão ajustados por várias razões. Em primeiro lugar, será efectuado um ajustamento para ter em conta as extensões do âmbito de aplicação na fase 2, desde que os Estados-Membros justifiquem e verifiquem as suas emissões resultantes dessas prorrogações. Em segundo lugar, será efectuado um ajustamento no que diz respeito a novas prorrogações do âmbito do RCLE durante o terceiro período de comércio. Em terceiro lugar, qualquer opt-out de pequenas instalações irá levar a uma redução correspondente da PAC. Em quarto lugar, os números não têm em conta a inclusão da aviação, nem das emissões da Noruega, da Islândia e do Liechtenstein. Os subsídios ainda serão atribuídos gratuitamente Sim. As instalações industriais receberão alocação livre transitória. E, nos Estados-Membros elegíveis para a derrogação facultativa, as centrais eléctricas podem, se o Estado-Membro assim o decidir, beneficiar também de licenças de emissão gratuitas. Estima-se que pelo menos metade dos subsídios disponíveis a partir de 2013 serão leiloados. Embora a grande maioria das licenças de emissão tenha sido atribuída gratuitamente a instalações no primeiro e no segundo períodos de comércio, a Comissão propôs que o leilão de licenças de emissão se tornasse o princípio básico da atribuição. Isto porque o leilão assegura melhor a eficiência, transparência e simplicidade do sistema e cria o maior incentivo para investimentos numa economia de baixo carbono. É melhor cumpre o princípio do poluidor-pagador e evita dar lucros inesperados a certos setores que passaram o custo nocional de licenças para seus clientes, apesar de recebê-los gratuitamente. Em 31 de Dezembro de 2010, a Comissão adoptará regras à escala da UE, que serão desenvolvidas ao abrigo de um procedimento de comitologia (comitologia). Estas regras harmonizarão plenamente as dotações e, por conseguinte, todas as empresas da UE com actividades idênticas ou semelhantes estarão sujeitas às mesmas regras. As regras assegurarão, na medida do possível, que a alocação promova tecnologias eficientes em termos de carbono. As regras adoptadas prevêem que, na medida do possível, as dotações sejam baseadas nos denominados "benchmarks", e. Um número de licenças por quantidade de produção histórica. Essas regras recompensam os operadores que tomaram medidas rápidas para reduzir os gases com efeito de estufa, reflectem melhor o princípio do poluidor-pagador e incentivam mais fortemente a redução das emissões, uma vez que as atribuições deixariam de depender de emissões históricas. Todas as dotações devem ser determinadas antes do início do terceiro período de comércio e não serão permitidos ajustamentos ex post. Quais as instalações que irão beneficiar de dotações gratuitas e quais não? Como os impactos negativos sobre a competitividade serão evitados Tendo em conta a sua capacidade de repercutir o aumento do custo dos direitos de emissão, o leilão completo é a regra a partir de 2013 para os produtores de electricidade. No entanto, os Estados-Membros que preencham certas condições relativas à sua interconectividade ou a sua quota-parte de combustíveis fósseis na produção de electricidade e PIB per capita em relação à média da UE-27 têm a opção de se desviar temporariamente desta regra em relação às centrais eléctricas existentes. A taxa de leilão em 2013 deve ser de pelo menos 30 em relação às emissões no primeiro período e deverá aumentar progressivamente para 100 até 2020. Se a opção for aplicada, o Estado-Membro deve comprometer-se a investir na melhoria e modernização do As infra-estruturas, as tecnologias limpas e a diversificação do seu conjunto energético e das suas fontes de abastecimento, na medida do possível, igual ao valor de mercado da atribuição gratuita. Em outros sectores, as dotações gratuitas serão progressivamente eliminadas a partir de 2013, sendo que os Estados-Membros acordam em iniciar 20 leilões em 2013, passando para 70 leilões em 2020, com vista a atingir 100 em 2027. Contudo, será feita uma excepção Instalações em sectores que se encontrem expostos a um risco significativo de fuga de carbono. Este risco poderia ocorrer se o EU ETS aumentasse tanto os custos de produção que as empresas decidissem transferir a produção para áreas fora da UE que não estão sujeitas a restrições de emissão comparáveis. A Comissão determinará os sectores em causa até 31 de Dezembro de 2009. Para o efeito, a Comissão avaliará, nomeadamente, se os custos adicionais directos e indirectos de produção induzidos pela aplicação da Directiva RCLE como proporção do valor acrescentado bruto são superiores a 5 e se a O valor total das suas exportações e importações dividido pelo valor total do seu volume de negócios e das suas importações ultrapassa 10. Se o resultado de qualquer destes critérios for superior a 30, o sector também seria considerado exposto a um risco significativo de fuga de carbono. As instalações nesses setores receberiam 100% da sua participação na quantidade total anualmente decrescente de licenças de emissão gratuita. A percentagem destas emissões das indústrias é determinada em relação às emissões totais de ETS entre 2005 e 2007. Os custos de CO 2 repercutidos nos preços da electricidade também podem expor determinadas instalações ao risco de fuga de carbono. Para evitar esse risco, os Estados-Membros podem conceder uma indemnização relativamente a esses custos. Na ausência de um acordo internacional sobre as alterações climáticas, a Comissão comprometeu-se a alterar as orientações comunitárias relativas aos auxílios estatais a favor do ambiente a este respeito. De acordo com um acordo internacional que garante que os concorrentes de outras partes do mundo têm um custo comparável, o risco de fuga de carbono pode ser negligenciável. Por conseguinte, até 30 de Junho de 2010, a Comissão procederá a uma avaliação aprofundada da situação da indústria com elevado consumo de energia e do risco de fuga de carbono, tendo em conta os resultados das negociações internacionais e tendo igualmente em conta quaisquer Acordos que possam ter sido celebrados. O relatório será acompanhado de todas as propostas consideradas adequadas. Estes poderiam incluir a manutenção ou o ajustamento da percentagem de licenças de emissão recebidas gratuitamente para instalações industriais particularmente expostas à concorrência global ou que incluam os importadores dos produtos em causa no RCLE. Quem organizará os leilões e como serão realizados? Os Estados-Membros serão responsáveis ​​por assegurar que os subsídios que lhes são concedidos sejam leiloados. Cada Estado-Membro tem de decidir se pretende desenvolver a sua própria infra-estrutura e plataforma de leilões ou se quer cooperar com outros Estados-Membros para desenvolver soluções regionais ou comunitárias. A distribuição dos direitos de leilão aos Estados-Membros baseia-se, em grande medida, nas emissões da fase 1 do RCLE-UE, mas uma parte dos direitos será redistribuída dos Estados-Membros mais ricos para os países mais pobres para ter em conta o menor PIB per capita e as perspectivas mais elevadas Para o crescimento e as emissões entre estes últimos. É ainda o caso de que 10 dos direitos de licenças de leilão serão redistribuídos dos Estados-Membros com elevada renda per capita para aqueles com baixa renda per capita, a fim de fortalecer a capacidade financeira destes últimos para investir em tecnologias favoráveis ​​ao clima. No entanto, foi acrescentada uma disposição para um outro mecanismo redistributivo de 2 para ter em conta os Estados-Membros que, em 2005, tinham conseguido uma redução de, pelo menos, 20 em emissões de gases com efeito de estufa em comparação com o ano de referência estabelecido pelo Protocolo de Quioto. Nove Estados-Membros beneficiam desta disposição. Qualquer leilão deve respeitar as regras do mercado interno e deve, por conseguinte, estar aberto a qualquer comprador potencial em condições não discriminatórias. Até 30 de Junho de 2010, a Comissão adoptará um regulamento (através do procedimento de comitologia) que estabelecerá as regras e condições adequadas para assegurar leilões eficientes e coordenados sem perturbar o mercado de licenças de emissão. Quantas licenças serão leiloadas por cada Estado-Membro e como é determinado este montante Todas as licenças que não são atribuídas gratuitamente serão leiloadas. Um total de 88 licenças de emissão a serem leiloadas por cada Estado-Membro é distribuído com base na quota-parte dos Estados-Membros das emissões históricas no âmbito do RCLE-UE. Para fins de solidariedade e crescimento, 12 da quantidade total é distribuída de uma forma que leva em conta o PIB per capita e os resultados alcançados no âmbito do Protocolo de Quioto. Which sectors and gases are covered as of 2013 The ETS covers installations performing specified activities. Since the start it has covered, above certain capacity thresholds, power stations and other combustion plants, oil refineries, coke ovens, iron and steel plants and factories making cement, glass, lime, bricks, ceramics, pulp, paper and board. As for greenhouse gases, it currently only covers carbon dioxide emissions, with the exception of the Netherlands, which has opted in emissions from nitrous oxide. As from 2013, the scope of the ETS will be extended to also include other sectors and greenhouse gases. CO 2 emissions from petrochemicals, ammonia and aluminium will be included, as will N2O emissions from the production of nitric, adipic and glyocalic acid production and perfluorocarbons from the aluminium sector. The capture, transport and geological storage of all greenhouse gas emissions will also be covered. These sectors will receive allowances free of charge according to EU-wide rules, in the same way as other industrial sectors already covered. As of 2012, aviation will also be included in the EU ETS. Will small installations be excluded from the scope A large number of installations emitting relatively low amounts of CO 2 are currently covered by the ETS and concerns have been raised over the cost-effectiveness of their inclusion. As from 2013, Member States will be allowed to remove these installations from the ETS under certain conditions. The installations concerned are those whose reported emissions were lower than 25 000 tonnes of CO 2 equivalent in each of the 3 years preceding the year of application. For combustion installations, an additional capacity threshold of 35MW applies. In addition Member States are given the possibility to exclude installations operated by hospitals. The installations may be excluded from the ETS only if they will be covered by measures that will achieve an equivalent contribution to emission reductions. How many emission credits from third countries will be allowed For the second trading period, Member States allowed their operators to use significant quantities of credits generated by emission-saving projects undertaken in third countries to cover part of their emissions in the same way as they use ETS allowances. The revised Directive extends the rights to use these credits for the third trading period and allows a limited additional quantity to be used in such a way that the overall use of credits is limited to 50 of the EU-wide reductions over the period 2008-2020. For existing installations, and excluding new sectors within the scope, this will represent a total level of access of approximately 1.6 billion credits over the period 2008-2020. In practice, this means that existing operators will be able to use credits up to a minimum of 11 of their allocation during the period 2008-2012, while a top-up is foreseen for operators with the lowest sum of free allocation and allowed use of credits in the 2008-2012 period. New sectors and new entrants in the third trading period will have a guaranteed minimum access of 4.5 of their verified emissions during the period 2013-2020. For the aviation sector, the minimum access will be 1.5. The precise percentages will be determined through comitology. These projects must be officially recognised under the Kyoto Protocols Joint Implementation (JI) mechanism (covering projects carried out in countries with an emissions reduction target under the Protocol) or Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) (for projects undertaken in developing countries). Credits from JI projects are known as Emission Reduction Units (ERUs) while those from CDM projects are called Certified Emission Reductions (CERs). On the quality side only credits from project types eligible for use in the EU trading scheme during the period 2008-2012 will be accepted in the period 2013-2020. Furthermore, from 1 January 2013 measures may be applied to restrict the use of specific credits from project types. Such a quality control mechanism is needed to assure the environmental and economic integrity of future project types. To create greater flexibility, and in the absence of an international agreement being concluded by 31 December 2009, credits could be used in accordance with agreements concluded with third countries. The use of these credits should however not increase the overall number beyond 50 of the required reductions. Such agreements would not be required for new projects that started from 2013 onwards in Least Developed Countries. Based on a stricter emissions reduction in the context of a satisfactory international agreement . additional access to credits could be allowed, as well as the use of additional types of project credits or other mechanisms created under the international agreement. However, once an international agreement has been reached, from January 2013 onwards only credits from projects in third countries that have ratified the agreement or from additional types of project approved by the Commission will be eligible for use in the Community scheme. Will it be possible to use credits from carbon sinks like forests No. Before making its proposal, the Commission analysed the possibility of allowing credits from certain types of land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) projects which absorb carbon from the atmosphere. It concluded that doing so could undermine the environmental integrity of the EU ETS, for the following reasons: LULUCF projects cannot physically deliver permanent emissions reductions. Insufficient solutions have been developed to deal with the uncertainties, non-permanence of carbon storage and potential emissions leakage problems arising from such projects. The temporary and reversible nature of such activities would pose considerable risks in a company-based trading system and impose great liability risks on Member States. The inclusion of LULUCF projects in the ETS would require a quality of monitoring and reporting comparable to the monitoring and reporting of emissions from installations currently covered by the system. This is not available at present and is likely to incur costs which would substantially reduce the attractiveness of including such projects. The simplicity, transparency and predictability of the ETS would be considerably reduced. Moreover, the sheer quantity of potential credits entering the system could undermine the functioning of the carbon market unless their role were limited, in which case their potential benefits would become marginal. The Commission, the Council and the European Parliament believe that global deforestation can be better addressed through other instruments. For example, using part of the proceeds from auctioning allowances in the EU ETS could generate additional means to invest in LULUCF activities both inside and outside the EU, and may provide a model for future expansion. In this respect the Commission has proposed to set up the Global Forest Carbon Mechanism that would be a performance-based system for financing reductions in deforestation levels in developing countries. Besides those already mentioned, are there other credits that could be used in the revised ETS Yes. Projects in EU Member States which reduce greenhouse gas emissions not covered by the ETS could issue credits. These Community projects would need to be managed according to common EU provisions set up by the Commission in order to be tradable throughout the system. Such provisions would be adopted only for projects that cannot be realised through inclusion in the ETS. The provisions will seek to ensure that credits from Community projects do not result in double-counting of emission reductions nor impede other policy measures to reduce emissions not covered by the ETS, and that they are based on simple, easily administered rules. Are there measures in place to ensure that the price of allowances wont fall sharply during the third trading period A stable and predictable regulatory framework is vital for market stability. The revised Directive makes the regulatory framework as predictable as possible in order to boost stability and rule out policy-induced volatility. Important elements in this respect are the determination of the cap on emissions in the Directive well in advance of the start of the trading period, a linear reduction factor for the cap on emissions which continues to apply also beyond 2020 and the extension of the trading period from 5 to 8 years. The sharp fall in the allowance price during the first trading period was due to over-allocation of allowances which could not be banked for use in the second trading period. For the second and subsequent trading periods, Member States are obliged to allow the banking of allowances from one period to the next and therefore the end of one trading period is not expected to have any impact on the price. A new provision will apply as of 2013 in case of excessive price fluctuations in the allowance market. If, for more than six consecutive months, the allowance price is more than three times the average price of allowances during the two preceding years on the European market, the Commission will convene a meeting with Member States. If it is found that the price evolution does not correspond to market fundamentals, the Commission may either allow Member States to bring forward the auctioning of a part of the quantity to be auctioned, or allow them to auction up to 25 of the remaining allowances in the new entrant reserve. The price of allowances is determined by supply and demand and reflects fundamental factors like economic growth, fuel prices, rainfall and wind (availability of renewable energy) and temperature (demand for heating and cooling) etc. A degree of uncertainty is inevitable for such factors. The markets, however, allow participants to hedge the risks that may result from changes in allowances prices. Are there any provisions for linking the EU ETS to other emissions trading systems Yes. One of the key means to reduce emissions more cost-effectively is to enhance and further develop the global carbon market. The Commission sees the EU ETS as an important building block for the development of a global network of emission trading systems. Linking other national or regional cap-and-trade emissions trading systems to the EU ETS can create a bigger market, potentially lowering the aggregate cost of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The increased liquidity and reduced price volatility that this would entail would improve the functioning of markets for emission allowances. This may lead to a global network of trading systems in which participants, including legal entities, can buy emission allowances to fulfil their respective reduction commitments. The EU is keen to work with the new US Administration to build a transatlantic and indeed global carbon market to act as the motor of a concerted international push to combat climate change. While the original Directive allows for linking the EU ETS with other industrialised countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol, the new rules allow for linking with any country or administrative entity (such as a state or group of states under a federal system) which has established a compatible mandatory cap-and-trade system whose design elements would not undermine the environmental integrity of the EU ETS. Where such systems cap absolute emissions, there would be mutual recognition of allowances issued by them and the EU ETS. What is a Community registry and how does it work Registries are standardised electronic databases ensuring the accurate accounting of the issuance, holding, transfer and cancellation of emission allowances. As a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol in its own right, the Community is also obliged to maintain a registry. This is the Community Registry, which is distinct from the registries of Member States. Allowances issued from 1 January 2013 onwards will be held in the Community registry instead of in national registries. Will there be any changes to monitoring, reporting and verification requirements The Commission will adopt a new Regulation (through the comitology procedure) by 31 December 2011 governing the monitoring and reporting of emissions from the activities listed in Annex I of the Directive. A separate Regulation on the verification of emission reports and the accreditation of verifiers should specify conditions for accreditation, mutual recognition and cancellation of accreditation for verifiers, and for supervision and peer review as appropriate. What provision will be made for new entrants into the market Five percent of the total quantity of allowances will be put into a reserve for new installations or airlines that enter the system after 2013 (new entrants). The allocations from this reserve should mirror the allocations to corresponding existing installations. A part of the new entrant reserve, amounting to 300 million allowances, will be made available to support the investments in up to 12 demonstration projects using the carbon capture and storage technology and demonstration projects using innovative renewable energy technologies. There should be a fair geographical distribution of the projects. In principle, any allowances remaining in the reserve shall be distributed to Member States for auctioning. The distribution key shall take into account the level to which installations in Member States have benefited from this reserve. What has been agreed with respect to the financing of the 12 carbon capture and storage demonstration projects requested by a previous European Council The European Parliaments Environment Committee tabled an amendment to the EU ETS Directive requiring allowances in the new entrant reserve to be set aside in order to co-finance up to 12 demonstration projects as requested by the European Council in spring 2007. This amendment has later been extended to include also innovative renewable energy technologies that are not commercially viable yet. Projects shall be selected on the basis of objective and transparent criteria that include requirements for knowledge sharing. Support shall be given from the proceeds of these allowances via Member States and shall be complementary to substantial co-financing by the operator of the installation. No project shall receive support via this mechanism that exceeds 15 of the total number of allowances (i. e. 45 million allowances) available for this purpose. The Member State may choose to co-finance the project as well, but will in any case transfer the market value of the attributed allowances to the operator, who will not receive any allowances. A total of 300 million allowances will therefore be set aside until 2015 for this purpose. What is the role of an international agreement and its potential impact on EU ETS When an international agreement is reached, the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council assessing the nature of the measures agreed upon in the international agreement and their implications, in particular with respect to the risk of carbon leakage. On the basis of this report, the Commission shall then adopt a legislative proposal amending the present Directive as appropriate. For the effects on the use of credits from Joint Implementation and Clean Development Mechanism projects, please see the reply to question 20. What are the next steps Member States have to bring into force the legal instruments necessary to comply with certain provisions of the revised Directive by 31 December 2009. This concerns the collection of duly substantiated and verified emissions data from installations that will only be covered by the EU ETS as from 2013, and the national lists of installations and the allocation to each one. For the remaining provisions, the national laws, regulations and administrative provisions only have to be ready by 31 December 2012. The Commission has already started the work on implementation. For example, the collection and analysis of data for use in relation to carbon leakage is ongoing (list of sectors due end 2009). Work is also ongoing to prepare the Regulation on timing, administration and other aspects of auctioning (due by June 2010), the harmonised allocation rules (due end 2010) and the two Regulations on monitoring and reporting of emissions and verification of emissions and accreditation of verifiers (due end 2011).Dont miss the quotJoke Of The Monthquot at the end of this article. (extract from The LETSaholic Twist) Keeping Score Nothing More So, my LETS philosophy is 8230 Don8217t think of LETS points like dollars. Think of them as favours. LETS Favours. It was easy for me to accept this attitude because my first contact with LETS members, at the NM LETS Get-Together, presented them in the same way. They were offering their services to me without any hint of obligating me to give back to them. Then, when Robert cycled all the way to my home 8211 maybe over an hour8217s ride 8211 and gave me a massage that lasted for two long and extremely relaxing hours, I felt he was doing it in the same caring way. I didn8217t ask for a two-hour massage, but Robert noticed my muscles were very tight 8211 due to stress 8211 and needed additional massage, so he did what was best for me. And when I volunteered to design the newsletter for CampD LETS, whenever I was stumped and needed help, it was given to me at once and without hesitation. I am very similar to most people so I am sure I would be hesitant to 8220give8221 if I felt the LETS members were trying to take advantage of me. It is human nature to treat people as they treat you, so when LETS members gave to me unselfishly, I gave back to them in the same way. This is the LETS attitude I tried to instill on every LETS member I came in contact with ever since. So what is a LETS point to me Let me start by saying that the generally accepted view by all LETS people is that a LETS point is not cash, or federal currency, and I agree. However, I do not feel comfortable viewing LETS points as an alternative currency with an equivalent value in cash. I prefer to interpret LETS points as being like LETS favours. That has always made trading more enjoyable for me. I love doing favours for members and they show genuine appreciation for the favour 8211 in LETS points. It doesn8217t get any better than that I view LETS more like a voluntary self-help group where like-minded people in a local community give their time and experience to help their fellow members and feel welcomed to ask for the same in return 8230 just as they would from family and friends. But rather than do all this helping without any recording at all, keeping LETS accounts allows the group to keep track of the members8217 activities so they can balance their trading activities fairly, knowing that once their accounts are back to zero, they have given to the group just as much as they have received. Basically, it8217s just a matter of keeping score and nothing more. This is how I like to explain LETS accounts to new members: The LETS groups function is to act as a bookkeeper for their members activities keeping record of these 8216favours8217 and putting the members accounts into debit or credit accordingly. An account that is in credit identifies a member who has given more favours than he has received, and an account that is in debit identifies a member who has received more favours than he has given. These credits have no value and cannot be exchanged for cash. Their only purpose is to keep track of each member8217s involvement in the group so they can aim to bring their accounts back to zero 8211 a sign of fair and equitable participation in the system. The presentation I gave to LETS groups around the world was aptly titled 8230 LETS Favours: Improving your lifestyle through LETS I noticed the biggest impact I had on an audience was when they grasped the LETS Favours concept. That mind-shift produced a couple of results I am very proud of: an immediate increase in membership 8211 half the guests in the audience joined on the same night 8211 and an increase in trading for the following month (usually about thirty percent). The type of feedback I received from audience members, especially from inactive members was, 8220I feel much happier about trading if I think I8217ll be helping people8221. So, it seemed that members would rather trade when they thought of LETS points as 8216favours8217 rather than 8216money8217. I also found that focusing on helping members built a community-spirit within the group, and placed a friendlier tone on each trade. That motivated me much more than being profit-motivated. As far as I was concerned, LETS points did not have any monetary value. They simply represented the value of appreciation shown by the member who had been assisted. The LETS members I helped over the years knew I was not obligated to help them. Trading through LETS was never compulsory it was always 8211 and still is 8211 optional. The members were grateful to get my help in fact, any help. It was obvious just how appreciative they were because when I performed tiring services for members 8211 such as lawn mowing, painting and rubbish removals 8211 they always offered me snacks and drinks. They never even complained if my work was not 8216spot on8217. Why would they Would you complain to your neighbour if he agreed to help you with some tedious chore Wouldn8217t you just be grateful that he agreed to be there and help you as best he could That was how a community-spirit was built within the group. That was how trading became a friendlier and more enjoyable activity. And that was how I saw LETS: a voluntary self-help group of members who were willing to help each other in times of need. Here is a detailed example of the caring and sharing that took place with my LETS hosts while I was travelling overseas 8230 IT8217S ALL ABOUT CARING AND SHARING In March 2004, Kit, my LETS host in Kitchener (Ontario, Canada) asked, 8220Can you paint a room for me8221 Now, you had to keep that request in perspective. My stay in Kitchener was originally supposed to be for only one week: January 11-18. Nine-and-a-half weeks later, however, I was still there Apart from a couple of weeks spent in Welland, Brantford, Montreal, Granby, Ottawa and Toronto, I spent the rest of my time in Kitchener 8230 and it looked like I would be there for another seven weeks, making it a total of over three months Now I was not in the habit of staying in the same place for such a long time my average stay with a host was about a week. But things just turned out that way when my plans to visit South America fell through a couple of months earlier. Not only that, but Kit also organised: two performances of my play, The Glory of Athens three speaking engagements with local Toastmasters groups a Murder-Mystery night a winter camping weekend with thirty-seven other crazy Canadians a visit to an Emu farm a lift to Montreal, which was a six-hour drive two lifts to Toronto and back (an hour each way) a cross-country skiing trip and an ice-hockey game 8230 plus my day-to-day needs, as was originally requested when I first made contact with KW Barterworks, the LETS group Kit belonged to. My commitment to the LETS group, and their commitment to me, ended after my first week, so all those extras had been provided by Kit. When the visits to the South American countries had to be cancelled, Kit immediately offered to host me a while longer, because I was the ideal travel guest Here8217s why: I washed the dishes every day I regularly shovelled snow from the paths and driveway around the house I registered a domain name for Kit8217s business web site I also provided the web hosting I gave web page design tuition and I was good company to have around, always having something positive to say. The more I did for my host, the more my host did for me. It was all about caring and sharing, and having said that, I wasn8217t going to paint a room 8230 I was going to paint the whole freakin ground floor That was four rooms and a staircase, which meant stripping paint off all the woodwork 8211 doors, windows, skirting boards, and staircase filling in cracks in the plaster then painting the ceilings and floors. Why wouldn8217t I On my travels, there were many times when I had 8216given more8217 or 8216received more8217 than our original agreement had stipulated. To be quite honest, I found my hosts exceeded their obligations on almost every single occasion. Here are a few examples I recall from my European and African LETS Speaking Tour in 2002: In England, I had use of a bicycle for a week and repaid the favour by doing a few hours of house renovating for another member. Also in England, I cleaned a kitchen, bathroom and toilet. I got no extras in return, but I knew my host was expecting a visitor for the next couple of days, and because he was working all day, he wouldn8217t have enough time to clean those rooms himself. So I did it for him, and when he got home he couldn8217t believe his eyes In Spain, I washed the dishes one morning while my hosts were sleeping in. I just wanted to be helpful. In Norway, I was given a Polynesian Massage and repaid the favour by helping out in a couple of ways before I left. details Chapter 3 In South Africa, I got my first taste of working my butt off for LETS. I was giving up to three LETS presentations each day for four days, and by the fifth day I lost my voice As you can see, we just helped each other out whenever possible. But I digress, so back to painting those four rooms for Kit 8230 When was the last time you stripped 8230 paint, that is. Well, I only allowed two days for paint stripping. Meanwhile, six days later I was still stripping I had a couple of agonising days sanding the woodwork to a neat finish. Why agonising Because I did not use sandpaper I used steel wool soaked in mineral turpentine. Very soon I found that applying pressure with my thumbs gave the best results. Unfortunately, it made them ache so much that I could not snap my fingers for six days Just as well I was not performing my play during that period because when I played the role of Archimedes, snapping my fingers was an essential part of my act What started out as a simple weekend paint job, turned out to be a self-inflicted sentence lasting about three weeks. The results, however, were very worthwhile and I never regretted it for a moment. How did I go about my work In a very organised fashion 8230 just like everything else I did. Here is how long it took: - one day of planning and re-organising four rooms - one day of emptying three rooms of all furniture - one day of removing a wallpaper strip, filling wall cracks and seventy-nine holes, repairing a door handle, removing loose plaster off the kitchen ceiling, buying paints and painting equipment - six days of stripping paint off the woodwork - two days of sanding - two days of painting - and one day of replacing furniture in rooms and stacking books and CDs back into shelves. That completed three rooms of painting before I had to leave on my Ottawa LETS trip. However, on my return I completed the job by painting the kitchen as well. That took another: - two days of stripping paint - one day of filling cracks - one day of sanding - and two days of painting. A grand total of twenty days But what a great job I was very neat and considerate, cleaning up after myself at the end of each day. In fact, it was very reassuring to know that if I ever ran out of audiences to speak to, and web sites to design, I could always offer to renovate houses By the time the soldier pulled into the little town, every hotel room was taken. quotYouve got to have a room somewherequot, he pleaded with a proprietor. quotWell, I do have a double room with one occupant, but he is an Air Force guyquot admitted the manager, and he might be glad to split the cost. But to tell you the truth, he snores so loudly that people in adjoining rooms have complained in the past. Im not sure itd be worth it to you. quot No problem. quot the tired Army guy assured him, quotIll take it. quot The next morning the soldier came down to breakfasts bright-eyed and bushy tailed. quotHowd you sleepquot asked the manager. quotNever betterquot, said the soldier. The manager was impressed. quotNo problem with the other guy snoring all night longquot quotNo, I shut him up in no timequot, explained the soldier. quotHowd you manage thatquot asked the proprietor. quotWell, he was already in bed, snoring away, when I walked into the room, so I gave him a kiss on the cheekquot explained the soldier. 8220Then, I whispered in his ear Good night beautiful, and he sat up all night watching me. quot FREE linkup to local community exchange groups worldwide International LETS Groups Directory (FREE listings) Your guide to over 1,500 LETS groups from 39 countries LETS Local Exchange Trading Systems LETS. is a group of people from a small community who all agree to exchange goods and services with each other without the need for cash. CLICK HERE for more information on LETS LAST UPDATED: Wednesday, 9 March, 2011 (writing from Shanghai, China) The LETSaholic Twist - Everything you always wanted to know about LETS . but didnt know who to ask. About the book Dear James, Thanks so much for sending your wonderful e-book so promptly. There is so much useful advice and so many excellent suggestions that I found myself wanting to give our core group members a digested version but restrained myself as its often better to give people a chance to discover things on their own. But we do have a Christmas Fair on Saturday and auctioning off unsold items is a great idea Of course we will be happy to credit you in any excerpt we may use in our newsletter or handbook. With thanks and best wishes, . Suzon (Forscey-Moore) Membership Secretary, CamLETS, Cambridge - 8 Dec 2008) James, I contacted you earlier to order an e-book, The LETSaholic Twist . Its really a good book Well. we decided to order 20 books soft cover, to give away as a present to all the LETS groups that will visit our yearly LETS happening. . Erik (LETS Vlaanderen - 8 Sep 2007) Dear James, I have read your book ( The LETSaholic Twist ) and found it a great inspiration. when you next come to England I would love to host you and have some help at giving our LETS group a boost. . Katy (Dorchester, Dorset - 6 Jan 2008) For More Information About LETS. A very sad accident happened to Bosse. Maybe you know already He is dead, drowned in his well. Since you met him he had moved to another place in the middle of Sweden. I am so sorry for him. He was a fabulous guy and during a few years we had very close contact and cooperated in money matters. Love and respect to you and your work Marianne Paringsse (9 January 2011) Viktor, my LETS host in Goteborg (Gothenburg) had arranged a trip to Branno Island with Melina (a LETS researcher from Italy), her boyfriend Eli, and Eli8217s parents, Aldo and Marina, who8217d only just arrived to Goteborg the day before. But they were late getting to the port and missed the ferry by only a minute or two. Viktor and I got on board because it would be another 2 hours before the next ferry, and we had an important person waiting to meet us. Bo Ljungqvist (pronounced Bor Lioongvist) is a very lean man, about 58 years old, and looks like a hermit. But he8217s an ideologist concerned about world problems 8230 trying to solve problems that are called 8216normality8217. Bo lives on Branno, an island inhabited by only 800 people, which is only a short 10-minute ferry ride from Goteborg, Sweden8217s second largest city (situated on the east coast). Up to 3 years ago this island was out-of-bounds to foreigners because of 8216sensitive military issues8217. And this coming from a country that has not been at war for nearly 2 centuries Though their historically neutral military status had to change recently when they joined the European Union. Anyway, Bo has lived on Branno for 30 years and relishes his natural lifestyle. First of all, cars aren8217t allowed on the island so he walks or bike8217s his way around. And his house is an ecological project that he works on relentlessly. Bo was a Human Ecology university lecturer for 15 years and he8217s put much of this expertise into practise. He has a large glasshouse butting on to the back of his house and apart from providing an endless supply of fresh vegetables it also helps keep the heat and cold from getting into the house. I admired the tomatoes as soon as I saw them. 8220Help yourself,8221 he said. The tomato was delicious Above the glasshouse, Bo had covered the entire wall with solar panels. You could see his handy-work everywhere. In fact, you could even see his workshop 8230 in the lounge room 8220Most people don8217t like that I have my workbench in here, but I can8217t be without my tools,8221 he said. Bo Ljungqvist. one of the most interesting LETS characters Ive met. We sat outside in his overgrown and naturally wild yard, eating homemade tomato and lemon marmalade on bread. And he kept bringing out the hot coffee. He was enjoying the hot Swedish summer and was only wearing a pair of black shorts, which contrasted heavily with the long white hair on his chest and head, though many years of smoking had given him a nicotine-stained beard. I smiled as he wandered from the table to wash his hands in a nearby bucket that still had rainwater in it. And I followed suit shortly afterwards. A lush green reed plant, over 2 metres tall, grew nearby. 8220I didn8217t think it would do so well,8221 he said, 8220but it8217s growing beautifully. It8217s wild you know.8221 The crowing of a neighbour8217s rooster was constantly interrupting our conversation. 8220I thought roosters only crowed in the mornings,8221 I said, and I made a gesture implying that I8217d like to shoot it. Then as I turned, I saw a wire enclosure only metres away from me with a lone black rooster in it. 8220Oops8221 I said, 8220Didn8217t know it was your rooster.8221 8220He crows all the time8221, Bo said. 8220The other rooster you hear is across the street, and has 5 hens. So mine is probably just jealous. I suppose I should get him a hen.8221 A visit to the bathroom was an ecological experience. 8220As long as you sit down, everything will go in the right place,8221 he said. On close inspection I found that a metal 8216funnel8217 was positioned to catch the urine and direct it into a different container to that of the 8216heavy8217 stuff. So in this way he was able to recycle the human waste most efficiently. By the end of the day we had quite a gathering in Bo8217s backyard, with a couple of neighbours joining us for a chat over coffee. But the day8217s classic line went to Eli8217s mum, Marina, after I mentioned that in China I insisted on being photographed with a large toad and snake before I ate them. She couldn8217t pass up the opportunity, and with a big smile she said, 8220Then it8217s dangerous to be photographed with you8221 MESSAGE FROM BO. (November 24, 2003) Subject: Renaissance of a LETS on Braumlnnouml Island, Sweden gt Hello James, I am glad and proud to tell that our system Braumlnnouml Bytesring Sweden with approx 30 members is now in operation again. All the best from, Bosse - accounter and ex-co-ordinator. A word from James Taris 4 Oct 2010 (extract from The LETSaholic Twist) quotAny committee is only as good as the most knowledgeable, determined and vigorous person on it. quot (Lady Bird Johnson) THE 10 COMMITTEE ROLES The most successful administration system we had, in the LETS groups I was involved with, was the 10-committee-roles system 8230 where ten members were voted into specific committee roles by the LETS membership. By giving the committee members specific roles, and giving them the authority to perform their duties 8216to the best of their abilities8217, the administration of the group got the freedom it needed to advance in leaps and bounds. Why Because, rather than trying to run the group by bringing items for discussion to a once-a-month committee meeting, decisions could be made by individual committee members responsible for their specific roles at any time of the day, or day of the month. They carried out their activities with more enthusiasm, accepting praise for a job well-done and taking personal responsibility for jobs not-so-well-done. Here are the committee roles that were allocated in the LETS groups I was associated with 8211 along with their duties: 1 - Group Co-ordinator 2 - Meeting Secretary 3 - Cash Treasurer 4 - Promotions Co-ordinator 5 - Membership Co-ordinator 6 - Events Co-ordinator 7 - Newsletter Publisher 8 - Directory Publisher 9 - Website Webmaster 10 - Office Co-ordinator with Office Helpers Over the years I noticed that the success of a LETS group, just like any other organisation, was usually the result of good leadership, that is, having a good Group Co-ordinator. What was our Group Co-ordinator supposed to do 8230 NOTHING Now that I have your attention, let me explain what I mean by 8216nothing8217. The most common reason for a new LETS group 8216dying8217 was the reluctance for members to replace a retiring Group Co-ordinator. And why would they want to The typical profile of a LETS Group Co-ordinator for a newly formed group was like this: - had a passion for LETS - would seek help 8230 but would accept doing things themselves if they could not find anyone to help them, or their helpers were not doing their job well enough - thought about LETS twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, fifty-two weeks a year. So, one day they would get out of bed and say, 8220Gee, that was a stupid thing to do. I was so comfortable in bed. I don8217t really need this LETS headache any more. Nobody helps me, nobody cares, and I don8217t get any thanks for it. And guess what 8230 I don8217t care any more either,8221 and they would go straight back to bed again, getting the best sleep they had had since they started their LETS group 8230 their LETS 8216baby8217. Of course, when a replacement Group Co-ordinator was sought, the response was always the same. 8220Are you kidding Jill looked great before she started LETS. In the last twelve months she8217s aged ten years Her hair wasn8217t always grey, you know.8221 8220I could never do what Jill did. She produced the newsletter, and the directory she arranged all the group8217s promotions she handled all the membership enquiries and organised the LETS events she kept all the member trading accounts, and goodness knows what else she did.8221 Yes, Jill had suffered from burnout, a very common problem affecting overworked, and overwhelmed, people in the workforce, businesses and organisations. HOW TO AVOID CO-ORDINATOR BURNOUT To avoid this happening in our LETS groups, I made several recommendations: First of all, the Group Co-ordinator should to do NOTHING That is, NOTHING ELSE but co-ordinate, or oversee, the activities of the other committee members. By sharing the workload with nine other committee members, nobody would ever get overwhelmed again, thus ensuring the survival and growth of the LETS group. In fact, because each committee role was reduced to only a small time commitment, whenever that role became vacant it was not hard to find another member to replace them. Actually, the best, and an often overlooked source for new committee members, were the new LETS members. They were keen about LETS and could earn LETS points while performing their new role. Our committee members were rewarded for their contribution, but not in cash, in LETS points. After all, LETS was perfectly placed to do that. Remember, LETS points were really just 8216thank yous8217 for 8216favours8217. Why wouldn8217t we show appreciation for the efforts of our committee members Their efforts kept our LETS group running. If we chose not to reward them, then it was like using slave-labour, and no one wanted to be treated like that. In our LETS groups, the reward amounted to ten points per hour, which was the basic hourly rate asked by LETS members for their services. So, a committee member who accomplished his tasks in four hours was rewarded with forty points, while another committee member who required twenty hours per month received two hundred points. All the roles automatically became vacant at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) 8211 held each year. That allowed members to elect their preferred member for each role, though I cannot remember that ever being necessary. Most members were just happy to see a position filled. In fact, once a member had accepted a nomination they were virtually assured of getting the position. The reality was that several committee positions usually remained unfilled after the AGM. That was not seen as a problem, though. We just continued to advertise the vacant committee role in our monthly newsletter until it was finally filled. In the interim, the vacant roles were temporarily filled by the other committee members. Not jointly, but by several committee members taking on a second role. So, back to the Group Co-ordinator8217s role 8230 Apart from chairing a monthly committee meeting, the Group Co-ordinator was only required to keep in contact with each of the committee members to ensure they were able to fulfill their duties. That was it HOW TO RUN LETS MEETINGS Holding regular and productive LETS Committee Meetings is a crucial part of running any LETS group. Here are a couple of tips on how we ran our meetings: 1) Our meetings were open to all LETS members 8230 the more the merrier. In fact, members were even encouraged to participate in the meeting. Basically, each committee member gave a report on how their role was progressing. If they wanted any help, they asked for ideas, and any suggestions given during the meeting were just that 8230 suggestions. As each committee member was totally responsible for their own role, they decided which suggestions to accept 8230 if any at all (although suggestions were usually greatly appreciated and accepted). Rather than being a recipe for chaos, it worked quite smoothly, avoiding many debates and clashes (typical meeting scenarios). We did not worry about having a quorum in order to make committee decisions. As far as we were concerned, even if only two members turned up, all interested parties were present and would therefore make any group decisions that did not impose on any committee member8217s role. We felt that was a much better scenario than putting off decision-making for months on end if we could not get a quorum at our meetings. 2) We held our committee meetings at the same location as our LETS events, but they were held an hour earlier. There were several benefits from dong this. Firstly, it guaranteed we would have several more members at our events 8230 us Secondly, it guaranteed that the venue for our LETS event would be open and members would not be kept waiting outside if 8216the person with the key8217 was running late. Thirdly, it guaranteed that more new memberships would be obtained because guests would be greeted at the event by a committee member and encouraged to join. These four friends were so confident that the weekend before finals, they decided to go on a road trip and party with some friends from out of town. They had a great time. However, after all the partying, they slept all day Sunday and didnt make it back home until early Monday morning. Rather than taking the final then, they decided to find their professor after the final and explain to him why they missed it. They explained that they had gone to visit friends for the weekend with the plan to come back and study but, unfortunately, they had a flat tire on the way back, didnt have a spare, and couldnt get help for a long time. As a result, they missed the final. The Professor thought it over and then agreed they could make up the final the following day. The guys were elated and relieved. They studied that night and went in the next day at the time the professor had told them. He placed them in separate rooms and handed each of them a test booklet, and told them to begin. They looked at the first problem, worth 5 points. It was quotList the reason why you were unable to take the test yesterdayquot. (5 points). quotCool, quot they thought at the same time, each one in his separate room. quotThis is going to be easy. quot Each finished the problem and then turned the page. On the second page was written: (For 95 points): quotWhich tirequot A monkey is sitting in a tree smoking a joint when a lizard walks past and looks up and says to the monkey, quotHey What are you doingquot The monkey says, quotSmoking a joint, come up and have some. quot So the lizard climbs up and sits next to the monkey and they have a few tokes together. After a while the lizard says his mouth is dry and that hes going to get a drink from the river. The lizard climbs down the tree, ditty bops on thru the jungle to the river and leans over the river to get his drink. Well, the lizard is so stoned that he leans too far over and falls into the river. A Crocodile sees this and swims over to the lizard and helps him to the side, then asks the lizard, quotWhats the matter with youquot The lizard explains to the crocodile that he was sitting in a tree and smoking a joint with the monkey and got too stoned and then fell into the river while taking a drink. The crocodile says hes gotta check this hippie monkey out and walks off into the jungle where he finds the tree where the monkey is still sitting and toking on the joint. He looks up and says quothey youquot The Monkey looks down and says, quotffuuucccckkkk dude. how much water did you drink. quot A minister dies and is waiting in line at the Pearly Gates. Ahead of him is a guy whos dressed in sunglasses, a loud shirt, leather jacket, and jeans. Saint Peter addresses this guy, quotWho are you, so that I may know whether or not to admit you to the Kingdom of Heavenquot The guy replies, quotIm Joe Cohen, taxi-driver, of Noo Yawk City. quot Saint Peter consults his list. He smiles and says to the taxi-driver, quotTake this silken robe and golden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven. quot The taxi-driver goes into Heaven with his robe and staff, and its the ministers turn. He stands erect and booms out, quotI am Joseph Snow, pastor of Saint Marys for the last forty-three years. quot Saint Peter consults his list. He says to the minister, quotTake this cotton robe and wooden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven. quot quotJust a minute, quot says the minister. quotThat man was a taxi-driver and he gets a silken robe and golden staff. How can this bequot quotUp here, we work by results, quot says Saint Peter. quotWhile you preached, people slept while he drove, people prayed. quot One day an Irishman, who has been stranded on a desert island for over ten long years, sees an unusual speck on the horizon. quotIts certainly not a ship, quot he thinks to himself. As the speck gets closer and closer, he begins to rule out the possibilities of a small boat, then even a raft. Suddenly, emerging from the surf comes a drop dead gorgeous blonde woman wearing a wet suit and scuba gear. She approaches the stunned man and says to him, quotTell me how long has it been since youve had a cigarettequot quotTen years, quot replies the Irishman. With that, she reaches over and unzips a waterproof pocket on her left sleeve and pulls out a pack of fresh cigarettes. He takes one, lights it, takes a long drag and says, quotFaith and begorah Is that goodquot quotAnd how long has it been since youve had a sip of good Irish Whiskeyquot she asks him. Trembling, the castaway replies, quotTen years. quot She reaches over, unzips her right sleeve, pulls out a flask and hands it to him. He opens the flask, takes a long swig and says, quotTis absolutely fantasticquot At this point she starts slowly unzipping the long zipper that runs down the front of her wet suit, looks at the man and asks, quotAnd how long has it been since youve played aroundquot With tears in his eyes, the man falls to his knees and sobs, quotOh, Sweet Jesus Dont tell me youve got golf clubs in there too. quot A woman was out golfing one day when she hit her ball into the woods. She went into the woods to look for it and found a frog in a trap. The frog said to her, quotIf you release me from this trap, I will grant you 3 wishes. quot The woman freed the frog and the frog said, quotThank you, but I failed to mention that there was a condition to your wishes - that whatever you wish for, your husband will get 10 times more or betterquot The woman said, quotThat would be okay, quot and for her first wish, she wanted to be the most beautiful woman in the world. The frog warned her, quotYou do realize that this wish will also make your husband the most handsome man in the world, an Adonis, that women will flock to. quot The woman replied, quotThat will be okay because I will be the most beautiful woman and he will only have eyes for me. quot So, KAZAM - shes the most beautiful woman in the world For her second wish, she wanted to be the richest woman in the world. The frog said, quotThat will make your husband the richest man in the world and he will be ten times richer than you. quot The woman said, quotThat will be okay because what is mine is his and what is his is mine. quot So, KAZAM shes the richest woman in the world The frog then inquired about her third wish, and she replied. quotId like a mild heart attack. quot John was sitting outside his local pub one day, enjoying a quiet pint and generally feeling good about himself, when a nun suddenly appears at his table and starts decrying the evils of drink. quotYou should be ashamed of yourself young man Drinking is a Sin Alcohol is the blood of the devilquot Now John gets pretty annoyed about this, and goes on the offensive. quotHow do you know this, Sisterquot quotMy Mother Superior told me so. quot quotBut have you ever had a drink yourself How can you be sure that what you are saying is rightquot quotDont be ridiculous--of course I have never taken alcohol myselfquot quotThen let me buy you a drink - if you still believe afterwards that it is evil I will give up drink for lifequot quotHow could I, a Nun, sit outside this public house drinkingquot quotIll get the barman to put it in a teacup for you, then no one will ever know. quot The Nun reluctantly agrees, so John goes inside to the bar. quotAnother pint for me, and a triple vodka on the rocksquot, then he lowers his voice and says to the barman quotand could you put the vodka in a teacupquot quotOh no Its not that Nun again is itquot After 17 years of marriage, a man dumped his wife for a younger woman. The house was in his name and he wanted to remain there with his new love so he asked the wife to move out and then he would buy her another place. The wife agreed to this, but asked that she be given 3 days on her own there, to pack up her things. While he was gone, the first day she lovingly put her personal belongings into boxes and crates and suitcases. On the second day, she had the movers come and collect her things. On the third day, she sat down for the last time at their candlelit dining table, soft music playing in the background, and feasted on a pound of shrimp and a bottle of Chardonnay. When she had finished, she went into each room and deposited a few of the resulting shrimp shells into the hollow of the curtain rods. She then cleaned up the kitchen and left. The husband came back, with his new girl, and all was bliss for the first few days. Then it started slowly but surely. Clueless, the man could not explain why the place smelled so bad. They tried everything cleaned amp mopped and aired the place out. Vents were checked for dead rodents, carpets were steam cleaned, air fresheners were hung everywhere. Exterminators were brought in, the carpets were replaced, and on it went. Finally, they could take it no more and decided to move. The moving company arrived and did a very professional packing job, taking everything to their new home. including the curtain rods. Wishing You a Merry Christmas At this stage the first edit is 8230 CLICK HERE TO READ MORE This site is designed and maintained by James Taris. and has been operating since 11th October 2001.