Romania could have earned EUR 3 billion from carbon emissions trading, but this right has been suspended indefinitely, as the National Agency for Environment Protection hasn’t managed the situation properly, according to Romania’s Audit Court.

Romania agreed to reduce the carbon emissions by 8% during the 2008-2012 period compared to 1990, within the Kyoto Protocol. It received 1.2 billion certificates for carbon emissions allowing it to produce 1.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide. In 2012, Romania had a surplus of 515 million unused certificates, which it could have sold to countries that had used all of their certificates. Considering an estimated price of EUR 6 per ton, the surplus value amounted to about EUR 3 billion.

However, Romania’s right to trade carbon was suspended in 2011, as it had been found that the country had no national parameters to measure the level of carbon emissions in energy, agriculture, industry, or forestry sectors.

editor@romania-insider.com