UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS): technical guidance and tools
Guidance to help installations in the UK ETS with greenhouse gas emissions permits, and aircraft operators to understand and comply with their obligations under the scheme.
The UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) replaced the UK’s participation in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) on 1 January 2021.
The UK, Scottish, and Welsh Governments, and the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs – collectively making up the UK ETS Authority – established the scheme to increase the climate ambition of the UK’s carbon pricing policy, while protecting the competitiveness of UK businesses.
For an overview of the scheme, please see the Participating in the UK ETS page.
How to comply
Guidance on compliance for installations and the aviation sector
The compliance guidance on installations in the UK ETS with greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) permits, and for the aviation sector, will help operators understand and comply with their obligations under the UK ETS.
UK Emissions Trading Scheme for installations: how to comply
UK Emissions Trading Scheme for aviation: how to comply
Hospital, small emitters and ultra-small emitters
This guidance explains how to register your installation as a ‘hospital or small emitter’ (HSE), or as an ‘ultra-small emitter’ (USE), how to comply with your emissions targets, and what to do if your installation no longer qualifies as an HSE or USE.
Eligibility to be classed as a ‘hospital or small emitter’, and how to register
Eligibility to be classed as an ‘ultra-small emitter’, and how to register
The UK Emissions Trading Registry
During the process of registering users or applying to open an account in the UK Emissions Trading Registry, the Registry Administrator / National Administrator will request personal and corporate entity documents. This guidance explains which documents may be required.
Technical guidance
This guidance helps operators of stationary installations understand the requirements for monitoring and reporting biomass in the UK ETS.
UK ETS Guidance Note: Monitoring and reporting biomass in installations
This guidance will help operators of installations understand their obligations relating to uncertainty in the UK ETS. Interests in emissions data vary from the public to policy makers to traders buying/selling allowances. It is important to provide confidence in the data with an assessment of uncertainty.
UK ETS Guidance Note: Uncertainty Assessments for Installations
The Monitoring and Reporting Regulation, as modified by the UK ETS Order, allows nationally reported data to be used by operators as default factors in specific circumstances. Carbon emission factors and calorific values from the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory are available for annual emissions reporting for the UK ETS here, along with tables from previous years (also see Previous tables for UK participation in the EU ETS:
Tools and reports
Allocation tables
These allocation tables contain lists of free allocations for the 2021 to 2025 allocation period, for aircraft operators and installation operators.
UK ETS Aviation Allocation Table
UK ETS Allocation Table for operators of installations
Apply for compensation
How to apply for compensation for the indirect costs of the UK ETS and the Carbon Price Support (CPS) mechanism.
UK Emissions Trading Scheme and Carbon Price Support: apply for compensation
Report templates
For the verification of operators’ baseline data reports, activity level reports or new entrant data reports under the UK ETS:
UK ETS: Verification report template
For operators to submit activity level reports to their regulator:
UK ETS: Activity level report template
Emissions and targets for installations registered as hospitals or small emitters
Names of installations registered as a hospital or small emitter (HSE) in 2021 and 2022, along with their targets and actual emissions for each year:
Emissions and targets for installations registered as hospitals or small emitters
UK ETS regulator reports
The UK ETS regulator report is the UK ETS equivalent of the EU ETS Article 21 Questionnaire. It is an analysis of the allocation of allowances, the operation of registries, the application of the monitoring and reporting guidelines, verification, and issues relating to compliance. This page also includes the Article 21 report from our final year of participation in the EU ETS as a member state.
Directions for regulators
Ministerial Directions issued by the Secretary of State under section 52 of the Climate Change Act 2008.
Updates to this page
Last updated 6 November 2023 + show all updates
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Added link to Emissions and targets for installations registered as hospitals or small emitters.
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First published.