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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

Published 10 September 2022
Last updated 6 November 2023 + show all updates
  1. Added link to Emissions and targets for installations registered as hospitals or small emitters.

  2. First published.