Last week, the European Commission published its Carbon Market Report, an in-depth analysis of “the functioning of the EU ETS in 2022 and the first half of 2023, under the rules before revision.”

According to the document, the emissions from power and industrial production have dropped by 37,3% since the launch of EU ETS in 2005. The report also states that the market “worked effectively in 2022” despite disruptions from events such as the pandemic and the energy crisis.

Such events slowed down the efforts to reduce emissions from the stationary installations which dropped just 1,8% compared to 2021, driven mainly by the industry affected by higher energy prices. Since pre pandemic levels, emissions were down by 7%. Meanwhile, emissions from aircraft operators have increased significantly in 2022 compared to 2021, by 70%. However, they “are almost 30% lower than 2019.”

The report also states that “auctions of allowances continued as planned.” According to the report, auctioning remained the main method of distributing allowances, “accounting for up to 57% of the cap.”

Nearly €39 billion was raised through auctions, around €8 billion more than in 2021. According to the report, 76% of this revenue was spent on climate and energy related projects, as reported by Member States. In total, since 2005, nearly €153 billion have been generated through auctions.