A United Nations agency on climate change restored Bulgaria's carbon trading rights on Saturday under the Kyoto Protocol, bringing the country back to greenhouse gas trading schemes. The Bonn-based UN Climate Change Secretariat suspended the Balkan country from carbon trading last June for violating reporting rules under Kyoto, a key tool to fight climate change.
The restored rights will allow the Balkan country and its industrial companies and utilities back to greenhouse gas trading schemes under Kyoto and lift restrictions on their participation in a European Union emissions trading scheme. "By restoring the accreditation of the country for participation in the emission trade, the connection to the international registry for transactions is open," the Environment Ministry said in a statement. A UN mission to Bulgaria in October said Sofia had improved its emissions record and addressed other shortcomings, allowing it to receive back its accreditation under the protocol.
Industrial producers will now be allowed to transfer allowances to and from the national register and participate in EU spot trading. A weak economic recovery after a prolonged recession means Bulgaria's industrial sector is likely to become a net seller of EU carbon permits. Some 130 Bulgarian utilities and industrial companies received 34.7 million tonnes of C02 allowances in 2010 and will get the same amount this year. The decision also will allow Bulgaria to sell the surplus sovereign emissions rights it has accumulated under the Kyoto Protocol.
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