Opinion of the Working Group on ‘Emissions Trading as a Means to Combat the Impacts of Greenhouse Gases’ on the ‘Issue Paper for Further Consultations on Emissions Trading’ for the discussion group organised by the European Commission on the creation of framework conditions for EU-wide trading in Greenhouse Gases

Between 1990 and 2000, Germany reduced its CO2 emissions by 15.3 % and its greenhouse gas emissions by 18.5 %. This was the result of a concerted process in which the federal government, the Länder, more than 1,500 municipalities, industry and other players of German society participated. Germany now employs several coordinated sets of measures. Among those, there are regulatory requirements and economic tools such as the Ecological Tax Reform, the Renewable Energies Act (Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz), the Combined Heat and Power Generation Act, and the CO2 Reduction Programme of the KfW Bank for Reconstruction. The 'Agreement between the German Government and German Industry and Trade on Precautionary Action on Climate Change' of 9 November 2000 is the core tool in the field of German industry. On 25 June 2001, representatives of German trade and industry signed another declaration of voluntary commitment to enhance their use of co-generation.