Operation of the AGE Secretariat and support services for AGE

With the Paris Agreement (PA) of 2015, 197 states, including the European Union (EU) and Germany (D), agreed, among other things, to limit human-induced global warming to "well below" 2°C and, if possible, below 1.5°C by the end of the century, compared to the beginning of industrialization. In order to meet the obligations of the PA, the EU decided in 2021 with Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. Germany (D) has set itself the goal in § 3 para. 2 of the Federal Climate Protection Act (KSG) of achieving net greenhouse gas neutrality by 2045. To achieve the ambitious climate goals of the PA, Regulation (EU) 2021/1119, and the KSG, effective and cost-efficient instruments are needed - emissions trading is central to this. International, national, and regional emissions trading systems (ETS) provide targeted incentives for emission reductions and enable set climate goals to be implemented in a plannable and market-based manner. To unfold their full potential, such systems should be as broadly anchored as possible, interconnected, and internationally coordinated. Linking ETS - i.e., mutual recognition of emission rights - increases market size, reduces overall economic costs, and leads to better plannability for energy-intensive companies through greater price stability. However, this requires technical compatibility, mutual trust, and the development of institutional knowledge. In 2000, the then Federal Government, under the leadership of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, established a permanent working group on emissions trading to combat the greenhouse effect (AGE) to advise stakeholders on the introduction and further development of emissions trading. The AGE has a permanent secretariat that coordinates and administratively prepares the meetings, among other things. The tendered service includes taking over the operation of the AGE secretariat and providing further support services for the preparation, execution, and follow-up of the AGE meetings and its sub-working groups (UAG). The tasks are financed from federal funds and contributions from members. The AGE currently has 45 paying members. The AGE has the task of comprehensively evaluating questions that arise in connection with the use and further development of emissions trading within the climate protection policy package and, if necessary, giving general recommendations for the design of this instrument. The background for the AGE's deliberations is both the discussions at the international level on the use of so-called market mechanisms and the design and implementation of European emissions trading, the long-term strategy, and the design and implementation of national fuel emissions trading. The continuous improvement and review of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and national fuel emissions trading play an important role in acting as examples and role models in the international arena. Continuous participation of various interest groups in Germany is an important factor for this. The AGE is a suitable forum for this task. Thus, national fuel emissions trading according to the Fuel Emissions Trading Act (BEHG), which benefited significantly from the discussions within this group in its design, further development, and flanking measures, can be considered a model for the European ETS 2. Originally founded to support the introduction of emissions trading in Germany, the AGE has now grown into a forum that, on the one hand, critically accompanies the further development of the EU ETS and, on the other hand, represents a pool of experts on emissions trading that is requested by interested third countries.