Closing the door to fraud in the EU ETS

24 February 2011 - Climate Brief

In January 2011 cyber-criminals managed to steal allowances belonging to companies participating in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) by attacking several EU-Member States’ national emissions registries. While these attacks did not affect the environmental integrity of the EU ETS, they are the latest in a series whereby fraudsters have targeted the carbon market. As such, they have posed a direct challenge to the confidence of market participants and the reputation of the EU’s pioneering scheme. This Brief seeks to explain what has happened, why, and what is being done to restore confidence in the market. Importantly, it notes that these events are actually better explained by weaknesses in the governance of anti-fraud measures in the carbon market than by the policy choice of emissions trading per se.

Closing the door to fraud in the EU ETS Download

To learn more

03/03/2026 Blog post Op-ed
To strengthen European industry, let’s strengthen the ETS

Several voices are now being heard in Europe, coming from Member States – including that of Chancellor Merz – and from industry, calling for the rules of the CO2 quota system to be weakened. For Benoît LEGUET and Jean PISANI-FERRY, this would be a mistake for Europe. And for France. On the contrary, we must strengthen this unique public policy in order to develop our industry.
02/27/2026 Foreword of the week
Risk levels and priorities: financing climate adaptation requires clear decisions

As the European Commission prepares an integrated framework on climate resilience and risk management for the EU, the public consultation has just wrapped up – an important step towards the publication of the proposals for the framework later this year. One of the main areas of focus will be the issue of financing adaptation, with the first key challenge being to mainstream the concept of resilience by design into all European funding currently under discussion, including structural policies such as the Common Agricultural Policy and the Connecting Europe Facility.
02/26/2026
Unlocking Capital for Climate Adaptation: how financing costs exacerbate needs, and ways to address them in EMDEs

Adaptation needs in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) are rising rapidly, yet current financing assessments systematically underestimate the scale of the challenge. This paper calls for a shift from headline finance targets towards strategies that fully integrate cost of capital considerations, combining concessional finance, revenue mobilisation, and structural reforms to unlock durable and scalable investment in climate adaptation in EMDEs.

Closing the door to fraud in the EU ETS

To strengthen European industry, let’s strengthen the ETS

Risk levels and priorities: financing climate adaptation requires clear decisions

Unlocking Capital for Climate Adaptation: how financing costs exacerbate needs, and ways to address them in EMDEs