Hosted by: Westminster Energy, Environment & Transport Forum
Event Title: Next steps for the UK Emissions Trading Scheme
Event Date: Monday, 14th September 2026
Timing: 9am – 1.15pm (registration from 8.30am)
This conference will focus on next steps for the UK Emissions Trading Scheme as it expands in scope and preparations are made for the second allocation period from 2027. Areas for discussion include practical arrangements for compliance and reporting, looking at how the market operates in practice, approaches to maintaining competitiveness and addressing risks of emissions shifting overseas, integration of new sectors, and longer-term decisions on scheme design and the role of carbon pricing.
It will bring stakeholders and policymakers together to examine key issues for policy, regulation and participating sectors in maintaining market confidence and putting in place effective compliance arrangements, as new sectors enter the scheme and decisions are taken on protection against carbon leakage and how the cap is set over time. Delegates will also consider the way forward for scheme design and regulatory provisions in supporting decarbonisation for hard-to-abate sectors, particularly where alternative pathways to emissions reduction remain limited.
The agenda will assess implications of recent decisions by the UK ETS Authority, including its response to the Future Markets Policy Consultation, which confirmed a broadly incremental approach to market reform, retaining existing stability mechanisms, setting out approaches to free allocation and future scheme development, and increasing and indexing the Auction Reserve Price in line with inflation. In this context, areas for discussion include options for free allocation settings for 2028-2030 and what these mean for sectors exposed to international competition, operation of the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism in addressing risks of emissions shifting overseas, and priorities for the design of the next phase of the scheme, including coverage, rules and long-term alignment with emissions targets.