The European Commission says 10 EU countries will have to change their plans to cut greenhouse gasses. The Emissions Trading scheme was created so that Europe could make the necessary changes on climate change, as required by the Kyoto agreement.

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In publishing his report on the next round of the Emissions Trading Scheme, Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said that there needed to be an overall 7% reduction in the amount of carbon dioxide emitted. The scheme, which started two years ago, is Europe's way of cutting back on gasses which are linked to climate change.

The so-called 'cap and trade' system sets targets for CO2 emissions and allows countries to buy permits if the target is not met - or sell them if they fall below it. Contrary to what was intended, the price of carbon has been falling of late because many EU countries have been over-generous with how much CO2 they permitted their industries to emit.

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in the spotlight
in the news, being talked about at the moment, receiving a lot of attention right now

allocation
the amount or quantity of something that an individual or group is allowed to make or have

emissions
waste products given off, or produced, as a result of industrial processes

notably
particularly, especially

to halve
to reduce an amount or number by 50%

round
stage, step

cutting back
reducing

permits
official licences which allow somebody (here, countries) to do something (here, produce or emit high levels of greenhouse gasses)

contrary to
the opposite of

of late
lately, recently NB: ‘of late’ is slightly more formal than ‘lately’

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