Traders of Environmental Progress
STX Group is a global environmental commodities trader offering physical and financial solutions across compliance and voluntary systems for energy, fuels, gas and carbon markets.
Traders of Environmental Progress
STX Group is a global environmental commodities trader offering physical and financial solutions across compliance and voluntary systems for energy, fuels, gas and carbon markets.
Transforming Climate Challenges into Business Progress
STRIVE is the consulting division of the STX group, helping companies achieve their climate goals through high-impact strategies and optimized decarbonization pathways.
Report
Every year, the ICAP Emissions Trading Worldwide Status Report lands as one of the most anticipated publications in the carbon markets space. It’s the kind of document that insiders rely on to calibrate strategy, and that newcomers use to understand how Emissions Trading Systems support climate goals.
What makes the 2025 edition particularly striking is the contrast it reveals. While geopolitical attention appears to be drifting away from climate, the momentum behind Emissions Trading Systems (ETSs) has not only held steady, it has accelerated. New systems are coming online, existing ones are expanding their scope, and governments are quietly laying the groundwork for deeper decarbonisation through market mechanisms.
At Vertis, we’ve taken a close look at this year’s report and pulled out the developments we believe matter most for companies, compliance entities, and anyone tracking the evolution of carbon pricing.
Highligths
Vietnam has formally brought its pilot emissions trading system into force, setting covered emissions for the 2025–2026 compliance years across the power, iron & steel, and cement sectors. This marks one of the most significant new ETS activations in Southeast Asia.
China has officially extended its national carbon market to include steel, cement, and aluminium smelting for the 2024–2025 compliance years. Allocation remains 100% free for 2024 verified emissions, shifting to a performance‑based approach in 2025 — a major step toward tightening the system.
Türkiye is advancing its ETS design, with the pilot phase expected in 2026. This positions the country closer to alignment with EU carbon‑related policies, including CBAM.
Below, you’ll find our summary of the key highlights — and at the end, the full ICAP report for those who want to dive deeper.
Developments in existing ETS
The UK is entering a transformative period:
Aviation free allowances fell to 50% in 2025 and are fully phased out in 2026, supported by new incentives for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF).
Meanwhile, CBAM enters its definitive phase, triggering a gradual phase‑out of free allocation for covered industries.
The new ETS for buildings and road transport (ETS2) has been pushed to 2028, with Member States given flexibility to extend coverage to additional sectors such as agriculture and forestry.
On 15 January 2026, ICE Dec-26 UKA futures hit an intraday high of £75.45, closing at £72.88. The sterling-equivalent spread to Dec-26 EUAs had compressed to around.....
