All internal and external business processes of the German Emissions Trading Authority (DEHSt) have been planned and executed as entirely electronic since the very beginning. DEHSt at the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) was established as the competent authority for emissions trading in Germany in early 2004. Within the framework of the EU Emissions Trading Directive and according to the German Greenhouse Gas Emission Allowance Trading Act (TEHG), DEHSt is responsible for the allocation and issuing of allowances, monitoring and control tasks, the administration of the national registry as well as national and international reporting.
Policy Context
DEHSt is the competent national authority for the introduction of the market economic instruments for climate protection, emissions trading and the project-based mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol. DEHSt performs a wide variety of tasks as are defined in the EU Emissions Trading Directive, in the German Greenhouse Gas Emission Allowance Trading Act (TEHG), Allocation Act (ZuG 2007) and Project Mechanisms Act (ProMechG). It closely collaborates with those companies of the German economy whose installations fall under the EU ETS and supports the authorised experts working in this field of business. DEHSt is also contact point for the German Federal Environment Ministry, the German federal states (Laender) and their competent authoritiesDescription of target users and groups
Our main focus (c. 80 %) are paying customers: i.e. business (c. 70 % of which are industry, c. 20 % SME and c. 10% free agents, mostly authorised environmental experts). Other target groups are administrative bodies of the German Länder (c. 8 %), stakeholders (c. 8 %) and press and media (c. 4 %). A total of 54 percent of all German CO2 emissions is covered by the participating companies.Description of the way to implement the initiative
Our management is typical for German government authorities using a procedure model, yet in certain areas there are elements of project management. Due to the tight time frame of only six months we bought a large amount of external support for our currently eight applications. Hosting was outsourced to external partners. All partners are experts in their respective fields, so effective implementation was possible and we have access to the newest technologies. For all applications there are continual support and extensive trainings. Mostly we used methods and applications that were developed especially for the German government authorities in the so called BundOnline 2005 Initiative of the Federal Government. Framework contracts allowed for contracts to be awarded quickly. Thus we were able to master barriers and react to changes on short notice. The integration of applications is the main point of further development yet. It is a continual process and will happen successively. A concept for implementing a knowledge management system is currently being worked on. There are also a project management to cope with ad hoc tasks and a quality assurance, escalation strategies, as well as means for organisational development.Technology solution
The entire service for our partners is online. We do not use or offer any offline or conventional services apart from our telephone hotline. During the initial phase of applying for allowances in 2004 we recognized only three paper applications as cases of hardship. In the meantime they are online, too.Main results, benefits and impacts
For the first time DEHSt implements an entirely and exclusively electronic application process in Germany. This process is based on § 23 TEHG, which authorises the competent authority to dictate the use of electronic communication and a certain encryption. To fulfil the high standards of a secure, comprehensible, mandatory and confidential electronic communication between all parties involved DEHSt has installed a virtual post office (Virtuelle Poststelle/VPS). The exclusion of other communication channels for workflows concerning business to government is an absolute novelty in Germany, especially with regard to the mandatory communication. The mandatory communication based on § 10 TEHG demanding the written form for applications to emission allowances. To satisfy the requirements of the written form by electronic channel all partners (administrations, business, authorised experts) have to strike a new path of advanced electronic signature which is based on a qualified certificate and which is created by a secure-signature-creation device. In addition, the level of completeness in electronic handling is beyond state-of-the-art as compared to other German government agencies. As we have entirely e-supported procedures the cost of transactions within the authority are reduced considerably. This is reflected in the fees DEHSt charges for the allocation of allowances. We also offer our partners, i.e. installation operators under the Greenhouse Gas Emission Allowance Trading Act (TEHG), electronic interfaces to automatically transfer their data into and from their own systems. The companies, especially the industry, can therefore use emissions trading as an effective instrument both economically and ecologically. During the first commitment period the response to the online service grew steadily although companies had to get used to the additional tasks and to the mandatory electronic communication procedures. We continually developed and improved the online applications to fullfill the requirements of emissions trading and ensure DEHSt’s customer orientation. A very tight time frame made the technical and administrative implementation difficult, especially with additional or changed legal, professional or technical tasks and requirements. Only by forcefully sticking to its goal of an entirely electronic administration DEHSt was able to become serviceable in only six months. Subsequently it implemented the complex procedures for annually reporting emissions. There are currently operators of c. 1,850 installations participating in emissions trading in Germany and an additional c. 265 authorised experts. The return on investment is as yet uncertain as the new political instrument with its IT requirements was only just implemented.Return on investment
Return on investment: Not applicable / Not availableTrack record of sharing
There is an exchange of experience with non European institutions as there is a lot of interest worldwide in this growing system: the governments and administrations of California, Korea, China and Japan visited DEHSt. In the European ETS review process under the supervision of the DG Environment there are attempts to further harmonise emissions trading. DEHSt has presented its technological approach and supports the standardisation. It has also consented to participate in the development of definitions of interfaces (e. g. XML for emissions trading). Experiences are exchanged also about the several applications: e. g. the registry (European forum for exchange) or the CMS (national circle). DEHSt presents itself and its services on various events and activities – organised by ourselves and others – such as road shows to support the customers in fulfilling their duties or conventions and congresses for stakeholders and federations. There is a total of c. 100 events per year). Also DEHSt continually supports the German regional Länder administrations that are responsible for immission control according to the national legislation . A productive exchange of experience has been established and the regional authorities profit from DEHSt’s experience with the online instruments of the Formular Management Server System (FMS) and the virtual post office (VPS). In the private sector DEHSt’s approach is widely accepted, e. g. the federation of cement producers wants to present our e-supported procedures in India. In 2006 DEHSt won the 6. German eGovernment Competition under the auspices of the German Federal Ministry of the Interior in the category "Best virtual organisation". Until the end of the second commitment period in 2012 DEHSt will continuously develop its implementation.Lessons learnt
Lesson 1 - The “paper less†office is possible – it also makes work more efficient. Lesson 2 - A government authority depends on three things: the political and administrative will to build up entirely electronic structures, the financial means to do so and the legal basis. Lesson 3 - A strong project management is essential, a lot of stamina and will not to succumb to resistances is needed. Scope: International
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