The UK scheme, on its own terms
UK carbon allowances: what UKAs are and how to buy them
If your business is in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme, you must hand in one UK Allowance (UKA) for every tonne of carbon dioxide you release. The hand-in, called surrender, is due by 30 April each year. Buy late or buy badly and the cost lands straight on your bottom line.
This page covers the UK scheme only: who it captures, how UKAs are priced and sold, and the calendar your compliance year runs on. The EU scheme has its own page.
- The scheme
- UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS)
- The permit
- UK Allowance (UKA): one tonne of CO2
- Report your emissions by
- 31 March each year
- Hand in your allowances by
- 30 April each year
- Where new UKAs are sold
- ICE auctions, every two weeks
- New from 1 July 2026
- Ships of 5,000+ tonnage on UK routes
Today's price is on our live UK ETS price tool, in pounds per tonne.
Who needs UKAs
The UK ETS is the UK's carbon market. It started on 1 January 2021, after Brexit ended the UK's membership of the EU scheme. It covers around 1,000 large energy users: power stations, oil refineries, steel works, cement plants and similar industrial sites, plus flights inside the UK and flights leaving the UK for Europe. The full scope rules are set out in the GOV.UK guidance on participating in the UK ETS.
The scheme is still growing. From 1 July 2026 it reaches shipping: cargo and passenger ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above start paying for their emissions on voyages between UK ports. If you run vessels on UK coastal routes, that clock is already ticking.
One catch trips up bigger groups: electricity generators in Northern Ireland stay in the EU scheme, not the UK one. And a UK company with sites in Europe, flights within Europe or ships calling at EU ports owes both schemes at once. If that is you, read this page alongside EU carbon allowances and our comparison of how the UK and EU emissions trading schemes compare.
New to the mechanics entirely? Start with what carbon allowances are and who needs them, then come back.
What a UKA costs, and where the price comes from
A UKA is a permit to release one tonne of carbon dioxide, and its price moves every day, like a share price. The government sells new allowances at an auction every two weeks, run by the ICE exchange in London. In between, businesses buy and sell allowances directly, on what traders call the secondary market. Prices are quoted in pounds per tonne.
We publish the live UK allowance price we trade against, updated through the day, with the forward curve and the spread against the EU scheme. Check it before you commit to any volume: a stale price in a broker email is not a price.
Allowances live in an online account called the UK Registry, a bit like a share account for carbon. Opening the account, buying the allowances and handing them in are separate steps, and each one takes time. Our guide to how to buy carbon allowances online walks the journey step by step.
The UK compliance calendar
Two dates run the year. By 31 March you report last year's emissions, checked by an independent verifier. By 30 April you hand in enough allowances to cover every tonne. That leaves four weeks between knowing your final number and settling up, which is why leaving the buying until April is the expensive way to comply.
The EU scheme used to share the 30 April date. It no longer does: EU operators hand in by 30 September. Teams that run both schemes off one calendar usually miss the UK date, because it comes first.
We think most UK operators should buy in stages through the year rather than in one April scramble. You average the price instead of gambling on one day's market, and the deadline becomes paperwork rather than a trading decision.
Where the UK market is heading
Two things could change UKA budgets over the next few years. First, the UK and EU agreed in May 2025 to work towards joining their two schemes together, and talks are under way. Until that happens, the UKA keeps its own price and its own rules.
Second, carbon border charges. The UK government has consulted on carbon leakage measures including a UK border charge of its own, and the EU's version starts charging in 2026. That one matters even if you have no EU sites: it puts an EU carbon cost on goods like steel and cement sold into the EU. Carbon pricing is spreading along supply chains, not going away.
UK carbon allowances: the questions buyers ask
- Who has to buy UK carbon allowances?
- Operators regulated under the UK Emissions Trading Scheme: around 1,000 energy-intensive installations such as power stations, refineries, steel, cement and large combustion plant, plus aviation on domestic UK routes and UK departures to the EEA. From 1 July 2026 domestic maritime joins, covering cargo and passenger ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above on voyages between UK ports.
- How is the UK allowance price set?
- By the market. The government sells new UKAs at an auction every two weeks on the ICE exchange, and businesses trade them between each other every day in between. The total supply shrinks each year, so energy prices, government policy and demand from buyers all move the price, which is quoted in pounds per tonne.
- What happens if UKAs are not surrendered by 30 April?
- You get fined for every tonne not covered by an allowance, and you still have to hand in the missing allowances afterwards. The emissions report is due by 31 March and the hand-in by 30 April, so the working window between the two is short.
- Can a business outside the UK ETS still buy UKAs?
- Yes. Businesses with no compliance obligation can buy UKAs and retire them voluntarily as part of a net-zero claim, taking a tonne of emissions capacity out of the scheme for good. The purchase route is the same secondary market a compliance buyer uses.
Registries, voluntary retirement and pricing are covered in the full set of carbon allowance questions answered.
Buying UKAs through Purely Energy
Our allowance desk runs carbon allowances for UK businesses as a fully online journey: you see the live price, you set the volume, and the order executes against the screen with lean execution costs. No minimum lot theatre, no callback before you can see a number.
If the obligation comes with reporting attached, our SECR and ESOS reporting services sit alongside the desk, so the same team that sources your allowances can stand behind the filings. We work for you, not the suppliers.
Sort your UKAs before the 30 April rush
Live pricing, online execution and a desk that buys in tranches rather than panic. Start the order in minutes.