Auctions of carbon permits as part of the EU's emissions trading system (ETS) have been delayed until January 2021 owing to "technical" reasons, according to a statement made by the European Commission on Tuesday.
The auctions in countries such as Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland, as well as a host of other EU member states, will be delayed until January 7.
The ETS is one of the EU's primary climate initiatives, requiring companies in industries such as aerospace, power and manufacturing to purchase permits when uses processes that release greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.
The Commission estimate over 1.5 billion permits will be issued next year.
Phase 3 of the EU's ETS climate policy will further limit the number of permits available in a bid to cut down on the bloc's carbon emissions as a part of the European Green Deal, which includes green economic recovery plans from the coronavirus pandemic.
These new rules are set to come into effect next year.
Britain is due to exit the ETS once they eventually leave the European Union, giving them to freedom to set their own rules for carbon emissions.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has already drafted environmental policies in helping the EU have a more sustainable future in the wake of the pandemic, including a plan to have all UK homes powered by wind energy by 2030.
The UK government have also made plans to ban the sales of all diesel petrol-powered vehicles within the same time frame.
The EU hope to unveil a new set of plans in line with the ETS sometime next summer, including new carbon market reforms.
These include adding shipping emissions to the scheme and further tightening the supply of permits in a bid to cut emissions faster over the next decade.
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