Almost exactly one year ago, the European CO2 price was at a record high of over €100 per tonne. By the end of February, it had fallen to around 53 euros – that is almost a halving. At the beginning of March, it hovered around €60, which still corresponds to a drop of around 40 percent. The fundamental causes of the price drop are the general volatility of the European Emissions Trading System (ETS) and the lack of protective measures for rapidly rising or falling prices. In addition, the falling price of gas and the resulting lower cost of fossil fuel-based electricity generation are contributing to the low CO2 price.