Free Allocation Regulation (FAR) revision

The Free Allocation Regulation (FAR) revision is a necessary step to ensure the last years of the free allocation system are coherent with the aim of a full phase-out by 2030 (or 2034 for CBAM sectors) and provide the investment signals necessary to funnel funding into industrial decarbonisation.

Clearing the fog around heavy industry’s carbon market claims

Ahead of the next trilogue between the EU institutions on the Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), scheduled to kick off next week, CMW’s Agnese Ruggiero and WWF’s Camille Maury tackle the misconceptions and bust the myths about the EU’s carbon market’s revision. The current energy crunch and the burning hot summer Europe experienced this year  …

A compromise too far: Why no deal at the European Parliament was better than a bad deal on EU’s carbon market – Updated

Since the European Parliament’s failure to reach an agreement on the comprehensive reform of the EU Emissions Trading System, MEPs have traded recriminations. However, those claiming that the defeated compromise deal was good for the climate are being disingenuous. Our analysis reveals it would have been catastrophic had it gone through.

EU must stop subsidising polluters with hundreds of billions in free emissions allowances, green groups demand

Even though the European Union’s Emissions Trading System has already issued over €200 billions in free emissions permits, the European Commission is proposing hundreds of billions of euros of additional free allowances for polluting industries. Europe must scrap these pollution subsidies and make polluters pay the true price of their pollution, environmental NGOs urge EU …

The Phantom Leakage – Industry windfall profits from Europe’s carbon market 2008-2019

Executive summary  Since its inception, the EU Emission Trading System (EU ETS) has been giving free allowances to most energy-intensive industries deemed at risk of carbon leakage.  “Carbon leakage” refers to a hypothetical situation where companies transfer production to countries with weaker climate policies in order to lower their costs.  This policy briefing interprets the …

EU carbon market report underlines the need to end pollution handouts

While the EU carbon market is helping to clean up Europe’s power sector, industrial CO2 pollution remained stubbornly high, and that from aviation kept growing in 2019. This is partly due to overly generous handouts of pollution permits. These subsidies must be phased out to incentivise cleaner production and more sustainable transport as the scheme …

Taxing carbon at the EU border? Only if free pollution permits go

First published on Carbon Pulse October 17, 2019 As part of her “European Green Deal”, incoming EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has promised to introduce a carbon border tax to “ensure that European companies can compete on a level playing field”. This is a new wind coming from the executive branch of the European Union …