EU’s energy intensive industries paid to pollute, says NGO
Instead of pursuing real decarbonisation plans, energy-intensive industry in the EU has managed to turn pollution into profit, Climate Action Network Europe said in a study published 9 April.
According to the NGO, the EU’s energy-intensive industries take advantage of three different levers: an excessive number of free allowances under the EU Emission Trading System (ETS), “extremely generous” tax breaks and fiscal support from European governments.
Climate Action Network Europe (CAN) describes itself as Europe’s largest coalition working on climate and energy issues. It represents 140 member organisations from 30 European countries.
Cash-grab
“Rather than paying for its pollution under the EU Emission Trading System, the energy-intensive industry is able to make a cash-grab through a combination of exceptions under the scheme”, the study reads.
“A blatant example are the windfall profits from excess emission allowances that industry actors initially receive for free amounting to over €25 billion during 2008-2015, while EU governments have missed out on €143 billion in revenue due to free allocation of pollution permits during the same period of time”.
Around 45% of the European Union’s output of greenhouse gases is regulated by the Emissions Trading System, the bloc’s flagship policy to tackle global warming by charging for the right to emit carbon dioxide (CO2).
The ETS caps the emissions of around 12,000 power plants, factories, and airlines, forcing them to surrender one carbon permit for every tonne of carbon dioxide emitted annually by the end of April of the following year.
But the EU’s cap-and-trade system suffers from too many permits, which makes it inefficient.
