The European Commission must eat humble pie and admit that it has been thoroughly mistaken.
On Friday, the Commission presented proposals to relax the CO₂ emissions trading system. It has now extended the scheme by nine years, until 2048, writes Energi og Klima.
This means that European companies will be allowed to emit more CO₂, and for a longer period.
Free emission allowances for steel, cement and aluminium will be retained for four years longer than originally planned. Up to 260 million tonnes of the emissions reductions may be achieved outside Europe. The analytical firm Veyt estimates that there will be 450 million additional allowances on the market between 2030 and 2040.
That is equivalent to ten times Norway’s annual emissions.
Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra describes it as a “business-friendly approach”. He lists three reasons. European companies face unfair competition on the global market. Companies have not invested enough. The Member States have not used emissions trading revenues as intended.
Ordinary people have been pointing all of this out for years. No one could compete with China and India when the bill was being sent only to Europe. Companies would naturally prefer subsidies to making investments. Politicians would naturally spend the revenues on other things. That is how the EU works. Nevertheless, Minister of Climate and Environment Andreas Bjelland Eriksen (Labour Party) praises the EU for its “ambitious climate policy”. Norway will remain in the emissions trading system after 2030 as well.
He has nothing to say about the relaxation.
Environmental organisations have reacted sharply. Green MEP Sara Matthieu calls it “completely incomprehensible”. Others are more forthright. A large coalition of Member States has expressed scepticism about the entire system. Italy has proposed putting it on hold.
The EU climate target adopted earlier this year—90 per cent emissions reductions by 2040—is now hanging by a thread. The Commission’s own proposal delivers only a 55 per cent reduction in the sectors covered by the scheme. The remainder must be offset by other sectors, which are already underperforming.
Hoekstra declined to answer what the actual emissions reduction under the emissions trading system will be by 2040.