A key consideration for the Paris treaty is how to incentivize real additional climate action while avoiding the laundering of bogus hot air credits. Under the Kyoto Protocol the lack of environmental integrity in market mechanisms has resulted in an 11 gigatonne hot air loophole. These hot air units are called AAUs which will not pose a problem for the Paris climate treaty since they cannot be used after 2020. However, the fate of the hot air units of existing domestic emissions trading systems still hangs in the balance.
A key consideration for the Paris treaty is how to incentivize real additional climate action while avoiding the build-up of “hot air”. The lack of environmental integrity of market mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol -such as the Joint Implementation- has undermined the viability of this international climate treaty. Similarly, experience with emissions trading systems to date shows that they are severely oversupplied and have accumulated a large amount of hot air permits. How can we avoid the problems of the past and keep hot air out of the Paris climate treaty + the EU’s climate policies?
Analysis by the European Environment Agency (EEA) finds that last year, the EU reduced its domestic greenhouse gas emissions by 23% compared to 1990 levels. No extra efforts are needed from now up to 2020 for the EU to meet its climate target of 20% emission reductions. Carbon Market Watch calls on the EU to increase its 2020 climate target to avoid that climate actions in the EU come to a halt. A higher 2020 target will also ensure that surplus credits generated until 2020 cannot be used to offset emissions in the 2030 climate framework.
The concept of “carbon leakage” is a major area of discussion in the legislative proposal to revise the EU’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) for the post-2020 period. The Commission’s proposal continues the trend of awarding free allowances, effectively representing a financial subsidy of €160 billion, to heavy emitters without providing evidence for the need of such beneficial treatment. A new Carbon Market Watch policy briefing “Carbon leakage myth buster” brings the ongoing discussions on carbon leakage back to the facts.
The current EU ETS rules have granted preferential treatment to industrial companies deemed at risk of “carbon leakage” in the form of awarding free pollution permits. The ongoing legislative process to revise the EU ETS rules for the post-2020 period provides an important opportunity to revisit the rules under which industrial sectors may be deemed at risk of carbon leakage.
EU Environment ministers met in Brussels on 18 September to reach common positions on many of the key elements that they will be negotiating for at the UN climate talks in Paris in December.
In July 2015, the European Commission presented a legislative proposal to revise the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) in order to implement the EU’s 2030 target of at least 40% domestic emission reductions. Although the proposal suggests a few improvements it fails to introduce much needed provisions that improve the mitigation potential of the EU ETS. A new Carbon Market Watch policy brief recommends four magic potions to turn the EU ETS into an effective climate mitigation tool.
Nature Code with WWF, CAN Europe, Greenpeace, Change Partnership, Transport & Environment, and Friends of the Earth Europe staged an Energy and Climate Tug of War. On the day when EU environment ministers were meeting to sign off their final position before the Paris climate negotiations, NGOs urged EU leaders that a commitment to ambitious …
Read more “Media Action: EU Energy and Climate Tug of War!”
In July 2015, the European Commission presented a legislative proposal to revise the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) in order to implement the EU’s 2030 target of at least 40% domestic emission reductions. Although the proposal suggests a few improvements, it fails to introduce much needed provisions that improve the mitigation potential of the EU ETS.
