Decarbonising cement: Options for reforming the EU’s Emissions Trading System

Cement production is one of the largest and most carbon-intensive sectors in the European Union. The industry emits 114 megatonnes of carbon dioxide each year. To ensure the EU achieves climate neutrality well before 2050, it is necessary to drastically reduce emissions
in the cement sector. The EU’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is the key instrument for incentivising emissions reduction in energy-intensive sectors, such as cement, but it has been underperforming compared with its potential. The ongoing revision of the system is a crucial opportunity to strengthen the EU ETS

Abandoned factory in Liege, Belgium.

October newsletter editorial: Decarbonisation is not deindustrialisation

At Carbon Market Watch, we seek to decarbonise society, not to deindustrialise it, out of a conviction that our future prosperity depends on our ability to live within the planet’s limits, for the good of society, for the good of nature and, ultimately, for the long-term good of businesses themselves. We went on a tour …

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  …

Open safety deposit boxes

Plundering the EU’s carbon market to fight the energy crunch is self-defeating

Raiding the reserve that underpins the EU’s Emissions Trading System to reduce the European Union’s dependence on Russian gas is short-sighted and destructive, especially as far better solutions exist. The Market Stability Reserve (MSR) is an important element of the EU Emissions Trading System. It has proven effective in supporting the carbon price, and helped …

July newsletter editorial: Keeping hope alive for 1.5

The EU’s recent failure to rise to the unprecedented challenge presented by the climate emergency should not lead us down the path to cynicism but must prod us to redouble our efforts to bring about meaningful change,

EU Parliament sends carbon market review back to the drawing board

In an unexpected turn of events in the European Parliament, a watered-down carbon market package was rejected by a majority of MEPs. The review of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) Directive was referred back to the Environment Committee and will now overlap with  Member States finalising their position later this month.