Competitive, but at what cost?
There is an increasing need for both public and private expenditure, and an availability of growing ETS revenues. Those delivering the most climate action must be rewarded.
Heavy industry must not swallow up Flemish Climate Fund
Heavily polluting industries are on course to receive the lion’s share of Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) revenue earmarked for Flanders between now and 2030, depriving the government of desperately needed resources to finance decarbonisation and a just transition. The Flemish government must change course
“Net zero” oil company: Climate action or oxymoron?
Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) has positioned itself as a global leader in direct air capture, carbon capture and utilisation, and enhanced oil recovery. In ambiguous messaging, the oil and gas company depicts these processes as both an effective tool for tackling the climate crisis and as a mechanism for extending business as usual fossil fuel production and consumption for decades to come.
Polluting for free during a climate crisis: Update of the EU ETS free allocation rules
A large part of heavy industry carbon emissions is exempted from ETS obligations. The allocation system of free emissions allowances was designed to shield European heavy industries from the purported risk of “carbon leakage”, the alleged risk that industries will relocate their production outside of the EU to countries or regions with more lenient carbon emission policies.
The Emissions Aristocracy
Carbon Market Watch presents a unique, first-of-its-kind report pairing EU ETS account holders (and their installations) to their parent companies, assessing the highest level of private ownership possible. This report presents an overview of which companies have the biggest carbon footprint in the EU, who received the most free pollution permits, and which sectors are not delivering on their decarbonisation promises.
Carbon Market Watch embarks on an industrious away day
To savour the real-world implications of our climate work, the Carbon Market Watch team visited an industrial zone seeking to decarbonise and a sustainable co-housing project.
European People’s Party fails people and climate in its proposals for the Industrial Emissions Directive
Environmental and climate NGOs are expressing concern and frustration today in reaction to a report on the revision of EU industrial pollution laws. Instead of demonstrating that the times of ‘polluting as usual’ are over, the proposals submitted by Radan Kanev of the European People’s Party (EPP) completely ignore the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED)’s aim …
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
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 …
Read more “October newsletter editorial: Decarbonisation is not deindustrialisation”
Environment ministers weaken Emissions Trading System in a race to the bottom with European Parliament
Rather than correct course after the European Parliament’s shocking abrogation of responsibility, EU environment ministers have lowered the ambition of the EU ETS even further. Moreover, the Environment Council has offered heavy industry billions in generous freebies while leaving households to pay the bill.
