The plan aims to reduce the ‘rights to pollute’ granted to industry while taxing imports
At dawn yesterday, after 30 hours of marathon negotiations, the Council and the European Parliament reached an important agreement to reduce CO2 emissions and tackle their social impact. The plan aims to accelerate the pace towards this goal by phasing out the free “polluting allowances” granted to industry while introducing a “carbon border tax” that imposes environmental standards on imports. It also plans to factor in emissions related to heating buildings and road transport, with a price cap to avoid taxing households.
The emissions trading system (ETS) allows electricity producers and energy-intensive industries such as steel and cement to cover their emissions with quotas. These quotas are designed to decrease over time to reduce emissions and invest in green technologies.
The agreement reached requires affected sectors to reduce their emissions by 62% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels. .5% by 2030 and a total suspension by 2034, a program that has been at the center of discussions between parliamentarians and member states.
The carbon market will gradually be applied to the maritime sector, flights within the European bloc and waste incinerators in 2028, subject to a favorable report from the Commission.
French MEP Pascal Canfin, chair of the European Parliament’s environment committee, stated that the price of carbon for industries affected by the ETS will be set at €100 per tonne. “No other continent has such an ambitious carbon price,” he said on Twitter.
The most controversial point in the negotiations was the commission’s proposal to create a second carbon market, called ETS2, for heating of buildings and fuels for roads, in which fuel suppliers will buy allowances to cover their emissions.
Initially, MEPs expressed concern about the social impact of this measure and wanted the plan to be applied to offices and trucks first. Finally, from 2027 households will also have to pay for the carbon used for fuel and heating, but this price will be capped at €45 per tonne until 2030 and if energy prices continue to rise, its application will be postponed to 2028.
Source: La Verdad
I am an experienced and passionate journalist with a strong track record in news website reporting. I specialize in technology coverage, breaking stories on the latest developments and trends from around the world. Working for Today Times Live has given me the opportunity to write thought-provoking pieces that have caught the attention of many readers.
