EU Parliament Starts Debating More Carbon-Market Cuts

Legislative work on the post-2020 overhaul of Europe’s carbon emissions market has been launched by a proposal in a draft report tabled in the European Parliament by MEP Ian Duncan. The law, which proposes to adjust the Emissions Trading System (ETS) to EU climate goals for 2030, needs majority backing in the parliament and weighted majority support from national governments to take effect.

As reported by Bloomberg, the EU wants to lead the global fight against climate change. Under a United Nations deal reached by more than 190 countries in December in Paris, the EU has submitted its 2030 goal to cut carbon by at least 40% percent from 1990 levels. The 190 nations agreed to meet in 2023 to assess how to step up ambitions toward capping global temperature increases since pre-industrial times to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

“The Paris agreement has set a test for all of us, and our legislation must be fit to adapt to the new targets that Paris will produce,” Duncan said in a statement on May 31 in Brussels. “Right now the ETS is like a car without an engine, we need to ensure it is fit to do the job it should and drive emissions reductions in Europe.”

Duncan proposed an option to increase after 2023 the annual pace of carbon reductions in the ETS from the 2.2% agreed by EU leaders in 2014. He also wants the commission to take steps if overlapping EU policies on climate, energy efficiency and renewables undermine demand in the ETS.

Duncan’s proposals, however, face potential hurdles within the European Parliament. According to Bloomberg, Duncan may encounter skepticism from Polish members of the ECR and from leaders of the Christian Democrats and Socialists, the top two groups.

For instance, Ivo Belet, a Belgian member of the Christian Democrats, said his group is opposed to anticipating at this stage a possible steeper cut in emission permits after 2023.

In a separate report, the Telegraph noted that Duncan’s proposals also include getting rid of an EU loophole for the North Sea. He is planning to allow free allowances for the North Sea in the carbon trading market from 2020.

“Removing this loophole could save the North Sea oil and gas industry billions of pounds of lost revenue,” said Duncan.