15 May 2006- Brussels,
Belgium – European governments are guilty of allowing
their industries to produce as much carbon dioxide
as they wish at no cost, according to WWf and
other environmental organizations
As the European Commission releases
the data on emissions of installations covered
by the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme
(EU ETS), evidence from the markets proves that
most Member States granted their industries far
too generous carbon emission allowances in the
period 2005–07.
The European Commission and
Member States must ensure that the total available
pollution permits are significantly reduced for
the second round of trading, from 2008 to 2012.
“European governments have blatantly
ignored the aims behind the ETS and abused the
trading scheme, under pressure from their dirty
industries,’’ said Matthias Duwe, Director of
CAN-Europe.
"This stalls the EU’s flagship climate policy.
Governments need to grab control of the wheel
and steer a clear path to emission reductions."
Figures show that the actual
emissions of installations covered by the ETS
in 2005 were several million tonnes below the
granted permits. Data from Member States such
as Germany, France, the Netherlands, Sweden and
Lithuania show that generous emission allowances
granted to companies are causing the decline in
carbon prices and distorting the market. This
also reduces the credibility of the emissions
trading scheme.
“The market can only become
functional and create incentives for cleaner industries
if the amount of allowances is set at a level
which is in line with the Kyoto targets, allowing
Europe to meet its international obligations,”
said Stephan Singer, Head of WWF's European Climate
and Energy Unit.
“A loss of credibility of the EU Emissions Trading
Scheme will also undermine the credibility of
the EU in the negotiations for new Kyoto targets
after 2012.”
European environmental NGOs,
including WWF, are calling on Member States to
improve their National Allocation Plans for the
second phase, with stringent caps as well as credible
and transparent allocation rules. Member States
should make use of auctioning to the 10 per cent
maximum allowed and create a clear link between
allocations and cleaner production (“product specific
benchmarks”). The European Commission should reject
all NAPs without ambitious emission caps.
