On 4 November, Sandbag joined a meeting of the Arbeitsgruppe Emissionshandel (AGE), an initiative of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN).
The AGE brings together representatives from industry, federal ministries, academia and civil society, including Germany’s main environmental protection agency, the Umweltbundesamt (UBA).
At the meeting, we shared Sandbag’s assessment of the impact of proposals made by the Commission and Parliament groups, alongside our own suggested changes.
In particular, we raised alarm on the combined impact of the different measures proposed by the Commission, which would bring the surplus of allowances to an equivalent of 5 years of emissions if the EU reduces its emissions by 85% by 2040, compared to 1.7 years today. More likely, if emissions are reduced by only 75%, the surplus would still be comfortable, at 2 times 2040 emissions.
We also presented some of our key proposals:
- Limit access for airlines to general emission allowances
- Make free allocation product-based instead of process-based
- Apply the cross-sectoral correction factor (CSCF) in priority to CBAM sectors
- Do not pay more for removals than for allowances
- Only turn to international credits in case of extremely high carbon prices
Click to view the presentation.
Sandbag welcomed the opportunity to contribute analysis and engage with stakeholders working to ensure the EU ETS remains effective. Thank you to the organisers of Arbeitsgruppe Emissionshandel (AGE) and the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) for convening a valuable discussion.
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