Why was the CBAM proposed in the first place? In July 2021, the EU announced its Fit for 55 package - a sweeping set of climate and energy policy proposals which forms the EU’s approach to combat the effects of climate change. This package is the EU’s toolkit for...
Category: Carbon Pricing
Feedback on the EU ETS reform
Sandbag welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the update of the EU ETS under the FF55 package. Our analyses [1] show that the proposed changes are not enough to guarantee that emissions will stay below the cap and that they could exceed it by 45% in 2030....
Supply-demand analysis of EU ETS reform: Letting Industry Loose
This note aims to put numbers on the amendment proposed by the European Commission to the Directive ruling the European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) as part of its Fit-for-55 package, and its impact on the supply and demand balance of emission allowances (EUA). In...
ETS reform: under the hype, a sense of déjà-vu
On 14 July a long-expected reform proposal of Europe’s carbon market was published by the European Commission. Far from addressing the market’s main issues, it barely adds a few patches and increases the risk of exceeding the cap. Cap: LRF, rebasing, maritime...
EU ETS emissions plummet due to pandemic as EUA surplus skyrockets
This analysis is based on estimations using data available as of 1 April 2021. It will be updated as more data is made available during the coming weeks. The European Commission has released the bulk of its data on reported emissions from EU ETS sectors for the year...
European Parliament approves CBAM report but fails to take firm stance on Free Allocation
The European Parliament has voted to approve an Own Initiative report on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). However, parliamentarians have missed an opportunity in removing the call for the phase-out of free allocation from the final report. Despite the...
Persistent surplus risks stymieing EU ETS reform, finds research from Sandbag
The latest data analysis from think tank Sandbag shows that the reforms being widely considered for the EU ETS are unlikely to be effective drivers of decarbonisation, as they will fail to deal with the surplus of emissions allowances (EUAs) within the system. Using...
Parliament Carbon Border Adjustment vote a welcome call for EU ETS reform
The European Commission’s plan for a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism cleared its first hurdle today as the ENVI Committee of the European Parliament passed an own initiative report broadly supportive of the mechanism. The report regards a Carbon Border Adjustment...
Now boarding for better climate action under EU ETS aviation rules
It’s a major year of reform for many aspects of the EU ETS, and aviation is no exception. The European Commission will soon decide how its key climate policy will interact with international attempts to tackle greenhouse gas emissions from air travel. As the public...
Benchmarks and Free Allocation: Details reveal problems in the EU ETS
Sandbag is actively campaigning for changes to the EU ETS benchmarking system and an end to free allocation in the upcoming EU ETS reform. In the meantime, the current EU ETS remains in place. On the 1st January we entered into Phase IV of the EU ETS, and the European...