Blog posts
European Scrap Steel Floats Away Under Carbon Market Incentives
According to Shipbreaking Platform, a Brussels-based NGO campaigning for the environmental and human rights issues linked to shipbreaking practices, in 2021 alone, 583 ocean-going commercial ships and floating offshore units with a total of 14 million gross...
RePowerEU financing plan shows how market makes decarbonisation harder
Read Sandbag’s feedback to RePowerEU on the European Commission’s website. We welcome immediate action to reduce Europe’s dependency on Russian fossil fuels in the face of its aggression against Ukraine. However, the European Commission’s proposal reflects the...
Preventing double counting: Sandbag challenges methodology on green hydrogen (RFNBO).
Sandbag welcomes the opportunity offered by the European Commission to provide feedback on the draft Delegated Act defining a method for assessing greenhouse gas emission savings for certain fuels. However, we are concerned that, despite the commendable intention to...
RePowerEU: Fiddling with the Carbon Market puts the Climate at Risk
[See new analysis with EC, EP and Council proposals] The European Commission’s plan to raise revenues from the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) increases the risk to exceed the market’s emission limit. On May 18th the European Commission announced a plan to use Europe’s...
Letter to members of the European Parliament Environment (ENVI) committee
The negotiations on key climate files of the Fit For 55 package which was launched by the European Commission in July 2021, are approaching critical moments. On 16-17 May, the Environment (ENVI) committee of the European Parliament will vote on the reports for the EU...
Reform, not a patch, will curb carbon price volatility
As energy prices hit record levels, the European Union’s carbon emissions permits – which hit €100 on futures markets in February – have been accused of making electricity too expensive, and although natural gas has a much larger responsibility, the carbon price also...
Risk of surplus with Market Stability Reserve – a short story
The EU is in the process of reforming its carbon market (EU ETS) in line with raising the bloc’s emission reduction target up to 55%, from 40% currently. Amongst the many features of the reform, one is raising little attention, despite contradicting a higher…
Time to vote for an EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) that works for climate and industrial transformation
Today the ITRE Committee of the European Parliament will vote on some key aspects of the bloc’s Emissions Trading Scheme. Sandbag has teamed up with other NGOs…