Blog posts
Why Free Allocation in the EU ETS Must Stop Urgently
Free allocation (FA) under the EU ETS has been criticised for directing large amounts of taxpayers’ money towards incumbent polluting plants, turning the polluter-pays principle on its head and not being sustainable in the long run. It also creates competitive...
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....
Impact 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...
A Storm in a Teacup: preliminary findings on the CBAM proposal
[Update: check out our latest analysis of the Fit For 55's CBAM proposal] Last month, a draft regulation proposal for a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) was leaked by the European Commission. Sandbag analysed its scope and impacts on the EU's foreign trade. ...
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...
Is the EU ETS going to pass the novel coronavirus test?
The EU ETS Phase II (2008-2012) was badly affected by an economic crisis of historical proportions which saw a massive drop in demand for allowances on the carbon market. This put a shock in the ETS system and the carbon price dropped from 30 EUR/t in 2008 to the...
Overall ETS emissions 2019 : expect the unexpected
Industry emissions experience biggest annual drop towards end of Phase III Disclaimer: Analysis done on the basis of number available on EUTL on April 1st COB 2020, some verified numbers still due to be coming in by May 2020 Reported 2019 emissions were 1523 MT CO2...
Carbon Limbo
Brexit has frozen UK participation in the ETS – we estimate that the UK government will forgo at least €1.3 billion in auction revenue this year