Sandbag’s recommendations on how to increase Europe’s economy-wide climate targets via the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
As pressure builds towards Paris it is imperative that Europe look for opportunities to increase its climate offer in the UN climate negotiations. The current review of the ETS Directive offers an important opportunity to activate the “at least” in Europe’s current pledge to reduce emissions by at least 40% from 1990 levels by 2030. This opportunity should not be overshadowed by debates about protecting EU industrial competitiveness.
We outlay a series of proposals by which Europe could significantly step up its climate ambition at minimum cost. We have three main recommendations:
- Adopt a 25% target in 2020 by cancelling allowances from the Market Stability Reserve
- Adopt a 50% target in 2030 through a tighter ETS cap, state-level offsets and a safety-valve mechanism
- Keep all unallocated allowances in the Market Stability Reserve
Read the blog here.
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