While the topic is being debated in Brussels, France wants to “ease” the European carbon market.
Polluter Permits
They have just celebrated their twentieth anniversary: the carbon emissions quota system (ETS) was created in 2005, one of the pioneering tools in the fight against climate change. Based on the polluter-pays principle, electricity producers and energy-intensive industries (steel, cement, chemicals…) can cover their CO2 emissions, and purchase “pollution permits” on the European carbon quota market, known in English as the ETS.
Instead of ending in 2040, the carbon emission quotas would thus end in 2050. Environment ministers from European nations are set to discuss the topic this Tuesday in Brussels. France has, for its part, signaled its desire to see this market loosened and to extend free quotas for industry beyond 2034. Indeed, over time, the total quotas decrease in order to push industries to emit less.
A Setback for Our Neighbors
From the Ministry of Ecological Transition’s side, officials say these quotas should be made more compatible with the decarbonization capabilities of companies. If around ten European countries defend this mechanism and talk about a worrying rollback, Italy, on the other hand, has asked for its suspension while awaiting reform, in order to reduce electricity bills.
Ten years after the Paris Agreement, the government released last December the updated French strategy to become carbon neutral by 2050. France had already failed to meet its first carbon budget (2015-2018) and had scaled back its ambitions for the second, in 2019. This third, more ambitious version aligns with the European Union’s target to cut gross emissions by 50% between 1990 and 2030.
