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there EU takes a big step forward on action to achieve carbon neutrality by mid-century. After a marathon of negotiations that began at 11 am on Friday and ended in the early hours of December 18, the European institutions agreed on the characteristics of the 27’s new carbon market, the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). . The system, which since 2005 has put a price on CO2 emissions by applying the principle “the polluter pays“.
The ETS, launched today to be the main tool of EU climate action for decades to come, will be bigger and no longer just about industry and energy. For the first time in the world, a carbon market will cover sea transport.
But also those about rubber and heating and, in the future, about incinerators.
Second unprecedented novelty is the creation of a Social Fund for the Climate with over 86 billion euros that will be available to the EU and the states to protect citizens from rising energy prices.
New resources for structural interventions, but part can be used to provide real direct help to families.
The third unreleased is the ‘carbon tax‘ at the borders applying the EU carbon price to imported products from certain sectors, to allow European companies to compete on an equal footing with those of countries where climate policies are less stringent and to avoid relocation and job losses.
Partial agreement had already been reached on the mechanism that would bring the ETS to the Union’s customs offices. But it was only yesterday evening that the negotiators from the European Commission, EU Council and European Parliament agreed on the basic details of a coherent framework.
One was the speed at which the carbon tax would take full effect, leading to the corresponding abolition of the current anti-relocation scheme, the free carbon credit scheme.