Figures released on Wednesday (1 April) from the EU executive on the centrepiece of Europe's climate strategy - the Emissions Trading Scheme - show that carbon emissions for 2008 are down six percent on 2007, according to a preliminary analysis of the raw numbers by Point Carbon, an Oslo-based research institute. EU emissions dropped from 2.24 billion in 2007 to 2.11 billion in 2008... The institute said that this was the result both of the economic slump but also that the ETS was forcing companies to switch to cleaner technologies....Nevertheless, the sectors with the largest declines in greenhouse gas emissions are those that have been hit hard by the crisis, including the cement, lime and glass sector and pulp and paper producers, according to Point Carbon, both of which saw drops of nine percent in emissions....
Figures released on Wednesday (1 April) from the EU executive on the centrepiece of Europe's climate strategy - the Emissions Trading Scheme - show that carbon emissions for 2008 are down six percent on 2007, according to a preliminary analysis of the raw numbers by Point Carbon, an Oslo-based research institute.
EU emissions dropped from 2.24 billion in 2007 to 2.11 billion in 2008...
The institute said that this was the result both of the economic slump but also that the ETS was forcing companies to switch to cleaner technologies.
...Nevertheless, the sectors with the largest declines in greenhouse gas emissions are those that have been hit hard by the crisis, including the cement, lime and glass sector and pulp and paper producers, according to Point Carbon, both of which saw drops of nine percent in emissions.
...
"The fall in EU emissions is the product of falling production rather than emissions trading. This welcome news for the climate comes with an unsustainable social cost and should not divert us from the need for green public investment, better regulation, and a planned transition to a low-carbon future," Oscar Reyes, of Amsterdam-based environmental NGO Carbon Trade Watch told EUobserver. "The carbon market is incapable of achieving this, while the recent collapse of carbon prices has shown how counter-productive it is: Polluting industries were given a lifeline through cashing in their unwanted permits, while the 'price signal' that was meant to change their ways has been rendered largely meaningless. "In fact, if you study the 2008 data, the main beneficiaries from the ETS are the major emitters," he added. "ArcelorMittal, which has the most surplus credits, looks to have gained up to half a billion euros from the scheme last year. It has also been claiming credits for factories where temporary closures are in place, which is hardly the same as taking pro-active steps to reduce emissions."
"The fall in EU emissions is the product of falling production rather than emissions trading. This welcome news for the climate comes with an unsustainable social cost and should not divert us from the need for green public investment, better regulation, and a planned transition to a low-carbon future," Oscar Reyes, of Amsterdam-based environmental NGO Carbon Trade Watch told EUobserver.
"The carbon market is incapable of achieving this, while the recent collapse of carbon prices has shown how counter-productive it is: Polluting industries were given a lifeline through cashing in their unwanted permits, while the 'price signal' that was meant to change their ways has been rendered largely meaningless.
"In fact, if you study the 2008 data, the main beneficiaries from the ETS are the major emitters," he added.
"ArcelorMittal, which has the most surplus credits, looks to have gained up to half a billion euros from the scheme last year. It has also been claiming credits for factories where temporary closures are in place, which is hardly the same as taking pro-active steps to reduce emissions."
EUOBSERVER / LONDON - Amidst the tens of thousands of activists of various stripes targeting London's financial district as the G20 summit opened on Wednesday (1 April), one of the more colourful contingents of mostly youthful activists set up a 'Climate Camp' outside the European Climate Exchange, saying the same free-wheeling financial system that has led to the current economic crisis will not be able to save the planet from the climate crisis.
Everything is coming up roses! Everyone sing! In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
The crisis should be a perfect opportunity to reduce the targets by as much as industrial production has fallen. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
