Disappointing, despite all its efforts and huge economic investments, the carbon trading system of the EU is failing to deliver curbs, according to new figures. Compared to that during 2005, in the year 2006, the big polluters of Europe have pumped more climate-changing gases into the atmosphere.
Disappointed with the figures, critics said that the new figures and data underlined the gap occurred between the rhetoric of European leaders. It was they, who have promised to cut emissions of carbon dioxide by one-fifth by 2020. This is the reality of delivering reductions.
The European Commission said that over the previous year, carbon output from big industrial users have risen between 1-1.5 per cent in 2006. According to the statistics, the EU is still allocating too many carbon permits for enabling the system to work properly.
The trading scheme’s point is to use the market for curbing pollution by making firms buy extra credits if they are found to emit too much of CO2. But, it applies only if the cost of buying the ‘right to pollute’ acts as a genuine incentive.
According to Barbara Helfferich, European Commission’s environment spokeswoman, the scheme will surely prove effective during its second phase of life from 2008-12. She said,
There will be investment into more effective technologies and those companies that move earlier will have advantages.
But again, Chris Davies, environment spokesman for the Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament, said,
Getting the emissions trading system up and running has been a major achievement but without the proper caps we simply don’t have an increase in carbon prices to bring an incentive to boost investment. Its future depends on ensuring the cap is tight but at the moment it is more like a sieve than a barrier.
Mahi Sideridou, Greenpeace’s EU climate policy director said,
The system is pointless if it doesn’t deliver reductions. It is like Monopoly for emissions.