To be or not to be: Is the EU’s 2030 climate pledge enough to participate in international carbon markets?

The document argues that while the EU's 2030 target of at least 40% domestic greenhouse gas reductions is a positive step, it may conflict with plans to link carbon markets. The author warns that linking with external emissions trading schemes could introduce 'foreign' allowances that dilute domestic targets, especially given the existing oversupply of over 2 billion allowances in the EU market. To effectively participate in a future global carbon market, the document suggests the EU must scale up its ambition to at least 55% and permanently resolve the surplus of allowances from the pre-2020 period.

• The EU's 2030 target of at least 40% binding domestic greenhouse gas reductions compared to 1990 creates a tension with plans to link carbon markets, as linking would expose the domestic market to 'foreign' emission allowances and potentially undermine the domestic nature of the target.
• The EU carbon market is currently dysfunctional due to an oversupply of more than 2 billion emission allowances, which has driven carbon prices to historic lows; this surplus resulted from weak 2020 targets and the inflow of international carbon offsets.
• To limit global warming below 2°C and contribute fairly to climate action, the EU's target should be increased to at least 55% greenhouse gas emission reductions.

APA

CMW (2014). To be or not to be: Is the EU’s 2030 climate pledge enough to participate in international carbon markets? Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2014/11/25/to-be-or-not-to-be-is-the-eus-2030-climate-pledge-enough-to-participate-in-international-carbon-markets/

Chicago

CMW. To be or not to be: Is the EU’s 2030 climate pledge enough to participate in international carbon markets? Carbon Market Watch, 2014. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2014/11/25/to-be-or-not-to-be-is-the-eus-2030-climate-pledge-enough-to-participate-in-international-carbon-markets/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=CMW |title=To be or not to be: Is the EU’s 2030 climate pledge enough to participate in international carbon markets? |publisher=Carbon Market Watch |date=25 November 2014 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2014/11/25/to-be-or-not-to-be-is-the-eus-2030-climate-pledge-enough-to-participate-in-international-carbon-markets/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{cmw2014not, author = {CMW}, title = {{To be or not to be: Is the EU’s 2030 climate pledge enough to participate in international carbon markets?}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2014}, month = nov, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2014/11/25/to-be-or-not-to-be-is-the-eus-2030-climate-pledge-enough-to-participate-in-international-carbon-markets/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }