Settling the bill: who must pay for their emissions?

The statement criticises the EU for granting billions of euros in free emission allowances to heavy industry, which it claims contradicts the 'polluter pays' principle. It contrasts the high value of these industrial subsidies with the capped funding of the Social Climate Fund, intended to protect vulnerable citizens from the costs of the new ETS2 system for buildings and transport.

• Heavy industry continues to receive substantial financial support through free emission allowances, with ArcelorMittal alone receiving €3.7 billion in 2022. Between 2021 and 2030, over 5 billion allowances with an estimated value of €400 billion are expected to be granted.
• The EU's 'polluter pays' principle is undermined by the oversupply of free allowances in ETS1, resulting in €47.6 billion in foregone revenues for member states in 2022. Heavy industries earned €50 billion in windfall profits from free allowances between 2008 and 2019.
• The upcoming ETS2, starting in 2027, will extend carbon pricing to fuel used in homes and transport, passing costs from fuel suppliers to customers. To mitigate this, the Social Climate Fund (SCF) will provide support starting in 2026, but its funding is capped at €86.7 billion, which the author argues is insufficient compared to industrial subsidies.
• The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is intended to phase out free allowances by 2034 by taxing imports to prevent carbon leakage, but the document argues this timeline is not ambitious enough.

APA

Tamellini, E. S. L. (2023). Settling the bill: who must pay for their emissions? Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2023/12/07/settling-the-bill-who-must-pay-for-their-emissions/

Chicago

Tamellini, Eleanor Scott Lidia. Settling the bill: who must pay for their emissions? Carbon Market Watch, 2023. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2023/12/07/settling-the-bill-who-must-pay-for-their-emissions/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Tamellini |first1=Eleanor Scott Lidia |title=Settling the bill: who must pay for their emissions? |publisher=Carbon Market Watch |date=7 December 2023 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2023/12/07/settling-the-bill-who-must-pay-for-their-emissions/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{tamellini2023settling, author = {Tamellini, Eleanor Scott Lidia}, title = {{Settling the bill: who must pay for their emissions?}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2023}, month = dec, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2023/12/07/settling-the-bill-who-must-pay-for-their-emissions/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }