Carbon leakage myth buster

The document argues that the EU ETS "carbon leakage" rules have led to massive windfall profits for French industrial companies while depriving the government of significant auctioning revenues. Between 2008 and 2014, French energy-intensive companies generated approximately €2.7 billion in windfall profits, with Bersillon, Total, and Lafarge being the top beneficiaries. The brief contends that these subsidies reduce incentives for decarbonization and that the Paris agreement will mitigate future leakage risks. It recommends phasing out free allocations in favor of 100% auctioning and implementing a tiered approach to target support only where truly necessary.

• Energy-intensive companies in France generated approximately €2.7 billion in windfall profits from the EU ETS between 2008 and 2014. These profits were derived from three primary sources: selling surplus emission allowances (€818 million), using low-cost international offsets (€112 million), and passing costs through to customers (€1,780 million).
• The most significant corporate beneficiaries of the EU carbon market in France were Bersillon, which made about €862 million, Total with around €298 million, and Lafarge with about €176 million. The iron and steel, refineries, and cement sectors were the most profitable overall.
• The French government lost at least €10 billion in potential auctioning revenues between 2008 and 2014 because 866 million pollution permits were given away for free. This loss of revenue reduces the funds available for investing in the European economy's low-carbon transition.
• The document asserts that "carbon leakage" claims are unsubstantiated, noting that studies have failed to find evidence for it and that the Paris agreement will create a level playing field globally after 2020 by ensuring relocation destinations have similar climate policies.

APA

Carbon Market Watch (2016). Carbon leakage myth buster. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Carbon-leakage-myth-buster_France_WEB-1.pdf

Chicago

Carbon Market Watch. Carbon leakage myth buster. 2016. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Carbon-leakage-myth-buster_France_WEB-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Carbon Market Watch |title=Carbon leakage myth buster |date=March 2016 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Carbon-leakage-myth-buster_France_WEB-1.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{carbonmarketwatch2016carbon, author = {{Carbon Market Watch}}, title = {{Carbon leakage myth buster}}, institution = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2016}, month = mar, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Carbon-leakage-myth-buster_France_WEB-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }