HOW TO ADVOCATE FOR EFFECTIVE EU CARBON PRICING

The document outlines eleven specific recommendations to strengthen the EU ETS, arguing that the European Commission's proposal lacks sufficient ambition and fails to properly implement the 'polluter pays' principle. Key demands include increasing the 2030 emission reduction target to 70% for ETS sectors, phasing out free emission allowances for energy-intensive industries, and expanding the system's scope to include waste incineration and all international shipping voyages. It also suggests strengthening the Market Stability Reserve (MSR) to prevent price crashes and calls for stricter criteria for the use of ETS revenues to ensure they support climate action. Additionally, the guide provides a communication framework based on urgency, risk, and fairness, alongside a directory of key policymakers in the European Commission and Parliament.

• The European Commission's proposal for the EU ETS is deemed insufficient to meet the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C target; the guide argues for a 70% emission reduction target for current ETS sectors by 2030 compared to 2005 levels, requiring an increase in the one-off reduction of the cap by approximately 450 million allowances.
• To prevent market oversupply and price crashes, the guide recommends increasing the Market Stability Reserve (MSR) intake rate to 36% from 2024, cancelling all allowances held in the reserve for more than three years, and reducing MSR thresholds to zero by 2030.
• The guide argues that free emission allowances for energy-intensive industries should be phased out immediately to uphold the 'polluter pays' principle, noting that such allocations slow industrial decarbonisation and have led to windfall profits of up to 50 billion euros between 2008 and 2018.
• The guide recommends expanding the EU ETS to include Municipal Solid Waste incineration plants and covering 100% of verified emissions for all incoming and outgoing shipping voyages starting in 2023.
• The document advises excluding Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) from the EU ETS to avoid loopholes where carbon is not permanently stored and to prevent emissions from shifting to Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR) sectors.
• The guide calls for the deletion of Article 26 of the ETS Directive to allow the setting of binding greenhouse gas emission limits within environmental permits under the EU Industrial Emissions Directive.
• The guide proposes revising the zero rating of biomass emissions to reflect the actual net effect of bioenergy production and use, suggesting the use of a 'carbon payback period' for each facility.

APA

Ruggiero, A. (2022). HOW TO ADVOCATE FOR EFFECTIVE EU CARBON PRICING. Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/ETX_advocacy_guide.pdf

Chicago

Ruggiero, Agnese. HOW TO ADVOCATE FOR EFFECTIVE EU CARBON PRICING. Carbon Market Watch, 2022. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/ETX_advocacy_guide.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ruggiero |first1=Agnese |title=HOW TO ADVOCATE FOR EFFECTIVE EU CARBON PRICING |publisher=Carbon Market Watch |date=March 2022 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/ETX_advocacy_guide.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ruggiero2022how, author = {Ruggiero, Agnese}, title = {{HOW TO ADVOCATE FOR EFFECTIVE EU CARBON PRICING}}, institution = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2022}, month = mar, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/ETX_advocacy_guide.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }