UK think tank says Brussels should set industry caps
UK think tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), is calling on Brussels to impose industry emissions caps, as oppose to leaving down to individual member states, in a bid to save the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) from systematic over-allocation. In a report published on Thursday, following the British government’s NAP II announcement, IPPR said it should be the last time limits are set by national governments and from now on the European Commission (EC) should reject plans that are not in line with Kyoto. “The NAP setting process should either be centralised in the hands of the EC or be far more harmonised within a decentralised framework so that industry does its fair share to meet EU Kyoto targets.
Countries with more stringent domestic targets would be allowed to go further,” read the report. The ETS scheme has come under close scrutiny from research bodies and environmentalist since the publication mid May of the first year’s verified emissions data, which revealed a surplus pegged between 65-68 million tonnes of allowances. A spokesman from the UK’s Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said on Friday that it welcomed the IPPR report. “In relation to the question on member states versus Commission cap setting, we believe the cap setting and allocation process needs to be looked at as part of the review of the ETS. We are currently also thinking about this ourselves and though we have yet to come to a formal conclusion, we believe that changes made as part of the review should be consistent with increasing long-term certainty and reducing competitive distortions,” the spokesman said.
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