EU Greens want CO2 floor price of EUR 50, increase to EUR 150 by 2030

The Greens in the European Parliament want to secure an increase the CO2 price in order to phase out coal in the European Union by 2030 and achieve a 100% renewables target.

The Greens/EFA group, the fifth largest in the European Parliament, has prepared a position paper on the 2021 update of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). They intend to “inject ambition for the European Commission’s ‘fit for 2030 package’ to be sufficiently ambitious.”

A month ago the EU agreed to make climate neutrality by 2050 a legally binding target and set a goal of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to the 1990 levels. The deal was the last piece in the puzzle awaited by the commission in order to propose its “fit-for-55” climate package in June.

Greens: The EU must cut emissions by at least a 65% by 2030

The Greens’ stance is that in order to keep the EU in line with a 1.5°C-compatible pathway, the EU must achieve an overall emissions cut of at least 65% by 2030, so the EU ETS revision must trigger the shift away from fossil fuels towards renewables and help transform Europe’s industry.

“We need a strong CO2 price and no more free rides for polluters. This means establishing a carbon floor price of EUR 50 from 2023 and an increase of the carbon price to EUR 150 by 2030 and EUR 195 by the mid-2030s. This will ensure we achieve the phase-out of coal in the EU by 2030 and decisively move towards 100 per cent renewables,” they said in the position paper, called Towards an Emission Trading Scheme that Delivers a Green and Just Transformation of European Energy and Industry.

The global race to climate neutrality is afoot and the EU needs to be bold

According to the latest data, the price of CO2 equivalent has increased 140% over the past year, and recently it surpassed the level of EUR 55 per ton for the first time.

In order to make EU ETS the true cornerstone of EU climate policy, Greens have three priorities for ETS’s revision:

• Get the price right by getting rid of the surplus allowances, ending free allocation and setting a carbon floor price;
• Get the scope right, by including aviation and shipping and excluding road transport and heating;
• Get the incentives right, by investing back into climate action and create an international level playing field.

The global race to climate neutrality is afoot and the EU needs to be bold to ensure European industry leads the way in the green and just industrial transformation, the paper underlines.