BRUSSELS - European Union negotiators reached agreement early on Sunday on overhauling the bloc’s carbon market, the bloc’s main policy tool for fighting global warming, the Czech EU presidency and the European Council said.
At stake was the EU’s ability to contribute to global efforts to fight climate change, and achieve its target to cut net greenhouse gas emissions by 55 per cent by 2030 compared with 1990 levels. Negotiators were at odds over how quickly to end the free CO2 permits the EU gives industries to protect them from foreign competition. Those permits will be wound down as tdesigned to prevent domestic firms from being undercut by overseas competitors.
Negotiators also decided to rebase “the overall emissions ceiling over two years of 90 and 27 million allowances respectively, and increase the annual reduction rate of the cap by 4.3 per cent per year from 2024 to 2027 and 4,4 from 2028 to 2030,” the statement added.