The European Union is taking the car industry into consideration for reforming the ‘CO2 market’. Buying off emissions as an alternative to stricter emission requirements for cars is therefore under discussion.
It is possible or even mandatory for several industrial sectors to ‘buy off’ their CO2 emissions from the European Union. So-called emission allowances must be purchased and in exchange CO2 may be emitted. This should stimulate companies to reduce emissions and at the same time offer some room to make a transition to lower emissions at a reasonable pace. In a sense, more restrictive conditions apply to the car industry: every year the CO2 standard for the entire fleet is simply lowered and manufacturers who exceed this standard face hefty fines.
Now that the EU is looking at reforms of the ‘CO2 market’ for next year, the transport sector is also under scrutiny again. There are voices to include this sector in this market as well, reports Reuters. This would therefore also enable car manufacturers to regulate their CO2 emissions themselves and thus pay expensive emission rights in exchange for relatively high emissions. No penalty system, but buy off.
Frans Timmermans, head of the EU’s climate arm, is not immediately in favor of this: “We are certainly willing to explore this as a possibility, but at this stage I am personally not convinced that this is the right way forward. ” According to him, according to current plans, the CO2 tax for car manufacturers will continue to decrease in the coming years and that is ultimately a better way to quickly reduce emissions.