The speed at which the EU is pushing its industry to cut carbon emissions under the Emissions Trading System is “insane,” according to Poland’s deputy climate and environment minister.
Speaking at the POLITICO Energy & Climate Forum in Brussels Monday, Secretary of State Krzysztof Bolesta said the EU was moving too fast to take away free pollution permits for heavy industry — in some cases reducing them by as much as half.
“This is insane. And it’s not one industry branch, it’s quite a few. So for me, this topic is actually something that we need to change,” he said, adding the current trajectory would hand the EU “the moral high ground, but we’ll have no industry.”
The ETS is due for review in July, where the European Commission is expected to soften its trajectory to allow industry to emit more carbon dioxide for longer, in response to intense lobbying from industry and some member countries.
“I’ve had so many conversations around the world [with] industry people, saying, ‘What are you doing? This is insane, what you’re doing with the benchmarks and industrial climate policy,’” said Bolesta, who worked in the Commission’s energy department before joining Polish politics.
EU climate chief Wopke Hoekstra has already said the Commission is open to more free allowances for longer — but has hinted that might come with conditions for Europe’s industry, such as showing they are investing in decarbonizing their processes.
