EU TELLS ITALY TO CUT ITS CO2 CAP BY 6.3 PCT
05.18.07 - Leído 68 veces. Enviar esta notaJeff Mason
Italy must cut its proposed cap on industrial carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2008-2012 by 6.3 percent, the European Commission said on Tuesday, advancing its drive to shore up the EU’s key tool to fight climate change
BRUSSELS, Belgium; May 18, 2007.- The European Union executive said Italy must limit emissions from companies covered by the bloc’s emissions trading scheme to 195.8 million tonnes annually, 13.2 million tonnes per year less than Rome had proposed.
The trading scheme is the 27-nation EU’s key instrument to meet commitments agreed under the Kyoto Protocol.
“Europe is fully committed to achieving its Kyoto target and to making the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) a successful weapon for fighting climate change,” Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said in a statement.
“Today’s decision, like our previous ones, sends a strong signal of that commitment.”
Italy’s environment minister, reacting to the cut, said the country would seek further sacrifices from the coal industry.
“If there is a sector which needs to lend a hand, it’s the coal sector,” Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio said. “Coal is cheap, produces a lot of CO2 and can give the greatest savings.”
The ETS sets limits on the amount of CO2 plants such as power stations and oil refineries may emit. Companies sell permits to emit if they come in below their caps or buy them if they produce more CO2 than allowed.
Italy accounted for about 10 percent of the total carbon allowances issued for the 2005-2007 phase of the EU scheme, making it one of the largest players in the EU market.
Other big EU states, including Germany, have already faced major cuts from Brussels to their proposed caps. The Commission has accepted the caps of only three of the 21 plans it has decided upon so far.
Data from 2005 showed EU governments gave away more emissions rights to industry than needed, leading to a crash in CO2 allowance prices.
The Commission said Italy had to limit its use of foreign credits allowed under Kyoto to about 15 percent of the country’s annual allocation of permits.
Italy must include combustion installations or “chemical crackers” in its plan and provide more information on how the country will treat installations that enter the scheme at a later date, the Commission said.
(Reuters)
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