The green light from the European Parliament for the reform of the ETS system, Emission trading system (greenhouse gas emissions trading system) has finally arrived. Although provided for by the Kyoto climate accords and then again by those of Paris, the measure passed today with 535 votes in favour, 104 against and 39 abstentions. Now it awaits the formal adoption of the Council and the publication in the Official Journal of the EU. The rapporteur, Julie Girling expressed her satisfaction, recalling that the system remains at the heart of EU policies for the fight against climate change.
The path has been long and bumpy, but from today we know that the emission controls in the five-year period 2019-2023 will have to be respected. Also approved was the revision of the so-called linear reduction factor (volume of harmful gases from production sites) from the current 1,74 to 2,2% per year; as well as the creation of two funds: one for the energy-environmental transition of the poorest countries and another for financial support for renewable energy projects. A number of recommendations were then voted on which open the door to stimulating environmental education programs for European citizens. Another good news is the one that revises the research budget with another 120 billion euros, characterized by the 50% increase in funds allocated to low-carbon projects.
Therefore, the ETS, as a flexible mechanism for the countries of the Union, gives real support to decarbonisation by 2030, which has also recently been launched in Italy. The commitments defined in Paris in 2015 – despite the Trump administration's stop and go – show something more tangible. Julie Girling acknowledged that the system has had many detractors over the years. It is no coincidence that "we have faced many problems - you said - from the carbon price that is too low to make the market work, to the difficult question of balancing our environmental ambition and the protection of European energy-intensive industry". There has been a step forward and the block on the relocation of companies outside the EU is not secondary, in order to maintain carbon emission targets that would otherwise not be permitted. Now only the last two final steps are missing – the EU Council and the law in the European Journal – for a future with more optimism.
