Thursday

28th Mar 2024

Imminent EU proposals to clamp down on fridge gas scam

  • Some firms in China and India have made huge profits producing and then destroying the fridge gases (Photo: Thomas Mues)

European Commission proposals to clamp down on a trading scam linked to the controversial greenhouse gas HFC-23 are only days away, officials have indicated, amid fierce lobbying from businesses to water down the plans.

The gas, used in refrigeration and estimated to be 11,000 times more damaging than CO2, hit the headlines this summer when it emerged Chinese chemical companies were intentionally producing the pollutant purely to then collect valuable carbon permits under the UN's clean development mechanism once it was destroyed.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"The proposal is in the final stages," commission climate spokeswoman Maria Kokkonen said on Wednesday (24 November), refusing to be drawn on the exact date. "It will be published just before or during the Cancun climate talks [29 Nov - 10 Dec]".

European companies have bought billions of euros' worth of the controversial permits under the EU's emission trading scheme (ETS), a system under which companies must exchange pollution permits for any emissions produced.

EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard last month described the process as "perverse", adding that she was not opposed to legitimate off-setting projects unlike some environmental bodies.

MEPs have also slammed the scam. "This use of CERs [off-setting permits] is undermining the EU's credibility in its fight against climate change," centre-right MEPs Richard Seeber, Pilar del Castillo and Theodoros Skylakakis said in a statement on Tuesday.

"It had no substantial environmental benefit and it created a scandalous situation in which European consumers have not received value for their money," they continued.

Several European companies have been lobbying the commission to water down the imminent proposals that are expected to ban or limit the use of the controversial permits under the EU's carbon-trading scheme.

"There are European companies that already have contracts to buy the permits which are worried they will lose money. This is a legitimate concern which we must not allow to happen," Mr Skylakakis told this website.

"But there are other firms who simply want to buy the cheap profits in the future to increase their profits," he added, indicating that foreign banks trading in the credits were among those reaping large windfalls from the scam.

CDM watch, an environmental NGO which closely monitors the process, says German energy firm RWE and Italian energy provider ENEL were among those pressing hard for weaker restrictions.

Separately this week, EU transparency group Corporate Europe Observatory said this drive for profits was one reason why businesses should be kept out of international climate negotiations, after a commission-funded report called for a greater role for firms in UN climate policy-making.

"We are concerned that the commission is funding the work of a corporate lobby group such as the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, [the report's authors], which has a history of lobbying against ambitious international agreements to regulate environmental problems," CEO said in a letter to commissioner Hedegaard on Tuesday.

"More importantly, we are concerned that the commission might support the recommendations of the report," the group added.

US and EU breaking taboos to restrain Israel

The US abstained and all EU states on the UN Security Council backed a call for an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza, as Europe prepares to also blacklist extremist Israeli settlers.

EU warns Russia over Moscow terror attacks

Europe has warned Russia not to use the weekend's terror attacks in Moscow as a pretext to escalate its war in Ukraine and crackdown on internal dissent.

EU summit risks failing Gaza once again, Ireland warns

Austrians and Czechs might block an EU statement calling for an Israeli ceasefire, Ireland warned, as leaders met in Brussels amid starvation in Gaza. Israel's conduct of the war meant it had "squandered the support they had", Leo Varadkar said.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Latest News

  1. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  2. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  3. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  4. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  5. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult
  6. EU unveils plan to create a European cross-border degree
  7. How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route
  8. 2024: A Space Odyssey — why the galaxy needs regulating

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us