EU carbon prices could double by 2021 and quadruple by 2030

Carbon prices in the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) are set to double by 2021 and could quadruple to 55 euros a tonne by 2030 if the European Commission ultimately legislates to align the bloc’s current emissions targets with the Paris Climate Agreement, finds a new report published by the London-based Carbon Tracker Initiative. In order to put EU emissions on a path consistent with the Paris goals, carbon prices must “rise to levels that would make even the most efficient coal and lignite power plants unprofitable,” writes Carbon Tracker in a press release. According to the initiative, the EU would have to raise its target of reducing emissions by 40 percent by 2030 to 55 percent to align it with the Paris Agreement.

Find the press release in English here, and the report in English here.

For background, read the CLEW factsheet Understanding the European Union’s Emissions Trading System.