EC’s £6bn plus price tag on emission targets
Britains face a bill of more than £6bn a year to meet EC’s tough emission targets to be released today
Britain could be facing a bill of more than £6bn a year to meet tough new
emissions targets about to be published today by the
European
Commission (EC) in an effort to reach the European Union’s 20% energy target
from renewables iby 2020.
José Manuel Barroso, EC president, said this week the cost of the proposals
across all 27 member states would be €60bn (£44bn) a year, or 0.5% of gross
domestic product, according to The Times.
Ben Warren, of the Ernst & Young renewable energy team, said Barroso’s
comments indicated ‘the investment to be made in the UK alone based on 2006 GDP
would equate to £6.5bn per year. He said the EU targets would be ‘extremely
challenging’ to meet but were needed to create a sustainable and long-term
market for renewable energy.
Industries using a lot of energy could be forced to spend more funds and
critics of the commission’s draft plan for the next phase of its emissions
trading scheme, which could include auctions for permits to emit carbon dioxide,
fear the plans could lead to a loss of jobs and investment.
Further reading:
Tax on carbon fuels ‘needed to fight climate change’
Global carbon market breaks €40bn mark