MEPs refuse to adopt key report on Europe's Emissions Trading System, prompting accusations that they're hindering efforts to deal with climate change.

Carbon trading systems

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/16385084/n001-130918-001-en.srt

A blow to efforts to adjust Europe’s  Emissions Trading System, or ETS,

after a centre right majority on Parliament’s  Environment Committee rejected a report

on steps designed to stimulate  the carbon market.

ETS is part of EU efforts to reduce  CO2 emissions by 20% by 2020.

It is of course a rather technical thing,  but in the end it’s putting a price to pollution.

At this stage, polluting is cheaper  than greener energy options, for example,

and that’s what ETS, what this emissions  trading is trying to change.

But Parliament missed the opportunity  to steer that debate, unfortunately.

With it, efforts to boost the currently  low price of CO2 emissions,

giving an incentive to polluting industries  to be cleaner and more innovative, are lost.

In the end we have nothing. This is very  frustrating and it’s really destructive.

One group is completely against building  new instruments to tackle climate change.

They want to do nothing.  They want to do business as usual.

But for the group in question, it’s a matter

of not setting Europe at  a competitive disadvantage globally,

and not increasing already agreed  emissions reduction targets.

We stick to our commitments from 2008,  which means a 20% reduction of CO2.

We would go further if there  were an international accord

with binding targets  for other regions of the world as well.

Being a region with a lot  of industry and energy production

I think we have to take care  to be competitive in the future.

Meantime, it seems, eco-awareness and  eco-action in Europe continue to grow,

at least on a personal level:  at a Mobility Week event outside the EP,

businesses and organisations indicated  they want more from their politicians.

We would like the EU to embrace  that vision and give the means.

In the year 2050 we want to have trains  using 100% CO2-free electricity,

and we would like, from all the institutions,  all the support that we need.