This highlights the inability of the EU’s flagship climate policy, as currently designed, to address European cement sector emissions.
Meanwhile, low-carbon new entrant cement companies operating outside of the EU ETS have commercialized technologies to dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of cement, yet are struggling to scale-up as they fight through a mass of regulation and product standards which support the high-carbon status quo.
Wilf Lytton, analyst at Sandbag, commented: “EU policymakers have overprotected the cement sector in the EU ETS to such an extent that companies have not taken any action to reduce their GHG emissions.
The EU’s approach is killing with kindness; by maintaining the status quo on free allocation of allowances they are making their own climate targets undeliverable. Not only that, but new, low-carbon European cement manufacturers outside of the EU ETS could be expanding Europe’s industrial base, but instead the carbon market is simply protecting Europe’s high-polluting industrial dinosaurs.”
