EU sets 2030 carbon goal of 55% cut

BRUSSELS, LONDON (Reuters) – Shipping is to be included in Europe’s emissions trading system (ETS), and costs for polluters are set to rise under Brussels’s plans to meet the European Union’s climate targets, the European Commission said on Wednesday.

The EU ETS forces emitters to pay for each ton of carbon dioxide they generate and is the keystone of the EU’s drive to cut net greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 by 55% from 1990 levels.

Manufacturing industry, power companies and airlines running flights within Europe are already covered by the scheme but under plans unveiled by the Commission on Wednesday as part of a climate package, shipping would be phased into the ETS over a three-year period.

Emissions from sea voyages within the EU, plus 50% of ships’ emissions from international voyages starting or ending in the EU, would fall under the existing ETS, plus emissions that occur when ships are at berth in EU ports.

Emissions from road transport and from heating systems in buildings would need to comply with a new, separate ETS from 2026.

To ward off concerns that the new levies could drive up costs for households, the Commission proposed that 25% of the revenues generated from permit sales in the new ETS would go into a fund to shield low-income households from the

carbon costs.