Malta, Ireland to face bills up to €13m for missed carbon targets

Malta and Ireland will be the only two EU countries forced to buy their way out of their 2020 climate change obligations.

While other EU member states are likely to miss targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, only Ireland and Malta have underachieved to the extent they will have to purchase carbon permits at an expected cost of between €6m and €13m.

A new report from the European Environment Agency warns that progress on ramping-up use of renewables and improving energy efficiency is slowing across the European Union.

Rising energy consumption, particularly in the transport sector, is to blame for the slowdown, the Trends and projections in Europe 2018: Tracking progress towards Europe's climate and energy targets report published says.

Based on data around greenhouse emissions, renewable energy uptake and energy consumption provided by member states, it says while the EU remains on track to achieve its 2020 targets on emission reductions and increased renewable energy use, increasing hikes in consumption need to be reversed.

It also says "renewed efforts" will be needed to meet more onerous 2030 targets.

The countries not on track to meet targets are Ireland, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Bulgaria, Malta and Cyprus.