CEEP members on COP-21: major challenges for European industry remain

CEEP members on COP-21: major challenges for European industry remain

CEEP members all feel the same effect: the Paris agreement is bringing a new framework for their business activities in the energy sector and energy-intensive industries. The main challenge is the general and declarative form of the final document. This demands a specified action plan, which needs to be tailor-made for each market. It goes without saying that the global character of the Paris agreement is a major step towards enhancing the global climate perspective. “We welcome the fact that a large part of the international community has come together to formulate a framework settlement. . Yet, binding and comparable targets were not specified. We are still far away from a fair global level playing field for industry in the sphere of climate policy,” noted Tomasz Ślęzak, Country Manager of ArcelorMittal Poland. To illustrate his point, he turned to the European steel industry, as a good example, when analysing the effects of the Paris deal, indicating that Europe is already the most efficient steel production region in the world. Yet, the reform of the ETS will be of utmost importance for us within the global CO2 reduction targets that were discussed in Paris. Currently, the ETS reform proposals leads to a large gap of free allowances for EU steel producers towards competitors outside the EU. “Thus, we first need a global level playing field. Binding climate targets should, therefore, take into account the regional situations and CO2 reduction potentials,” noted Mr. Ślęzak. [Tweet "Wacław Gąsior, KGHM: a more rational ETS policy is a must"]The challenge facing the steel industry is that the current ETS proposals would lead to huge [...]