Corporate Europe Observatory

Exposing the power of corporate lobbying in the EU

EU: a hollow champion for the climate

  • Dansk
  • Nederlands
  • English
  • Français
  • Deutsch
  • Ελληνικά
  • Italiano
  • Portuguese
  • Español
  • Svenska
Printer-friendly versionSend by emailPDF version

The EU has cultivated an image of being a leader in the fight against climate change at UN climate summits. But as the UN talks in Copenhagen get underway, a closer look at the EU's climate policy reveals fundamental failings. This article looks at how lobbying on the EU's flagship climate policy - the Emissions Trading Scheme has secured the right for dirty industry to carry on polluting for free. The most polluting industries, including chemicals, cement and steel, have secured free permits to pollute for at least the next decade, effectively underming the basis of the ETS - that there should be a price on carbon. This sends a dangerous signal to other countries about the need to regulate polluting industry.

Read the article in full below:

Similar entries

The Commission and its sinking climate flagship policy, the EU ETS, win the Climaxi Greenwash Awards

On Saturday 20th April, the EU ETS came first place at Climaxi’s Greenwash competition with a big majority, taking 46% of the votes (545 votes). The Greenwash awards, organised by Belgian activist group Climaxi, is meant for organisations or companies who in spite of the green image they cultivate, promote activities which are far from sustainable. The nomination was submitted by Carbon Trade Watch, Corporate Europe Observatory and FERN.

Advocating to scrap the EU Emissions Trading Scheme is advocating for climate policy that works

The business of climate change

The Business of Climate Change was up for debate at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen on Thursday with a question and answer discussion run by the Prince of Wales’ Corporate Leaders’ Group on Climate Change.

The Group - which includes big polluters like Shell and Cemex - has launched its own, surprisingly tough call for a Copenhagen deal (the Copenhagen Communique) - which is supported by some 900 companies from around the world.

Climate Greenwash Winner Revealed

Copenhagen, Saturday 23 May - Swedish energy giant Vattenfall has been revealed as the winner of the Climate Greenwash Award 2009 at a ceremony in Copenhagen on the eve of the World Business Summit on Climate Change [1].

Funding for climate change denial

They are a tiny minority, a network of just a few dozen individuals around the world. Their numbers contrast starkly with the overwhelming majority of scientists who agree on the reality of man-made climate change, and on the urgent need for action. But the voices of climate deniers, are amplified in Europe by a handful of extremist free marketeers and right-wing think tanks, which try to block action to tackle climate change.

Pages


The Brussels Business: Who runs the EU?

Corporate Europe Observatory

Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) is a research and campaign group working to expose and challenge the privileged access and influence enjoyed by corporations and their lobby groups in EU policy making.

Read more

Creative Commons License
All content on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Corporate Europe Forum