Reacting to the Government’s announcement on proposed UK carbon emissions limits during Phase Two of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, John Cridland, CBI Deputy Director-General said:
“British business is up for doing its bit to tackle climate change and knows that this will involve challenging targets under the Emissions Trading Scheme.
“But such a demanding cut is likely to feed through to higher electricity prices, and with firms already struggling to meet current energy costs, the Government is taking a risk with the competitiveness of UK business.
“It is also vital that the UK’s ambition is matched by other EU countries, something which clearly did not happen in Phase One. In 2005, the first year of the scheme, UK firms were allocated 27m fewer tonnes of CO2 than needed, Germany and France in contrast each got around 20m tonnes more than required.
“The announcement of an Environmental Transformation Fund to promote renewable energy sources is very welcome and will have an impact in the longer term, but is unlikely to soften the impact of the proposed cuts.”
podcast link to CBI
