EU mulls expanded carbon border
Refineries, paper and aluminium should be covered by the EU's forthcoming carbon border adjustment mechanism, alongside cement, steel, chemicals and fertilisers, say a broad cross-party group of members of the European Parliament.
Parliament's green, liberal, socialist and centre-right groups joined up to table a compromise amendment on the carbon border adjustment measure, which calls on the European Commission to propose, including from 2023, "all" imports of products and commodities covered by the EU emissions trading system (ETS), also when embedded in intermediate or final products.
Given the cross-party support, the parliament's environment committee is expected to adopt the amendment on 4-5 February, thereby setting a position ahead of the commission's formal legal proposal for a carbon border mechanism. And following an impact assessment, the group wants the carbon border to specifically cover the power sector and energy-intensive industrial sectors such as "cement, steel, aluminium, oil refinery, paper, glass, chemicals and fertilisers".
A key question for those sectors that will be covered is whether they can continue to benefit from compensation measures aimed at combating unfair competition by third-country firms not falling under the EU ETS or similar carbon pricing systems.
The committee's Green draftsman, Yannick Jadot, previously called for EU and national compensation for EU ETS costs to "immediately cease" as soon as the carbon border enters into force. Jadot had argued that this was the only way to make the EU's carbon border compatible with World Trade Organisation rules.
But another amendment, with broad cross-party support, now calls for implementation of the carbon border mechanism to go "hand in hand with the parallel, gradual, rapid and eventual complete phase-out of" current measures for EU firms facing competition from exporters in third countries that do not pay carbon costs.
The final legal text for the measure, expected to be proposed by the commission by the end of June, will have to be agreed by parliament with EU member states. EU leaders have called for such a measure to be up and running by 1 January 2023.
The commission is considering three core options for the carbon border measure, for a "few" sectors trading "energy-intensive raw materials internationally". These are an import tax, a new excise duty on carbon-intensive goods and a mechanism in the form of a notional ETS.
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Francine shuts in 24pc of US Gulf oil output: Update
Francine shuts in 24pc of US Gulf oil output: Update
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Port of NOLA to close prior to TS Francine
Port of NOLA to close prior to TS Francine
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SEC fines Keurig $1.5mn for recyclability claims
SEC fines Keurig $1.5mn for recyclability claims
Houston, 10 September (Argus) — The US Securities and Exchange Commission has fined Keurig Dr Pepper $1.5mn for inaccurately claiming that its plastic coffee pods were recyclable in two of its annual financial reports. In its 2019 and 2020 annual reports, Keurig Dr Pepper claimed that it had verified that K-Cup pods could be recycled through testing. According to the SEC, Keurig did not disclose to investors that two of the largest recycling companies in the US said that they would not accept K-Cup pod waste, and believed that curbside recycling of the pods was unfeasible. The small size of coffee pods makes them difficult to sort at many older material recovery facilities (MRFs), which can prevent recycling. The SEC argued that Keurig therefore violated Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Keurig agreed to a cease-and-desist order from the SEC and to pay a civil penalty of $1.5mn, without admitting or denying the SEC's findings. "Public companies must ensure that the reports they file with the SEC are complete and accurate," Boston Regional Associate Director of the SEC John Dugan said. In 2022, Keurig Dr Pepper settled a $10mn lawsuit with a California resident after the plaintiff alleged that marketing about the recyclability of its signature K-Cups was false or misleading. The plaintiff said that the pods were "inevitably" contaminated by foil and food waste, and that municipal recycling facilities could not effectively recycle the pods. By Zach Kluver Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
2024 RD production outlook up, 2025 down: EIA
2024 RD production outlook up, 2025 down: EIA
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