The European Commission put forward updated benchmark values for its flagship carbon market in a bid to address concerns among some governments and manufacturers over the region’s declining competitiveness.
The new benchmarks, covering 2026-2030, would hand industries covered by the cap-and-trade program about €4 billion ($4.7 billion) more free emission permits, the European Union’s regulatory arm said in a statement on Monday.
The benchmark values represent the emissions intensity of the bloc’s most efficient industrial producers, and are used to determine the number of free allowances that are given out. If a plant or factory is as “clean” as the ...