Anna Pearson Head of Policy at Sandbag has commented:
‘Corus’s Teesside steel plant would have received around 21 million permits to pollute between 2010 and 2012. The UK government should use the unfortunate closure of the plant as an opportunity to cancel the emissions permits. Cancellation would prevent 21 million tonnes of pollution from ever occurring, equivalent to the annual emissions of Slovenia and helping the UK achieve its carbon budgets. It would also send out an important signal during the Copenhagen climate talks, of the UK’s commitment to tackling climate change. But instead the Treasury is set to gain around £250 million from their sale.’
‘ The EU cap and trade scheme already has too many permits in it, Sandbag estimated earlier the scheme would have a surplus of 700 million by the end of 2012, a figure that will now rise with the sharp falls in output that have occurred in 2009. The scheme does not need more permits, it needs less.’
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