EU Carbon Market Is at Risk of Total Collapse, Lawmaker Says

The European Union’s emissions trading system, the world’s largest, is at a risk of “total collapse” and a draft measure to fix it must become a top priority for governments, a member of the EU Parliament said.

EU carbon allowances for delivery in December sank to a record of 4.79 euros a metric ton yesterday amid oversupply triggered by an economic crisis that cut industrial output. Indecision by policy makers whether to back a rescue plan designed by the European Commission, the bloc’s regulatory arm, has pushed the cap-and-trade emissions program “to the brink”, said Bas Eickhout, a Dutch member of EU Parliament.