Finance
Fathers of Carbon Market Say It’s Fine to Let Prices Slide
- Cost of emissions allowances has fallen by a third in Europe
- Lower carbon costs reduce financial pressure on companies
Emissions rise from cooling towers at a lignite fired power plant in Peitz, Germany.
Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Two of the architects of the European Union’s pollution cap-and-trade system said policymakers shouldn’t rush to intervene in the market after prices dropped by almost a third.
Thousands of industrial energy users and airlines buy the allowances to cover their greenhouse gas emissions. Since the start of the month, prices of those allowances has tumbled about a third, reducing the economic pressure on companies to rein in fossil-fuel use.