Carbon credits

We analysed the data of a EU regiser (the EU ETS: emissions trading system) to investigate how much credit were given to companies or exchanged, bought and sold by them. The investigation foccused on oncrete and steel sectors. The global picture is that the amount of free carbot credits that was given to these companies until 2012 was incredibly high. This is not the case anymore, but companies sit on such a pile of credtis that they were able to use them to delay the reduction of their carbon emissions, or to sell them at a high price.

The investigation was published in France by Le Monde and in Spain by El Diario.

Publications

How Europe's polluting industries turned free CO₂ quotas into a market worth billions

'The right to pollute' (1/2). Cement and steel manufacturers have used a European Union aid system to boost their profits.

The debacle of Europe's first major carbon market, the Emissions Trading System

The right to pollute' (2/2). The European Emissions Trading System, created in 2005 and due to disappear in 2034, has proved ineffective in encouraging the cement and steel industries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.