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EU citizens have to pay for CO2 emissions from driving and living
The European Union (EU) has taken a major step towards a CO2 budget, because citizens have to pay for their CO2 emissions at the pump and via the gas bill. Virtuous citizens are helped financially.
The measures are part of a package of climate laws that negotiators from the EU countries and the European Parliament agreed on the night from Saturday to Sunday. According to the EU, the new climate laws, which still have to be approved by the member states and the full European Parliament, are necessary to achieve the climate goals. Emissions must be reduced by 55 percent before 2030, so that the EU is climate neutral by 2050.
Emission allowances
The package of measures aims to reform the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS). Until now, only energy companies and heavy industry had to have allowances for greenhouse gas emissions under this system. Emitters who produce cleanly can sell their rights to other companies. Every year the EU issues fewer permits in order to reduce emissions.
But this scheme will now also apply to the greenhouse gases for which road traffic and buildings are responsible. This goes through filling stations and energy companies, who will have to pay for emission rights from 2027. They then pass this on to the customer, so that citizens will soon have to pull out their wallets in the fight against climate change every time they refuel, take a hot shower and turn on the heating.
Behavioral influence
Given the high energy prices, many people are already hesitant to turn on the heating and take the car. The CO2 tax will therefore cause many people financial problems, but the EU negotiators have come up with something. There will also be a fund of 86 billion euros for the time being, with which EU member states can reduce the costs for the poor or help them with the purchase of, for example, a heat pump, electric car or better insulation of their home. The package of measures is therefore also aimed at influencing behaviour.
CO2 budget
Critics regard the EU measure as the prelude to a CO2 budget. “The European Union has just taken the first step towards a system of personal CO2 budget. Every citizen will have to pay for their carbon emissions in an effort to reduce emissions by 55 percent by 2030. Do you now understand why banks and airlines were already doing it?” responded commentator Eva Vlaardingerbroek
In August, Rabobank director Barbara Baarsma already advocated a personal CO2 budget, whereby rich people who want to fly a lot buy rights from poor people who have no money for it . “In this way, people with a small wallet can also earn something from greening,” she said.
Baarsma s tossed ball to introduce a personal CO2 budget fits seamlessly with previous initiatives in which she and Rabobank are involved. In April, Baarsma announced that from now on Rabobank will alert customers to making wrong purchases via the banking app. In July it was announced that ING would also draw customers attention to the CO2 impact of their spending. And grocer Albert Heijn also wants to point customers to their carbon footprint via the receipt in order to influence their behavior.
BVNL has requested an urgent debate on the European CO2 tax. “No one in the Netherlands has opted for this terrible dictate from Brussels,” said party leader Wybren van Haga. “We want our sovereignty back. When it comes to migration or other policies on which Dutch tax money is spent, the interests of the Netherlands must be considered.” For Van Haga, this climate pressure from the EU is reason for a Nexit, in which the Netherlands will leave the EU.
Source: blckbx.tv
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