UPDATE: Poland to persuade other EU countries to consider ETS2 postponing, says dep. climate minister
Poland, during its EU Council presidency, will persuade other countries to consider how to perhaps postpone the implementation of ETS2 and make sure that price paths are secured, the deputy minister of climate and environment Urszula Zielinska told the Polish parliament lower house's Sejm committee. She added that PLN 50 billion (EUR 11.86 bln) is at stake.
#the information on the amount of funds has been added#
At the meeting of parliamentary committee on energy, climate and state assets, Zielinska stressed that one of the priorities of the Polish presidency is the subject of energy prices, especially as Poland faces a greater decarbonisation effort than other EU countries.
"As far as ETS2 is concerned, we are actually going to persuade countries to think about how to perhaps postpone the implementation of ETS2, perhaps to make sure that price paths are secured so that ETS2 prices do not go too high so that they remain under control," the deputy minister said.
As she pointed out, the climate ministry is working to use the optional mechanism of postponing the launch of ETS2, while not postponing the use of the Social Climate Fund, meant to mitigate the costs of ETS2 for the poorest in the EU.
"This is PLN 50 billion (...), we would like to use the Social Climate Fund, even in the case of postponing ETS2," Urszula Zielinska stressed.
On Wednesday, Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk called at the European Parliament for a solid review of climate regulation in the EU.
As he pointed out, people do not want Europe to become the place where energy is most expensive, so a deep, critical and courageous reflection on the consequences of introducing ETS2 at such a rapid pace is needed.
The introduction of the ETS2 charge is one of the European Union's initiatives to combat climate change.
A mechanism is envisaged to limit the increase in the price of emissions at the start of the new system. The threshold price is estimated to start at EUR 55 in 2027 and rise to EUR 59 in 2029.
ETS2 stands for European Trading System 2, a second emissions trading scheme that is expected to cover households using fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas, LPG and fuel oil. The ETS2 charge is due to come into force in 2027, but in the event of very high gas and oil prices, its implementation may be delayed until 2028.
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