Teaching Climate Change Law & Policy

Dear All,

Sandbag is happy to share with you its latest research into the carbon rich list. Please find the full report attached.

CARBON FAT CAT COMPANIES COULD SHARE AT LEAST €3.2 BILLION BY 2012

New research out today from Sandbag Climate Change compiled in association with www.carbonmarketdata.com reveals the top ten companies set to profit from the EU carbon market.

The Carbon Fat Cats List, dominated by steel and cement companies, could share a surplus of pollution permits worth €3.2 billion by 2012 [1].  This is more than double the EU’s investment of €1.5 billion in renewable energy and clean technology as part of the economic recovery plan.

Company	Surplus Permits	Asset Value €
ArcelorMittal	99,801,132	1,397,215,847
Corus	26,965,777	377,520,882
Lafarge	23,507,560	329,105,840
SSAB – Svenskt Stal	17,818,541	249,459,580
Cemex	14,669,057	205,366,804
Salzgitter	12,636,864	176,916,099
U.S. Steel (USS)	11,281,904	157,946,658
HeidelbergCement	10,905,197	152,672,755
CEZ	8,359,590	117,034,260
Slovenské elektrárne	6,760,715	94,650,010

The findings strongly refute claims by steel association Eurofer last month that tougher climate change targets would lead to industry’s competitiveness being further damaged.  Rather it seems that the very companies opposing stronger action on climate change are doing very well out of the current system they claim has already damaged them [2].

Anna Pearson Head of Policy at Sandbag commented:

‘Emissions trading is meant to be the central policy for cutting CO2 levels. The fact that companies are able to make large sums of money for doing nothing highlights that the trading scheme must be reformed and EU climate change targets strengthened.

‘Politicians continue to give generous numbers of free permits to industrial sectors that face international competition in order to prevent job losses. But using an environmental scheme to do this has proved poor policy making since many of the same companies are cutting swathes of jobs [3] despite being able to make windfall profits from carbon.
Anna Pearson
Sandbag Climate Change Campaign

+44 (0)7796176280
skype pearsonanna
4 Charterhouse Square, London. EC1M 6EE

Related posts:

1. New Carbon Market Data on the EU-ETS
2. Tough Times for the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS)
3. Carbon Management Library Online

Filed under: Uncategorized