Refiners’ dismay at EU greenhouse gas targets

European Union environment ministers have confirmed their commitment to a binding target of at least a 40% domestic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, compared to 1990, despite a warning from refining industry body FuelsEurope that this is ‘technologically and economically unachievable’, reports Alan Osborn. 

Meeting in early March to prepare for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) conference in Paris, which runs from 30 November to 11 December, the EU Council of Ministers for the Environment said that presenting the EU’s common and ambitious position in Paris was ‘crucial for the EU’s credibility as leader in the fight against climate change’.

However, FuelsEurope, which represents the interests of the 42 companies with refining operations in the European Economic Area (plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein), said that an unconditional and unilateral EU binding target of 40% greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction by 2030 ‘will contribute little to global reductions unless other regions make similar contributions, but could undermine the competitiveness and future of vital industrial sectors and associated jobs in the EU’.

In a note sent to Petroleum Review, FuelsEurope said that unless an adequate number of free allowances were made available, the necessary cuts in GHG emissions by energy-intensive industries ‘can only result in additional costs and/or production cuts’.