EU ETS responsible for no more than 0.3% carbon savings from 2008 to 2012

A new report from Sandbag warns that the emissions trading scheme implemente by EU since 2008 can increase CO2 emissions rather than reducing them for most of the coming decades unless the it is revised.

The group's calculations show that the scheme, which covers some 12,000 industrial installations and half of the EU's emissions, will at best achieve some 32 million tonnes of CO2 savings during the 2008-2012 period. This is a small fraction of the annual emissions of 1.9 billion tonnes from these installations, it said, adding that the EU would have been better off by simply imposing a cap on one of Europe's largest polluters over the same period.
Moreover, the report argued that the meagre reductions are unlikely to take place in Europe because there is an ample supply of cheap international offset credits. As a result, European emissions could actually increase by 34% from current levels by 2016.

More information:
'Minuscule' CO2 savings expected from EU scheme