The European Union’s Emissions Trading System has seen record-high prices lately. This has prompted two kinds of response: on one side, some analysts and officials have welcomed the trend, saying it would motivate businesses to decarbonize more quickly. On the other, some, including European business associations, have warned that record carbon prices are hurting their profitability and competitiveness. Now, governments have cried out against the EU’s emission ambitions, too. The reality is that not everyone can afford the green transition price tag. The European Commission this month proposed the setting up of a new emissions trading system for the building and road transport sectors, to make part of a larger climate package that the EC will release in July. “The idea is to have, complimentary, the introduction of an own, separate emission trading system at a very low scale at the beginning. Immediately coupled with a clear social compensation […]