Lime industry calls for realpolitik in ETS
BVK joins wake-up call from energy-intensive companies
In response to an open letter from an ETS alliance of almost 80 companies to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Philip Nuyken, Managing Director of Policy at the German Lime Association (BVK), is calling for more realpolitik:
“The wake-up call from industry is clear. The lime industry joins the appeal. The ETS must be adapted to reality. This means that energy-intensive industries need free allocation beyond 2039. Further reductions in free allocation must be suspended. Industry needs room to breathe again. For the lime industry, it is clear that investments in transformation must be generated. This is not possible under the current framework conditions.”
“When nearly 80 energy-intensive companies in the lime, chemical, steel, and other industries, representing hundreds of thousands of jobs, call for more realism, politicians will not be able to ignore it,” emphasizes Philip Nuyken. „Until now, stricter climate targets have always been imposed on industry. Instead of 2050, industry in Europe would have to be climate-neutral by 2039. Everyone else would have until 2050 – 11 years longer! This unequal treatment must stop.”
Philip Nuyken believes politicians face a major challenge: “It is now up to the EU Commission and the German government to restore fair competition in Europe. To do this, 25% of bureaucratic obligations must be abolished, as promised. The costs of transformation must be reduced. From the perspective of the lime industry, this means enabling CCS on a broad scale, securing the development of a CO2 network, promoting more cost-effective onshore storage, and sustainably reducing electricity costs. A leading market for climate-neutral products, including raw materials such as lime, will also create a sales market where money can be generated.”
