Wednesday 5 September 2018

UK and European businesses call for energy-considerate Brexit

UK and EU leaders must ensure Brexit agreements allow stronger action on climate change and a more prosperous energy sector.

That's according to an alliance of EU and UK businesses, which have written a letter to EU President Jean-Claude Juncker and UK Prime Minister Theresa May, calling for strong action to be taken to avoid a no-deal scenario in which energy bills rise, action on climate change is undermined and the supply chains of strategically important industries are threatened.

The letter, signed by organisations including EDF, Energy UK and Unilever, suggests rules and regulations regarding markets such as offshore wind, electric vehicles and battery technology must be protected and stresses the UK must continue to participate in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS).

It says the UK and EU must cooperate on implementing the Paris Agreement and agree not to introduce tariffs on energy trading, interconnectors or shared balancing services, as this is likely to increase the cost of the low carbon transition and delay international progress.

Signatories also call for standards on products, vehicles, industrial emissions and sustainable finance to be maintained, for low carbon goods and services to be freely traded and for co-investment in clean energy infrastructure and research projects of common interest to continue.