© Reuters/Wolfgang RattayGeneral view of the A3 highway with a traffic jam caused by heat damage to the surface material of the road
By Kate Abnett
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe will apply emissions trading to buildings and transport, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a summit of world leaders on Thursday, setting the stage for the EU's planned overhaul of its carbon market.
The EU's carbon market is the backbone of its plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The scheme forces power plants and industry to buy permits when they emit CO2, effectively putting a price on pollution. Companies can buy and sell these CO2 permits, known as "emissions trading."
Von der Leyen said the EU would expand emissions trading into new sectors, as part of a package of policies due in June and designed to make every economic sector greener.
"We will make emission trading work not only for energy generation and industry, but also for transport and for buildings," von der Leyen told a virtual climate change summit hosted by the U.S. government.
"Carbon must have its price, because nature cannot pay the price any longer."
EU carbon prices soared to record highs of 47 euros per tonne on Thursday, after the EU on Wednesday set a more ambitious target to cut emissions this decade. Analysts also boosted their price forecasts for the coming years, on expectations that the new target will lead to greater demand and scarcity of CO2 permits.
An important question for businesses is whether the EU will add buildings and transport to the current EU carbon market, or create a new, separate system, potentially with a different CO2 price.
Diederik Samsom, head of the European Commission climate chief's cabinet, said this week a separate scheme for buildings and transport is more likely.
"If we would propose it, it would be a different, adjacent system," Samson told an online event hosted by Politico on Tuesday, adding that a new system could link to the existing carbon market over time.
The Commission, the EU executive, has said it also wants to expand the carbon market to cover shipping, but so far offered scant details.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett, additional reporting by Susanna Twidale; editing by Marine Strauss, Timothy Heritage)