Confederation of British Industry calls for energy intensive industry exemption from the carbon floor price

 

The CBI has called for energy intensive industries to receive an exemption from the carbon floor price in the form of a rebate. The recommendation is made in a new CBI publication Protecting the UK’s Foundation: A blueprint for energy-intensive industries. The report highlights the importance of large energy-intensive industries to the low carbon economy and to economic growth in the UK as a whole. The CBI maintains its position calling for emissions reduction policies and accepting that energy costs must rise due to the significant threat of climate change. The report acknowledges that the transition to the low carbon economy will be costly for business in the short to medium term and “believes this cost is a worthwhile price to pay for the massive upgrade needed to provide a more secure, lower-carbon energy mix for tomorrow.”  However, the report finds the UK’s energy-intensive industries at risk due to rising energy costs and damage to their competitiveness could pose a challenge to their remaining in the UK, a risk the CBI argues the UK cannot afford to take at a time of low economic growth. The report welcomes the Government’s acknowledgment of this problem and the report intends to feed into the Governments strategy for energy-intensive industries due out this autumn.

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