Eastern European Households Face steep Heating Bill Increases Under New EU Carbon โฃMarket
WARSAW – A new phase of the โEuropean Union’s Emissions Trading System (ETS), dubbed ETS-2, is sparking alarm across Eastern Europe,โ with projections indicating potential heating cost surges of up to 150 percent in Poland alone.โ The expanded carbon market,designed to accelerate decarbonization,extends emissions pricingโฃ to the buildingโ sector,impacting โhouseholds reliant onโข fossil fuels for heating.
The ETS-2 system, which โฃcame into effect this year, places a price on โคcarbon emissions from โคfuels used in โbuildings,โ effectively increasing the cost of gas and oil.while proponents โคargue this incentivizes a shift to cleaner heating solutions like heatโ pumps โฃand district heating, critics warn of disproportionate โfinancial burdens on lower-income households and countries heavily dependent on โcoal.bruno Burger, from Energy Charts, recently explained โon โntv’s “Klima Labor” thatโ Germany is not a โข”stream โbeggar” in thisโข context, highlighting differing energyโ landscapes across โthe EU.
Poland is notably vulnerable due to its aging building stock and continued reliance on coal for heating.Experts estimate that the average Polish household could see heating bills โฃrise dramatically, possibly exacerbating energyโข poverty. Other โคEastern European nations, including Hungary, โRomania, and the czech Republic, also โคface meaningful price increases.
The ntv “Klima Labor” program, โhosted by โClara Pfeffer and Christian Herrmann, has been examining the implications of โฃthe energy transition, including the potential for job โdisplacement and the need for skills-based hiring.The program isโ available on RTL+, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, spotify, and via RSS-Feed. โคIndividuals withโข questions โขcan contact the program at klimalabor@ntv.de.
