UK businesses could suffer from strict new environmental rules if firms in other European Union (RU) countries fail to meet their eco-friendly targets, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has warned.
The CBI said it was concerned that no EU nation, apart from the UK, has announced its emissions targets under a new ‘trading’ scheme.
Under the initiative, set to be introduced on 1 January 2005, manufacturers will be given a set emissions quota. Firms that emit less than their allocation will be able to sell the excess, while companies going over their limit will have to trade for a higher allowance.
However, as other EU countries have not set their emissions targets, the CBI said it was worried that British firms could be committing itself to unnecessarily stringent standards.
The employers lobby group also claimed that plants had been given incorrect quotas and that incorrect government data was downplaying the impact of the system on UK firms.
John Cridland, deputy director general of the CBI, said that British business is already demonstrating it takes the threat of climate change very seriously.
“But it is extremely concerned that the UK is making too large a commitment if other countries do not deliver.
“This could damage business competitiveness in key industrial sectors, especially if electricity prices rise faster than the government expects.
“The CBI supports emissions trading and does not want it to be discredited. The government must implement rules and targets for the UK that do not undermine the ability of companies and plants to compete and it must ensure consistency across the EU.
“The UK is putting itself on the line, expecting others to follow but it’s increasingly clear that they are not going to,” he said.
