Arcelormittal Stands to Gain 1 Billion Pounds from European Scheme
Giant steel empire headed by Indian business mogul, Lakshmi Mittal, Arcelormittal, reportedly stands to gain as much as 1 Billion Pounds from the European scheme which is aimed at taking care of global warming. The gain will be made on "carbon credits", which are given to firms under the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme, which grants Europe based firms the "permit" to emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases up-to a certain set limit.
Under the scheme, companies are also allowed to sell or purchase unused permits on the open market to other firms, and the giant steel firm could make up-to 1 Billion Pounds by 2012 solely on the sale of its unused permits.
An investigation has revealed that the value could also go way beyond the estimated 1 Billion Pounds, as the EU is looking to hike the price of each carbon permit from 12.70 Pounds to over 30 Pounds.
"Between 2008 and 2012 ArcelorMittal stands to gain assets worth 1 billion pounds at today’s prices for scant effort. For them, the ETS has been turned into a system for generating free subsidies. Following intense lobbying and claims that the scheme would harm business, the cap on emissions was set too high and too many permits were issued", said ETS specialist Anna Pearson who analyzed the Community Independent Transaction Log for carbon permits issued to European factories and power stations.
