Carbon market not to blame for energy price spike, EU climate chief says

Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans speaks during a news conference during the pre-COP26 climate meeting in Milan, Italy October 2, 2021.

The European Union's carbon market is not the cause of soaring gas and power prices across Europe, EU climate policy chief Frans Timmermans said on Wednesday.

"It is responsible to a very small extent, a maximum is one fifth," Timmermans said of the carbon market, on his arrival to a meeting of EU environment ministers on Luxembourg.

"The problem is elsewhere. The problem is in the market conditions which at this stage, with the highest demand in 25 years, create these price hikes," he said.

Source: Reuters / Reporting by Kate Abnett, editing by Marine Strauss