(Bloomberg) -- Europe's emissions will plunge this year at more than double the pace they fell in 2019, as measures to stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus sap economic activity.
The European Union's greenhouse gas emissions covered by the carbon market will fall by 15% this year up from 6% last year, according to the median response in a survey of five analysts by Bloomberg News. The European Commission plans to publish emissions data for last year on Wednesday.
In 2019, generators were already switching to cleaner natural gas away from coal as burning the dirtiest fossil fuel became unprofitable. Then the coronavirus pandemic cut pollution levels even further. Policymakers across the region have adopted unprecedented spending packages in a bid to ease the virus's impact on businesses and workers.
The value of carbon allowances plunged 25% in March as global equities and commodities markets have been hammered by the coronavirus outbreak and a collapse in demand for fuel as people around the globe remain under lockdown.
“It's difficult to see how this rallies until the industrial demand drop is out of the way,” said Lawson Steele, Berenberg Bank's carbon analyst, by phone.
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