Cyprus paid nearly €570m in emission fines since 2017

The public has paid an added €569.6 million through their electricity bills as levied by the state, via the EAC, as Cyprus continues to be slapped with steep fines for its greenhouse gas emissions allowances.

The audit office released a report on Monday which detailed that between 2017 and October 22, 2022 the public paid an added €570m. It is understood that the rate is set to increase as the EU gets stricter.

The office added that it decided to carry out its investigation considering the need to reduce emissions to ameliorate climate change and reduce state spending on the fines which has ballooned.

It also highlighted that the state collected about €285m from the auction of emission allowances.

The office warned that in recent years there has been an “increasing trend in emissions while the EU shows a significant decrease, which makes it more difficult for Cyprus to achieve the stricter future goals to which it has agreed”.

The EAC itself estimated in early 2022 that it would spend €183m that year alone on purchasing greenhouse gas emissions allowances.

Energy Minister George Papanastasiou told the Sunday Mail last week that “speaking of €300m, we pay about that amount a year in greenhouse gas emissions allowances”. That sum is invariably borne by the public.