Europe’s carbon regime is out of control – just like its vaccine procurement Rocketing carbon prices risk breaking the €100 barrier this year, making a mockery of Europe's green deal 14 March 2021 • 2:23pm European carbon prices have exploded to €43 a tonne, doubling in four months and fast reaching levels that profoundly disrupt the EU’s energy architecture. The surge is driving coal out of the EU market as intended. But it is also starting to threaten the commercial viability of natural gas projects, until now seen as big beneficiaries of the net-zero transition. Futures contracts under the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) have risen eightfold since 2017 as the Commission reforms the broken system.