EU countries have given the final sign-off for a series of new climate change-related laws, which seek to create financial incentives for keeping emissions in check, and penalties for failing to do so.
The 27 member states in the EU on Tuesday approved a revamp to the bloc's so-called carbon market, which is set to make it more costly to pollute for businesses in Europe, sharpening the main tool the EU has to discourage carbon dioxide emissions in the industrial sector.
The changes to the EU's Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), more commonly called the bloc's carbon market, are one of five new laws given final approval on Tuesday after being proposed by the European Commission and after a favorable vote at the European Parliament last week.
The approval was announced amid a meeting of the bloc's environment ministers in Brussels.
