80% of ETS revenues go to Member States, and of that 80%, roughly 90% is spent on budget items not reinvested in industry.
EconomyEuropean Union
- Error detected
- The claim that 80% of ETS revenues go to Member States overestimates the actual share. In 2024, the EU Climate Action page reports €24.4 billion out of €38.8 billion in total auction revenue went to Member States — approximately 63%, a difference of 17 percentage points from the claimed 80%. Even for 2023, the ERCST report indicates 76%, which is still below 80%.
- Omissions
- The claim does not specify a reference year. For 2024 (the most recent data available before the session date of 2026-05-20), the actual share going to Member States was approximately 63%, not 80%. For 2023, the share was approximately 76%, which is closer to the claimed 80% but still an overestimate.
- The second part of the claim — that roughly 90% of Member State ETS revenues is spent on budget items not reinvested in industry — could not be independently verified or refuted with the available sources. EU law (Article 10(3) of the ETS Directive) requires 100% of revenues to be used for climate and energy purposes, which can include industrial decarbonisation support.
- The most authoritative source (European Commission's EU Climate Action page) was consulted. The ERCST 2025 State of the EU ETS Report provides corroborating data for 2023 showing 76% to Member States. No source was found that supports the 80% figure for any recent year.
- Sources
- PrimaryEU Climate Action — European CommissionIn 2024, the total auction revenue amounted to €38.8 billion, with €24.4 billion going directly to Member States. Of the 2024 revenue to be used for Article 10(3) purposes, 77% was already disbursed in 2024 and another 3% was committed to specific actions. Member States are required to use all collected revenues (or an equivalent financial value) to support climate action and energy transformation.
- Secondary2025 State of the EU ETS Report — ERCSTMS revenues made up 76% of the total EU ETS auction revenues in 2023. EU ETS auction revenues reached €32 billion for Member States in 2023, a 9.8% increase from 2022.
- SecondaryBBVA ResearchIn 2024, ETS auctions yielded approximately €39 billion, of which around €25 billion accrued directly to Member States. The remaining proceeds went to the Innovation Fund and Modernisation Fund.