The prime ministers of Sweden, Finland and Denmark oppose plans to relax EU carbon market requirements, warning that the move could put industrial investment at greater risk and slow emissions reductions.

A letter from the three Nordic leaders was sent to the Council of the European Union on October 14. The recipients were Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen, Sweden’s Ulf Kristersson and Finland’s Petteri Orpo said the EU’s emissions trading system (ETS) must retain its ambition and credibility. The scheme requires the most polluting industries to pay for the carbon dioxide they emit.

Diluting the rules, they warned, “would undermine the predictability on which investment decisions depend” and could hinder efforts to decarbonise industry.

The three leaders also argued that easing requirements for heavy emitters would shift the burden to other sectors of the economy, forcing them to make steeper emissions cuts to ensure the EU meets its climate goals.