EU's Commitment
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The proposal sets a binding commitment for each Member State to ensure that accounted emissions from land use are entirely compensated by an equivalent removal of COâ‚‚ from the atmosphere through action in the sector, what is known as the "no debit rule." Although Member States undertook this commitment under the Kyoto Protocol up to 2020, the proposal enshrines the commitment in EU law for the period 2021-2030.
The new rules will provide Member States with a framework to incentivise more climate-friendly land use, without imposing new restrictions or red tape on individual actors. This will help farmers to develop climate-smart agriculture practices and support foresters through greater visibility for the climate benefits of wood products which can store carbon sequestered from the atmosphere.
Biomass
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Emissions of biomass used in energy will be recorded and counted towards each Member State's 2030 climate commitments. This addresses the broad criticism that emissions from biomass in energy production are not currently accounted for under EU law. As forest management is the main source of biomass for energy and wood production, more robust accounting rules and governance for forest management will provide a solid basis for Europe's future post-2020 renewables policy.
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The Commission's proposal simplifies and upgrades the current accounting methodology under the Kyoto Protocol, and establishes a new EU governance process for monitoring how Member States calculate emissions and removals from actions in their forests, wetlands (including peatlands) as well as cropland and grassland use.
Ensuring fair and cost-effective achievement of targets
The proposal allows that once a Member States complies with the 'no debit; rule within the LULUCF sector, it can use the rest of the credits (after applied capping following the rules of this Regulation) to satisfy the commitments under the Effort Sharing Regulation if it is lagging behind. They can also buy and sell net removals from and to other Member States. This encourages Member States to increase COâ‚‚ removals beyond their own commitment.
Stakeholder input
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Stakeholders were involved at various stages in the development of this proposal.
Consultations were carried out in 2015, including:
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Written consultation on the Green Paper: A 2030 climate & energy framework
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Written consultation on addressing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and LULUCF in the context of the 2030 EU climate and energy framework Following these consultations and the analysis of EU climate policy targets for 2030, the Commission carried out an impact assessment.
The legislative proposal has been submitted to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions for further consideration under the ordinary legislative procedure.
The public had the possibility to provide feedback on the legislative proposal after it was adopted by the European Commission. Feedback was received and a summary Search for available translations of the preceding was presented to the European Parliament and the Council.
Opinions
Paul Brannen, MEP for the North East of England and Shadow Rapporteur for LULUCF: “I am delighted with the breadth of support from fellow MEPs to maintain the EU’s ambition to tackle climate change. Passing this piece of legislation through to the European Parliament is an important step towards ensuring our forests play the best role possible in helping reduce our carbon footprint.
“Trees play a vital role in absorbing greenhouse-gas emissions, making forestry the only sector of the economy to have achieved negative carbon emissions year on year since 1990. LULUCF will help increase forest cover, which currently absorbs 10% of the EU’s carbon emissions and it will also incentivise building in wood, thus aiding the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to less than two degrees Celsius by 2050.”
Julie Girling, MEP for the South West of England and Gibraltar, said: "Trees are a cornerstone of our healthy environment. They provide food, feed, fuel, building materials, paper fibre and so much more. They absorb C02 and provide oxygen to breathe. And they are a thing of beauty and tranquillity in our busy lives."
Seán Kelly, MEP for Ireland South: "Afforestation will play a crucial role in achieving objectives set out in the Paris Agreement to combat climate change, and indeed to bring growth opportunities to rural areas. With the ability of forests to store and sequester atmospheric carbon, and the potential for forest products to substitute fossil fuels and materials, it is clear that strategies to plant more trees will be vital.
"For Ireland, a country that has encountered difficulties in making cost-effective emission cuts due to our proportionally large agricultural sector, afforestation offers an important opportunity to move to a low-carbon economy"