European Commission Proposes Binding Annual Greenhouse Gas Emission Targets
The European Commission has proposed binding annual greenhouse gas emissions targets for Member States for between 2021 and 2030.
The European Commission presented the proposals at the weekly European Commission College of the Juncker Commission, intended to “set clear and fair guiding principles to Member States to prepare for the future and keep Europe competitive.” Specifically, the proposals are intended to ensure all Member States contribute to the 2014 collectively agreed target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% by 2030 over 1990 levels.
The proposals (found at the bottom of this post) are for all Member States, affecting targets through 2021 to 2030, across transport, buildings, agriculture, waste, land-use, and forestry sectors.
“The Energy Union is delivering,” said Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President in charge of the Energy Union.
“With the proposed reform of the Emissions Trading System last year and today’s proposal on greenhouse gas emissions targets for Member States, we anchor the 2030 Energy and Climate framework in legislation. We are also setting our transport system firmly on the path towards zero-emissions. Today’s package shows that we are mobilising all our policies towards the competitive, circular and low-carbon economy that we promised in the Energy Union Strategy.”
The European Commission also presented a strategy on low-emission mobility, which is intended to set a course for the development of European Union-wide measures on low- and zero-emission vehicles and alternative low-emissions fuels.
“Transport accounts for a quarter of Europe’s greenhouse gas emissions and is a main cause of air pollution,” said Violeta Bulc, EU Commissioner for Transport.
“The transition to low-emission mobility is therefore essential to reach the EU’s ambitious climate objectives and to improve the quality of life in our cities. It is also an opportunity to modernise the EU’s economy and keep Europe’s industry competitive. The Strategy we adopted today presents a roadmap towards low-emission mobility and will give an impetus to that shift.”
Table: Proposed Targets and Access to new flexibilities
| 2030 target compared to 2005 | Maximum annual flexibility
(as a % of 2005 emissions) |
||
| One-off flexibility from Emissions Trading System to Effort Sharing Regulation | Flexibility from land use sector to Effort Sharing Regulation* | ||
| LU | -40% | 4% | 0.2% |
| SE | -40% | 2% | 1.1% |
| DK | -39% | 2% | 4.0% |
| FI | -39% | 2% | 1.3% |
| DE | -38% | 0.5% | |
| FR | -37% | 1.5% | |
| UK | -37% | 0.4% | |
| NL | -36% | 2% | 1.1% |
| AT | -36% | 2% | 0.4% |
| BE | -35% | 2% | 0.5% |
| IT | -33% | 0.3% | |
| IE | -30% | 4% | 5.6% |
| ES | -26% | 1.3% | |
| CY | -24% | 1.3% | |
| MT | -19% | 2% | 0.3% |
| PT | -17% | 1.0% | |
| EL | -16% | 1.1% | |
| SI | -15% | 1.1% | |
| CZ | -14% | 0.4% | |
| EE | -13% | 1.7% | |
| SK | -12% | 0.5% | |
| LT | -9% | 5.0% | |
| PL | -7% | 1.2% | |
| HR | -7% | 0.5% | |
| HU | -7% | 0.5% | |
| LV | -6% | 3.8% | |
| RO | -2% | 1.7% | |
| BG | 0% | 1.5% | |
| *Estimate, limit is expressed in absolute million tonnes over 10 years. | |||
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