The Council adopted on March 28, 2023, two regulations that will enable the EU to reduce its net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. The so-called ‘Effort Sharing Regulation’ sets stronger emission reduction targets for Member States to be achieved by 2030. The regulation on land use, land use change, and forestry (LULUCF) sector will strengthen the sector’s contribution to the EU’s overall climate ambition for 2030.
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The new Effort-Sharing Regulation (ESR) sets an EU-level greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction target of 40 percent by 2030, compared to 2005, for the sectors that it covers.
While under the revised directive on the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), emissions trading will also apply to international maritime transport as well as buildings, road transport, and additional industrial sectors, the scope of the ESR is maintained in the road and domestic maritime transport, buildings, agriculture, waste, and small industries.
The revised regulation assigns each Member State an increased national target and adjusts the way the Member States can use existing flexibilities to meet their targets.
The land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF) sector covers the use of soils, trees, plants, biomass, and timber, and is responsible for both emitting and absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere.
Emissions and absorptions generated by the LULUCF sector are taken into account in the EU’s overall 2030 target. Under the European Climate Law, the contribution of net removals to the 2030 EU climate target is limited to 225 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq) to ensure that sufficient mitigation efforts are deployed in other sectors up to 2030.
The new regulation sets an overall EU-level objective of 310 million tonnes CO2eq of net removals in the LULUCF sector in 2030.
For the period from 2026-2030, each Member State will have a binding national target for 2030 for the increase of net GHG removals, which together will deliver the collective EU target of 310 million tonnes.
In addition, each Member State commits to achieving a sum of net GHG emissions and removals for the period from 2026 to 2029 (‘the budget 2026-2029’).
The regulation provides flexibility for the Member States to help them reach their respective targets.
