The European Parliament Committee on Environment, Public Health, and Food Safety (ENVI) has adopted its report on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improving natural carbon sinks in the land use, land-use change, and forestry sector (LULUCF), one of five reports of the “Fit for 55 in 2030 package”, the EU’s plan to reduce GHG emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels and have net-zero GHG emissions (climate neutrality) by 2050 in line with the European Climate Law.
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The five reports of the “Fit for 55 in 2030 package”, adopted by ENVI on May 17, 2022, include the Emissions Trading System (ETS) along with a report on the revision of the ETS as regards aviation, the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR), and land-use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF).
According to a statement on May 17, 2022, the adopted package is “an important step towards the EU’s goal to become independent from expensive and polluting fossil fuels from Russia well before 2030.”
Carbon farming to deliver additional net removals
MEPs agree to increase the EU carbon sinks target for land use, land-use change, and forestry sector (LULUCF) which they say would “de facto increase the EU 2030 greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target to 57 percent.”
MEPs want sub-targets for cropland, grassland, and wetlands both at the EU and member state level with GHG removals targets for 2035, 2040, 2045, and 2050 to be set by the end of 2024.
The LULUCF report was adopted with 44 votes for, 37 against, and 6 abstentions.
MEPs stress that the objective of enhancing removals by natural carbon sinks should be seen separately from the priority objective of rapidly and drastically reducing GHG) emissions from other sectors, including non-carbon dioxide (CO2) agricultural emissions.
A GHG reduction target of 57 percent
MEPs support the Commission’s proposal that the EU 2030 target for net greenhouse gas removals in the LULUCF sector should be at least 310 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2eq).
Such an increase would they say de facto raise the EU’s 2030 GHG reduction target to 57 percent, as the contribution of net removals to the 2030 55 percent GHG reduction target was limited to 225 million tonnes of CO2eq in the EU Climate Law as proposed by the European Parliament.
It would also be beneficial in improving biodiversity and reforestation.
The Commission shall adopt annual targets for the LULUCF sector for each year in the period from 2026 to 2029 based on national trajectories.
MEPs also want sub-targets for net greenhouse gas emissions from cropland, grassland, and wetlands both at the EU and the Member State level.
The proposed legislation also suggests a penalty for non-compliance by adding 108 percent of the excess GHG net removals to the following year’s quota.
Carbon farming to beef up removals target
MEPs emphasized that natural carbon sinks are fragile and volatile, and therefore should not be pooled with the measuring of emissions from the agricultural sector – contrary to the Commission’s proposal.
Instead, MEPs want support for voluntary carbon farming initiatives to deliver at least 50 million additional tonnes of CO2eq of net removals by 2030.
Funding for farmers and forest owners
MEPs request the Commission to submit a report assessing the availability and consistency of all existing EU funding instruments available to increase climate action in the LULUCF sector in order to contribute to the targets.
The increased level of ambition can create opportunities for new quality employment and provide incentives for relevant training, reskilling and upskilling.
Ensuring progress and post-2030 targets
To ensure that targets are being met, MEPs request the Commission to submit a progress report by December 31, 2024.
If current trends and future projections are not consistent with the objective of achieving the EU’s climate targets, it shall make proposals to ensure contributions by all sectors including agriculture.
By January 1, 2025, MEPs want the Commission to adopt a proposal to amend this Regulation to set out EU and the Member States’ targets for net GHG removals in LULUCF at least for 2035, 2040, 2045, and 2050.
In addition, MEPs want the Commission to update the data used to measure how much carbon forests and soils are currently storing as well as their future storage potential.
The role of carbon sinks in the EU climate policy is now more important than ever in our pathway towards carbon neutrality. How we use land must be climate-smart in order to tackle the climate crisis and this applies to agriculture, restoration of degraded lands, and forest management as well. For example, restoring wetlands and bogs, afforestation and halting deforestation are ways to increase carbon sinks and increase biodiversity. Carbon farming has a big potential for the sustainable future of agriculture. With this report, we encourage the EU and its Member States to step up and also support incentives to farmers and forest owners to take action, rapporteur, Ville Niinistö (Greens/EFA, FI),
All these reports, including those on CO2 emission standards for cars and vans and the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), adopted on May 11, 2022, are scheduled for a vote during the June 6-9, 2022 plenary session, after which Parliament will be ready to start negotiations with EU governments.
The European Parliament’s position on the Market Stability Reserve for the ETS was adopted by the Plenary in April 2022.
