Brussels, 12/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - When they meet in Brussels on Tuesday 17 May, agriculture ministers will debate the inclusion of the agricultural sector in targets for reducing the EU's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions after 2020 (see also EUROPE 11504).
European Climate Action and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete will be present at the Agriculture Council debate but it is not expected that any formal conclusions will be reached.
The agricultural and Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) sectors do not form part of the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS). They will, however, be required to play their part in efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases within the “2030 climate and energy framework”. Legislative proposals are expected to be brought forward by the Commission on 29 June.
The agreement reached by EU heads of state and/or government in December 2014 provides for the preparation of a strategy to take account of emissions linked to the LULUCF sector before 2020, as soon as technical conditions allow.
Three options have been tabled for the inclusion of these emissions: - keeping land use outside CO2 emissions reduction efforts and counting agriculture-related emissions separately; - putting in place European land-use targets, including in the agricultural sector, which would mean that land-use management systems could be built in; - creating an agriculture and land use “pillar” in which agricultural emissions could be partly offset by absorption of CO2 in the earth for the purposes of national target accounting.
The first and third options would seem, at this point, to be the ones favoured by the member states. At the meeting of the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) on 10 May, a number of member states asked the Commission to provide more information on the pros and cons of each of the options. The Commission is still assessing how to proceed on this very complex matter: agriculture has only limited potential for mitigating its emissions but offers great possibilities for carbon sequestration (storing carbon in the earth, through reforestation, etc.). How can account be taken of this in legislation and the link made with the bio-economy? It is to questions such as these that EU agriculture ministers will have to find the answers. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)