CO₂ removals by forests should not be used to offset inaction on emissions reduction, say seven NGOs

A group of seven environmental NGOs sent a letter to the European Commission, on Monday 22 March, calling on it to ensure that CO₂ removals from forests cannot be used to offset inaction in reducing emissions from agriculture, transport, industry, housing or energy, as the institution considers how to revise the EU’s Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) Regulation.

“The EU can only tackle the climate and biodiversity crises by protecting and restoring forests, but this must not be at the expense of action in other polluting sectors”, the organisations write.

In their view, the EU should therefore not set a ‘net’ emissions reduction target (i.e. including CO₂ removals) for 2030, as proposed by the Commission and the EU Council in the interinstitutional negotiations on the ‘Climate Law’, but a ‘gross’ target, as advocated by the European Parliament.

They believe that a net target “gives industries an excuse to delay decarbonising and allows countries to minimise emissions cuts”.

Therefore, these NGOs call for the adoption of a gross greenhouse gas reduction target in line with the Paris Agreement, while setting a separate target for CO₂ removal from forests and land in the future ‘Climate Law’.

See the letter: https://bit.ly/316zScJ (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)