MEP Henna Virkkunen (EPP, Finland), a member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE), suggests revising the target proposed by the European Commission in the revision of the EU Regulation (2018/84) on land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF), in her draft opinion published on Thursday 6 January.
While the Commission’s text provides for a collective commitment to achieve climate neutrality in the land and forestry sector by 2035, Ms Virkkunen proposes that this commitment should apply to each Member State individually.
The MEP believes that the regulation should also recognise the role of sustainable bioenergy production “in phasing out fossil fuels”.
She therefore proposes that the Commission adopt delegated acts by 2023 to add new categories of carbon storage products to the scope of the revised regulation, including all relevant bio-based product categories.
She also suggests that the Commission should present proposals by 2025 on how to include bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) processes in carbon storage products.
According to Ms Virkkunen, “including BECCS in the LULUCF Regulation is logical, as biogenic emissions come from renewables grown on land covered by the scope of this Regulation”.
She added: “Using the same accounting framework for all carbon storage products, emissions and carbon removals from this sector will help to avoid double counting in other policy measures”.
This draft opinion is intended to feed into the work of MEP Ville Niinistö (Greens/EFA, Finland), the Parliament’s rapporteur on this dossier, whose draft report we have already covered (see EUROPE 12862/4).
See the draft opinion: https://bit.ly/3JGxnTH (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)