Revision of LULUCF regulation, compromise emerging in European Parliament around a CO₂ absorption target of 310 million tonnes in 2030

Negotiators from the political groups in the European Parliament appear to have reached a compromise on the revision of the Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) Regulation (2018/84).

The Parliament’s Environment Committee will vote on the text on 16 and 17 May (see EUROPE 12928/20 on the compromise text in the EU Council).

In mid-July 2021, as part of the first part of the ‘Fit for 55’ package, the European Commission presented a proposal to encourage Member States to increase and improve their natural carbon sinks, with the aim of achieving net carbon removals of -310 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent in the Union by 2030 and climate neutrality in the LULUCF sector by 2035.

According to the negotiated compromise amendments, the EU’s 2030 target for net absorption of greenhouse gases in this sector will be at least 310 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent, whereas the rapporteur, Ville Niinistö (Greens/EFA, Finland), had originally expected an absorption of at least 490 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent (see EUROPE 12862/4).

The compromise amendments add to the 310 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent that will have to be absorbed by EU forests and soils by 2030, to ensure at least 50 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent of removals from so-called ‘carbon farming’ practices.

As in the European Commission’s proposal, national targets will be mandatory from 2026.

The compromise amendments do not include the 2035 carbon neutrality target for the soil and forestry sector or the idea of including the entire agricultural sector in this LULUCF regulation.

Link to the compromise amendments: https://aeur.eu/f/1mi (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)