On Thursday 12 September, the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety held an exchange of views with the European Commission to assess the operation of the key legislative texts adopted during previous mandates as part of the ‘Fit for 55’ package. The Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) Regulation, the European Climate Law, the Emissions Trading System (ETS) and the Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR) were examined.
As the EU strives to meet its target of a 55% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, Commission reports show that progress is insufficient, particularly in terms of net carbon absorption.
Yvon Slingenberg, Director of the Strategy, Analysis and Planning Department of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA), pointed out that “the EU has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 32.5% since 1990, while seeing its economy grow by 67%”.
However, she warned of the need to “significantly reduce emissions” in sectors such as transport and buildings, while highlighting the growing difficulties surrounding the degradation of natural carbon sinks, such as Europe’s forests.
Finally, Ms Slingenberg called for greater resilience in the face of growing climate impacts, with bold measures and a European climate adaptation plan.
Faced with this assessment, Peter Liese (EPP, German) shared his concern about the persistent gap between objectives and progress. “What I’m hearing from the Commission is not good news. We are not on the right track in several areas of climate policy”, he said.
However, Mr Liese stressed the effectiveness of market-based measures such as the ETS, pointing out that they are “efficient and achieve our objectives in a cost-effective way”.
Javi López (S&D, Spanish) reinforced this call for action, denouncing “a significant gap between what we need to do and what we plan to do”, and calling for greater efforts in key sectors such as transport, buildings and agriculture.
Carbon sinks. The issue of carbon sinks, which are essential for absorbing CO2, was another central point in the debate.
Norbert Lins (EPP, German) recalled the efforts made in the agricultural sector. “In 1990, we were at 483 million tonnes of equivalent emissions, and in 2023 we will be at 366 million tonnes, a reduction of a quarter”, he said, while calling for greater account to be taken of the specific characteristics of biogenic methane emissions in emissions calculations.
Cesar Luena (S&D, Spanish) expressed concern at the decline in Europe’s carbon sinks, such as forests. He explained that deforestation, fires and excessive harvesting have seriously weakened Europe’s capacity to capture carbon. “We will not achieve our absorption targets”, he warned, referring to the importance of maintaining a high level of ambition for the ‘European Green Deal’.
Pär Holmgren (Greens/EFA, Swedish), stressed the importance of better protection for European soils, calling for stronger action to restore these vital ecosystems.
Social justice. The introduction of the ETS 2 system and its economic consequences were also at the heart of the discussions.
Michael Bloss (Greens/EFA, German) expressed concern about rising carbon prices. He called for the introduction of a climate dividend to help the most vulnerable households shoulder the burden of the energy transition.
Emma Fourreau (The Left, French) strongly criticised carbon offsetting policies, pointing to the risk of a false solution to environmental challenges. “We cannot continue to rely on nature’s capacity to absorb the ravages of capitalism. Before we think about planting forests, we have to stop destroying them”, she asserted, opposing the artificialisation of land as a response to deforestation.
In the same vein, Léna Schilling (Greens/EFA, Austrian) raised the issue of the lack of resources allocated to the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change, calling for a significant increase in resources to ensure informed decisions.
Yvon Slingenberg said that the ‘Fit for 55’ package, proposed in July 2021, continues to evolve and be implemented. She stated that ongoing dialogue with the Member States is essential to ensure the effectiveness of the measures, while announcing the publication of a detailed progress report in October.
Read the Commission’s conclusions: https://aeur.eu/f/df7; https://aeur.eu/f/df8 (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)