As part of the implementation of the ‘Fit for 55’ package, on Monday 23 September the European Commission adopted an implementing regulation amending Regulation 2018/2066 on the monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions.
The new regulation, which aims to align monitoring rules with the EU’s climate legislation target of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030, follows the revision of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) Directive (see EUROPE 13169/33).
The updated regulation includes the monitoring of ‘non-CO2’ effects - i.e. emissions other than carbon dioxide - linked to aviation, which will be included in emissions reports from 2025.
These effects, long underestimated, include other gases and particles that contribute to global warming, and their inclusion reflects a more exhaustive approach to monitoring emissions.
The monitoring of these effects, effective from 2025, will initially apply to flights within the European Economic Area (EEA) as well as those to Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
In the longer term, this will enable a better assessment of the climate impact of the aviation sector, with rigorous monitoring of the CO2 equivalent of each flight.
The regulation also introduces new specific rules for emissions in the building and road transport sectors, as well as in certain industries not covered by the ETS.
In addition, it broadens the scope of CO2 transport monitoring for geological storage, taking into account several modes of transport, including gas pipelines.
Operators are now required to calculate and report in greater detail emissions from alternative fuels, such as renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBO) and recycled carbon fuels (RCFs).
In addition, the regulation strengthens the requirements for verifying emissions in order to avoid any underestimation and to guarantee the reliability of the data reported. The European Commission is putting in place IT tools to facilitate the monitoring of non-CO2 effects in aviation and emissions reporting, in particular through the aviation ‘non-CO2’ effects monitoring system.
The implementing regulation: https://aeur.eu/f/dku (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)