Communication from the Commission - Fourth national communication from the European Community under the UN Framework Convention on climate change (UNFCCC) (required under Article 12 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) {SEC(2006) 138}
Date: 2006-02-08
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: UN convention, climate change, environmental protection, greenhouse gas, pollution control measures, stratospheric pollution

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 08.02.2006 
COM(2006) 40 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 

FOURTH NATIONAL COMMUNICATION FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY 
UNDER THE UN FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE 
(UNFCCC) 

(required under Article 12 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) 

{SEC(2006) 138} 

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Table of Contents 

1. 

1.1. 

1.2. 

1.3. 

1.4. 

1.5. 

1.6. 

1.7. 

1.8. 

Executive Summary ..................................................................................................... 3 

National Circumstances ............................................................................................... 4 

Greenhouse Gas Inventory........................................................................................... 4 

Policies and measures .................................................................................................. 4 

Projections.................................................................................................................... 5 

Vulnerability assessment, climate change impacts and adaptation measures.............. 6 

Research and Systematic Observation ......................................................................... 7 

Financial Resources and Transfer of Technology........................................................ 7 

Education, Training and Public Awareness ................................................................. 7 

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1. 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

The  Fourth  National  Communication  from  the  European  Community  is  prepared  under 
Article 12 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).1 

The  European  Union,  with  its  25  Member  States,  is  for  a  number  of  years  already  making 
considerable  efforts  to  tackle  climate  change,  despite  being  responsible  for  only  14%  of 
global  greenhouse  gas  emissions.  Robust  domestic  policy-making  supports  the  EU’s  role  to 
lead by example, with a comprehensive package of policy and legislative measures at the EU 
level, introduced  through  the European Climate Change Programme (ECCP). Each Member 
State also puts into place a series of further domestic actions, discussed in their own reports. 
The  ECCP  reaches  out  to  all  sectors  of  the  economy,  defining  policy  relevant  to  the 
household, industrial, commercial and transport sectors.  

The EU’s climate policy does not stop in 2012. Many of the EU policies that are already in 
place  will  have  an  important  impact  beyond  the  Kyoto  Protocol’s  first  commitment  period. 
The  EU’s  greenhouse  gas  emissions  trading  scheme  will  continue  after  2012.  The  second 
phase  of  the  European  Climate  Change  Programme  was  already  launched  in  October  2005 
and will include carbon capture and storage, passenger road transport, aviation and strategies 
to adapt to the effects of climate change. These policies provide strong, long-term signals to 
industry,  Member  State  governments  and  the  wider  international  community  that  the  EU  is 
committed  to  tackling  climate  change  and  expects  all  of  its  institutions,  businesses  and 
citizens to play their part.  

The European Commission is committed to the implementation of these measures to combat 
climate change, whilst also considering the impacts on the economic development of the EU 
and  its  citizen’s  well  being.  Specifically,  the  Commission  will  review  progress  and  explore 
new  actions  to  systematically  exploit  cost  effective  emission  reduction  options  in  synergy 
with the Lisbon strategy.2 

The  European  Commission’s  proposed  strategy  for  further  action  post  2012  highlights  the 
need  for  broader  participation  by  countries  and  sectors,  the  development  of  low-carbon 
technologies, the continued and expanded use of market mechanisms, and the need to adapt to 
the inevitable impacts of climate change.  

The EU is also working internationally to help countries outside of the Union to reduce their 
greenhouse gas emissions. It is currently working with countries all over the world to assist in 
the  implementation  of  renewable  energy  sources  and  energy  efficiency,  with  the  aim  of 
improved quality of life and sustainable development. The EU provides financial support to 
programmes  including  using  solar  energy  to  provide  clean  drinking  water  in  the  Sahel, 
improved  energy  efficiency  and  use  of  renewables  in  China,  forest-planting  projects  to 
generate  clean  development  mechanism  incomes  in  South  America  and  strengthening 
institutional capacity on climate change in India.  

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2 

On  the  basis  of  Council  Decision  94/69/EC  of  15  December  1993  concerning  the  conclusion  of  the 
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (OJ L 033 of 07/02/1994) 
COM(2005)35  final  of  09.02.2005  -  Communication  from  the  Commission  to  the  Council,  the 
European  Parliament,  the  European  Economic  and  Social  Committee  and  the  Committee  of  the 
Regions: “Winning the Battle Against Global Climate Change” 
http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/climat/pdf/comm_en_050209.pdf 

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The  EU  has  made  good  progress  so  far.  Further  progress  depends  on  the  speed  and 
thoroughness  of  the  implementation  by  Member  States  of  Community  legislation  and 
domestic measures. The total of the projections for the EU-15 Member States show that the 
Kyoto targets can be met if Member States implement planned additional domestic measures 
and use flexible mechanisms.  

Delivering on the Kyoto commitments does not mark the end of the EU’s efforts. The EU is 
advocating deeper emission reduction cuts in the next decades to put a halt to global climate 
change.  The  EU  is  committed  to  taking  its  fair  share  of  the  global  efforts  to  reduce  human 
interference with the climate system.  

1.1. 

National Circumstances 

•  The  European  Union’s  institutional  system  is  unique,  with  25  Member  States  delegating 

sovereignty for some matters to independent institutions.  

•  The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the EU-15 has increased by 18% in real terms from 
1995  to  2002  (average  annual  increase  of  over  2%),  putting  an  upward  pressure  on 
greenhouse gas emissions.  

•  The energy intensity has considerably decreased since 1990.  

•  Renewable  energy  currently  contributes  6%  to  energy  supply  and  is  expected  to  grow 

significantly in the next few years.  

•  Agricultural land use is decreasing and the forestry area is increasing steadily.  

1.2. 

Greenhouse Gas Inventory 

•  Total  GHG  emissions  in  the  EU-25  (without  land  use  change  and  forestry)  decreased  by 
more than 5% from 1990 to 2003. In the EU-15 they decreased by nearly 2% over the same 
period.  

•  Averaged  over  the  latest  five  years,  EU-15  emissions  stood  nearly  3%  below  their  1990 

level.  

•  Emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases rose by 1.3% in the EU-15 
in  2003  compared  with  2002.  This  was  primarily  due  to  a  rise  in  coal  use  for  electricity 
generation in 2003.  

1.3. 

Policies and measures 

•  In 2005, the world’s first international CO2 emissions trading scheme came into operation 

in the EU.  

•  The large majority of policies and measures identified by the Commission as a priority for 
the  EU  as  a  result  of  the  work  undertaken  in  the  European  Climate  Change  Programme 
(ECCP) I are now implemented.  

•  The ECCP  continues  to  provide  the main  policy  framework for meeting the challenge of 
climate change focusing in its second phase in particular on the transport sector (including 

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aviation  and  vehicle  emissions),  carbon  capture  and  storage  and  the  role  of  the  EU  in 
reducing vulnerability and promoting adaptation.  

•  The European Community has new policy actions in most sectors.  

•  Links to the Kyoto Mechanisms will ensure that the EU emissions trading scheme will also 

contribute to technology transfer to developing countries.  

•  Action  by  the  European  Community  strengthens  and  supports  a  multitude  of  national 

measures to reduce climate change.  

1.4. 

Projections 

•  Emissions of greenhouse gases in the EU-25 are projected to be 5% below 1990 levels in 

2010 as a result of measures already under implementation.  

•  In  the  EU-15  emissions  of  greenhouse  gases  without  LULUCF  are  projected  to  be  1.6% 
below base year emissions in 2010 as a result of measures already under implementation. 
If  one  includes  the  reductions  that  Member  States  forecast  they  will  achieve  through  the 
use of Kyoto mechanisms, then projected emissions in 2010 will be 4.1% below base year 
emissions.  

•  Just  the  implementation  of  existing  and  additional  proposed  measures  is  projected  to 
reduce EU-25 GHG emissions to 9.3% below 1990 levels by 2010 and in the EU-15 reduce 
emissions to 6.8% below base year emissions by 2010. The use of Kyoto mechanisms will 
ultimately bring total emissions for the EU-15 to below -8% by 2008-2012 compared to the 
base year, thus meeting the collective Kyoto targets.  

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Figure 1: Actual and projected emissions (without LULUCF) for the EU-15 and the EU-
25. 

110

105

100

95

EU-25 emissions

EU-25 existing measures

EU-25 additional
measures
EU-15 emissions

EU-15 existing measures

EU-15 additional
measures
EU-15 target (Kyoto)

EU-15 target + Kyoto
mechanisms
Business as usual

Linear target path

Kyoto mechanisms

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Notes: The index on the y axis refers to the base year. This is 1990 for most Member States for CO2, methane (CH4) and 
nitrous oxide (N2O) but 1995 for fluorinated gases, with the following exceptios:The base year for CO2, CH4 and N2O for 
Hungary is the average of 1985-1987, for Slovenia 1986 and for Poland 1988; the base year for fluorinated gases is 1990 for 
France and Finland. This means that for EU-15 and EU-25, the value for 1990 is not exactly 100. Business as usual describes 
the projected emissions without climate related policies and measures 

1.5. 

Vulnerability assessment, climate change impacts and adaptation measures 

•  Predicted sea level rises could impact up to 68 million people in the EU.  

•  Temperatures  are  expected  to  increase  leading  to  more  deaths  due  to  high  temperatures 

during summer but fewer cold related deaths in the winter.  

•  Northern  Europe  is  expected  to  have  increased  precipitation,  Southern  Europe  less  with 

potentially more droughts.  

•  The  European  Commission  is  already  involved  in  some  adaptation  related  activities, 

through the running of EU wide early warning systems for floods and forest fires.  

•  New work on adaptation is planned under the next phase of the European Climate Change 

Programme.  

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1.6. 

Research and Systematic Observation 

•  The  budget  for  the  thematic  area  that  covers  climate  change  in  the  6th  Framework 
Programme  is  €2.12  billion.  This  effort  will  also  be  supported  under  the  7th  Framework 
Programme.  

•  International co-operation is an integral part of the priority thematic areas.  

•  A wide spectrum of projects related to climate science, impacts, adaptation and mitigation 

have been supported by the European Union.  

•  The  European  Commission’s  Joint  Research  Centre  (DG  JRC)  has  focused  its  research 

activities around main policy areas, including climate change. 

•  The  EU  as  part  of  the  Group  on  Earth  Observations  (GEO)  is  working  towards  an 
unprecedented  level  of  coordination  and  harmonisation  of  Earth  Observation  Systems, 
aimed at the creation of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).  

1.7. 

Financial Resources and Transfer of Technology 

•  The European Union is a very significant donor in the field of development cooperation.  

•  A specific strategy has been proposed and an action plan is currently implemented to assist 
EU development partner countries in meeting the challenges proposed by climate change.  

•  Nearly 200 projects with a total budget of €300 million have been identified as having a 

climate change relevant element.  

•  Research  and  scientific  technological  co-operation  with  developing  countries  are  key 
instruments for the implementation of the EU strategy on climate change and development. 
All  partner  countries  can  participate  in  the  Community  research  programme  (6th 
Framework programme).  

1.8. 

Education, Training and Public Awareness 

•  The  European  Commission  is  committed  to  the  principles  of  open  government  and 

provides a large amount of information to the public in a variety of forms.  

•  The  European  Commission  internet  site  provides  a  comprehensive  source  of  information 

on Community actions and concerns including climate change.  

•  The  European  Awards  for  the  Environment  given  by  the  European  Commission  are 
designed  to  recognise  and  promote  companies  that  make  an  outstanding  contribution  to 
sustainable development.  

•  Green  Week  2005  was  entirely  devoted  to  climate  change  and  brings  together 

environmental stakeholders to ‘think aloud’ about how we can change our behaviour.  

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•  EU Member States support activities conducted by the UN under Article 6 of the UNFCCC 
(Education,  training,  and  public  awareness).  These  activities  have  included,  since  2002, 
several  regional  workshops  and  the  preliminary  development  by  the  UN  of  an  internet 
based information clearing house, as well as activities undertaken nationally by individual 
Member States. 

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