REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION Report on the additional period for fulfilling commitments under the Kyoto Protocol (required under Article 22 of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on a mechanism for monitoring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions and for reporting other information at national and Union level relevant to climate change and repealing Decision No 280/2004/EC and Decision 13/CMP.1 of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol)
Date: 2015-12-15
Institutions: Directorate-General for Climate Action, European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, EU emission allowance, Kyoto Protocol, adaptation to climate change, environmental monitoring, pollution control, reduction of gas emissions, tradeable emission permit

EN 

   EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 15.12.2015  COM(2015) 650 final   REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION Report on the additional period for fulfilling commitments under the Kyoto Protocol  (required under Article 22 of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on a mechanism for monitoring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions and for reporting other information at national and Union level relevant to climate change and repealing Decision No 280/2004/EC and  Decision 13/CMP.1 of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol)  {SWD(2015) 288 final}  
 
 
Report on the additional period for fulfilling commitments under the Kyoto Protocol  

This  Report  and  the  accompanying  Staff  Working  Documents  constitute  the  Union  report  on  the 
additional period for fulfilling commitments under Article 3(1), of the Kyoto Protocol for the first 
commitment  period  of  the  Kyoto  Protocol,  as  required  under  Article  22  of  Regulation  (EU) 
No 525/20131, in accordance with Decision 13/CMP.1 of the Conference of the Parties serving as 
the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. They will be transmitted to the UNFCCC. 

The information contained in  the report  will  facilitate the assessment of  compliance of the Union 
with  its  commitments  under  Article  3(1)  of  the  Kyoto  Protocol  for  the  first  commitment  period. 
This  assessment  will  be  based  on  the  comparison  of  the  quantity  of  units  valid  for  the  first 
commitment period retired by the end of the additional period for fulfilling commitments with the 
aggregate emissions for the first commitment period. 

Retirement of Kyoto Units 

The Kyoto Protocol was ratified by the European Union, at that time the European Community, and 
its Member States on 31 May 2002. The EU and its Member States fulfil their commitments under 
Article 3(1) of the Protocol jointly, in accordance with the provisions of Article 4 thereof. At the 
time  of  ratification,  the following  15  countries  were  Member  States:  Austria,  Belgium,  Denmark, 
Germany,  Greece,  Finland,  France,  Ireland,  Italy,  Luxembourg,  the  Netherlands,  Portugal,  Spain, 
Sweden and the United Kingdom. These were also the 15 Member States when the Kyoto Protocol 
was  adopted  in  December  1997.  In  accordance  with  Article  4(4)  of  the  Kyoto  Protocol,  the 
accession of 13 Member States after the adoption of the Protocol does not affect the commitments 
under the first commitment period.  

The quantity of units retired for the EU is calculated as the sum of the quantity of units in the 15 
Member States retirement accounts in their registries. The total quantity of units retired for the EU 
at  the  end  of  the  additional  period  for  fulfilling  commitments  under  Article  3(1)  for  the  first 
commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol amounts to 18,843,518,768. The table below shows the 
specific information for each of the 15 Member States.  

Total quantity of units in the retirement 
account  

Austria 

Belgium 

Denmark 

Finland 

France 

Germany 

Greece 

414,658,054 

626,316,229 

297,984,143 

338,353,531 

2,538,856,531 

4,706,574,671 

598,504,091 

1 Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on a  mechanism for 
monitoring  and  reporting  greenhouse  gas  emissions  and  for  reporting  other  information  at  national  and  Union  level 
relevant to climate change and repealing Decision No 280/2004/EC, OJ L 165, 18.6.2013, p. 13–40. 

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Ireland 

Italy 

308,508,846 

2,479,638,840 

Luxembourg 

60,116,132 

Netherlands 

Portugal 

Spain 

Sweden 

997,119,267 

362,098,075 

1,791,980,049 

305,573,749 

United Kingdom 

3,017,236,560 

Carry-over of Kyoto Units 

The  total  quantity  of  assigned  amount  units  in  the  EU  Registry  holding  accounts  requested  to  be 
carried  over  by  the  EU  from  the  first  to  the  second  commitment  period  of  the  Kyoto  Protocol 
amounts to 2,124,109,368. 

The total quantity of units in the Member States holding accounts requested to be carried over by 
the  Member  States  will  be  reported  in  the  Member  States'  reports  on  the  additional  period  for 
fulfilling commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. 

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