C 81/116
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
18.2.2022
Thursday 24 June 2021 ANNEX TO THE LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION
Commission statements LULUCF sink and 2030 target The EU land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector both emits greenhouse gases and absorbs CO2 in its soil and biomass.
Restoring and growing our land carbon sink — the ability to absorb CO2 by our natural environment such as trees — is crucial to our climate goals.
We need a growing sink in order for the EU to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
Reversing the current trend requires significant short-term action.
The Commission Communication ‘Stepping up Europe’s 2030 climate ambition — Investing in a climate-neutral future for the benefit of our people’ estimates that it is needed and possible to reverse the current trend and increase the carbon sink to levels above 300 million tons CO2eq. by 2030.
The Commission will make proposals to revise the LULUCF Regulation, in line with this ambition.
Access to Justice The EU and its Member States are parties to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters of 25 June 1998 (the ‘Aarhus Convention’).
When performing their obligations under Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 concerning the involvement of the public in the preparation of the national energy and climate plans and the consultations on the long-term strategies, Member States should ensure that the public concerned is granted access to justice in case of breach of such obligations.
This shall be in line with the relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union related to access to justice in environmental matters and in full respect of the obligations Member States have undertaken as parties to the Aarhus Convention (1).
(1)
See also Communication on ‘Improving access to justice in environmental matters in the EU and its Member States’ (COM(2020)0643).