6.4.2022
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
C 152/189
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on ‘Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2018/842 on binding annual greenhouse gas emission reductions by Member States from 2021 to 2030 contributing to climate action to meet commitments under the Paris Agreement’ (COM(2021) 555 final — 2021/0200 (COD)) (2022/C 152/31)
Rapporteur: Veselin MITOV Co-rapporteur: Udo HEMMERLING
Referral
European Parliament, 13.9.2021 Council, 17.
9.2021
Legal basis
Article 304 and 192(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
Section responsible
Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment
Adopted in section
25.11.2021
Adopted at plenary
8.12.2021
Plenary session No
565
Outcome of vote (for/against/abstentions)
220/4/8
1.
Conclusions and recommendations 1.1.
The EESC welcomes the proposal from the Commission to amend the Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR) — Regulation (EU) 2018/842 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1) on binding annual greenhouse gas emission reductions by Member States — in order to align the ESR’s contribution towards delivering the increased ambition for 2030 aimed at by the European Green Deal and translated by the rest of the Fit for 55 package into concrete action.
1.2.
Although the increased ambition of the EU emissions reduction targets is respectable by international comparison, even these enhanced efforts may fall short of a meaningful contribution from a rich economy and major historic emitter to a maximum 1,5 oC warming scenario by the end of the century, given also the dramatic forecast set out in the recently published AR6 report by the IPCC (2021) (2).
For this reason, it is vital that the 55 % EU-wide reduction target by 2030 is being implemented, and Member States’ efforts are critical here.
The EESC therefore acknowledges that having ambitious and binding ESR targets for Member States is key.
1.3.
The high level of climate ambition for the entire Fit for 55 package is thus unquestionable.
At the same time, the distributional effects of this necessary climate action can be significant (both between and within Member States) and thus need to be addressed properly.
(1) (2)
Regulation (EU) 2018/842 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on binding annual greenhouse gas emission reductions by Member States from 2021 to 2030 contributing to climate action to meet commitments under the Paris Agreement and amending Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 (OJ L 156, 19.6.2018, p. 26).
IPCC (2021): Summary for Policymakers.
In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis.
Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [MassonDelmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S.L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M.I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R. Matthews, T.K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu, and B. Zhou (eds.)].
Cambridge University Press.