28.4.2023
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
C 149/43 Thursday 20 October 2022
Efforts across all sectors
53.
Recalls that the European Climate Law includes a commitment to facilitating sector-specific climate dialogues and partnerships by bringing together key stakeholders in an inclusive and representative manner so as to encourage sectors themselves to draw up indicative voluntary roadmaps and to plan their transition towards achieving the Union’s climate neutrality objective by 2050; highlights that these roadmaps could make a valuable contribution to assisting sectors with planning the necessary investments in the transition to a climate-neutral economy and could also serve to strengthen sectoral engagement with the pursuit of climate-neutral solutions;
54.
Calls on all Parties to urgently take action against methane emissions; welcomes the Global Methane Pledge that the EU, the US and a number of other countries signed up to at COP26, which aims to reduce all methane emissions caused by human action by 30 % by 2030 compared to 2020 levels, which is the first step towards the reduction of 45 % recommended by UNEP (22); urges all signatories to ensure they reduce methane emissions within their territories by at least 30 % by 2030 and to adopt national measures to achieve this aim; notes that approximately 60 % of the world’s methane is emitted by sources such as agriculture, landfill sites, waste water facilities and the production and pipeline transport of fossil fuels; recalls that methane is a potent GHG which is 28 times more powerful than CO2 in terms of its climate impact over a 100-year timeframe, and 80 times more potent over a 20-year timeframe; highlights in this regard that stronger action to reduce methane emissions is one of the most cost-effective measures for cutting GHG emissions in the short term; notes that many technologies and practices are already available for mitigating methane emissions cost-effectively, at low cost or negative cost; notes that methane emissions in agriculture are primarily driven by increasing livestock numbers and that livestock emissions from manure and enteric fermentation account for roughly 32 % of anthropogenic methane emissions; takes note, in this context, of the proposal to reduce methane emissions in the energy sector presented by the Commission in December 2021; calls for the adoption of additional binding legislative measures to tackle emissions in other emitting sectors, for binding Union methane emissions reduction targets as well as the inclusion of methane among the regulated pollutants in the National Emission Reduction Commitments Directive; reiterates its call to address livestock densities in the EU to ensure ambitious reductions of GHG emissions in this sector; reiterates its position that a shift is needed in consumption patterns towards more healthy foods, diets and lifestyles, including increased consumption of sustainably and regionally produced plants and plant-based foods, and that the overconsumption of meat and ultra-processed products needs to be addressed;
55.
Considers that sustainable agricultural production models require global standard setting using a cross-sectoral, multidisciplinary ‘One Health’ (23) approach to ensure the transition toward sustainable food systems as well as meeting the commitments of the Paris agreement and the Glasgow Climate Pact;
56.
Recognises that climate change will contribute to increased antibiotic resistance and therefore calls for a global agreement by the Parties to reduce the use of antimicrobials and combat the risk of resistance;
57.
Highlights that the transport sector is the only sector in which emissions have risen at EU level since 1990 and that this is not compatible with the EU’s climate goals, which require greater and faster reductions in emissions from all sectors of society, including the aviation and maritime sectors; considers that in order to ensure the consistency of NDCs with the economy-wide commitments required by the Paris Agreement, the Parties should be strongly encouraged to include emissions from international shipping and aviation in their NDCs and to agree on and implement measures at international, regional and national level to reduce emissions from these sectors, including non-CO2 impacts from aviation; recalls, further, that according to the IEA all new passenger cars placed on the market globally need to be zero emission by 2035 in order to reach net zero emissions by 2050;
58.
Highlights the inclusion of maritime and aviation emissions in the EU emissions trading system (ETS), which could also serve as a model for other countries and will support greater ambition at international level, including in the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO); is concerned by the
(22) (23)
UNEP Global Methane Assessment 2021.
https://www.who.int/health-topics/one-health#tab=tab_1