L 111/4
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
26.4.2023
(14)
The greenhouse gas emission reduction target for 2030 laid down in Regulation (EU) 2018/842 needs to be revised for each Member State.
The methodology used for the revision of the 2030 national greenhouse gas emission reduction targets should be the same as the one that was used when Regulation (EU) 2018/842 was adopted, where the national contributions were determined in consideration of the different capacities and cost-efficiency opportunities in Member States so as to ensure a fair and balanced distribution of the effort.
The greenhouse gas emission reduction target for each Member State in 2030 should thus be determined in relation to the level of its 2005 greenhouse gas emissions covered by that Regulation, as reviewed pursuant to Article 4(3) thereof, excluding verified greenhouse gas emissions from installations that operated in 2005 and which were only included in the EU ETS after 2005.
(15)
As a consequence, as from the year of entry into force of this Regulation, new binding national limits, expressed in annual emission allocations, are necessary.
Those limits will progressively lead to the 2030 greenhouse gas emission reduction target of each Member State.
The annual limits for the years preceding the year of entry into force of this Regulation set out in Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/2126 (12) are maintained.
(16)
The COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine are impacting the Union’s economy and the level of its greenhouse gas emissions to a degree that cannot yet be fully quantified.
On the other hand, the Union is deploying its largest stimulus package ever and accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels, which also has a potential impact on the level of greenhouse gas emissions.
Due to those uncertainties and other unforeseen events having an impact on greenhouse gas emissions, it is appropriate to review the emissions data in 2025 and, if necessary, update the annual emission allocations in 2025 for the years 2026 to 2030.
That update should be based on a comprehensive review of the national inventory data carried out by the Commission in order to determine the average greenhouse gas emissions of each Member State in the years 2021, 2022 and 2023.
(17)
In accordance with Regulation (EU) 2021/1119, priority should be given to reductions in direct greenhouse gas emissions, which will have to be complemented by increased carbon removals in order to achieve climate neutrality.
Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 recognises that carbon sinks include natural and technological solutions.
It is important that a Union scheme for the certification of safely and permanently stored carbon removals obtained through technological solutions be put in place, offering clarity for Member States and market operators to enhance such carbon removals.
When such a certification scheme is in force, an analysis can be made about accounting for such carbon removals under Union law.
(18)
In order to incentivise earlier action and further ensure environmental integrity, it is necessary and appropriate to lower the ceilings for borrowing and banking of annual emission allocations for the whole period from 2021 to 2030.
On the other hand, Member States should be able to reduce progressively their greenhouse gas emissions and reach their increased national greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for 2030 in a cost-effective manner.
In view of the new and more stringent annual emission allocations required by this Regulation, it is appropriate to increase the existing ceilings on transfers of annual emission allocations between Member States.
The possibility of transferring annual emission allocations promotes cooperation between Member States, allowing them to achieve their greenhouse gas emission reduction targets cost-effectively, while preserving environmental integrity.
The transparency of such transfers should be ensured, so that they are carried out in a manner that is mutually convenient, including by means of auctioning, by the use of market intermediaries acting on an agency basis, by way of bilateral arrangements or by the use of an electronic interface aiming to facilitate the exchange of information on intended transfers and to reduce transaction costs.
(12) Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2020/2126 of 16 December 2020 on setting out the annual emission allocations of the Member States for the period from 2021 to 2030 pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/842 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 426, 17.12.2020, p. 58).