The European Commission brought a series of proposals today in order to reduce through climate, energy, transportation, and tax policies, including land-use policies net emissions of greenhouse gases for at least 55 percent by the year 2030 as compared to 1990 levels. If Europe wishes to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 and achieve that reduction, we have to reach this goal in the next decade. Consequently, legislative tools have been presented today for the achievement of objectives from the European climate regulations on the basis of which our economy and societies will be fundamentally transformed and Europe move toward a just, green and prosperous future – the Commission reported.
Comprehensive and linked proposals
The present proposals will accelerate the reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases in the forthcoming decade. They include emission trading in new sectors and a more rigorous EU system of emission trading, increased use of energy from renewable sources, greater energy efficiency, faster introduction of transportation means with low emissions and necessary infrastructures and fuels, alignment of tax policies with the aims of the European green plan, prevention of carbon leakage and tools for preservation and growth of natural carbon sinking.
– Within the EU framework of the carbon trading system (ETS), carbon emissions will be charged, and the upper levels of emissions from specific economic sectors lowered from year to year. Accordingly, in the last 16 years emissions from the production of electricity and energy-intensive industries have been lowered by 42.8 percent. The Commission is proposing today that the upper limits of all emissions be additionally lowered and the annual rate of emission reduction additionally increased. It is also proposing the gradual elimination of free emission units in air transportation and alignment with the Programme for the neutralization and reduction of carbon emissions for international aviation (CORSIA) as well as the inclusion of emissions from maritime transport into ETS. In order to compensate for the absence of emission reductions from road traffic and buildings, the Commission is introducing a special new system of emission trading in the fields of fuel distribution for road traffic and buildings and is also proposing the enhancement of the Innovation Fund and Modernization Fund.
– In order to supplement the considerable funds spent from EU’s budget on climate, the member states should use all the revenues from emission trading on projects linked to climate and energy, and a certain part of the revenues from the new system on road traffic and buildings should be earmarked for mitigating the possible social impact on vulnerable households, micro-companies and transportation participants.
– Within the framework of the Directive on the distribution of the burden, ambitious goals of reducing emission from buildings, road and domestic maritime transportation, agriculture, waste and small industries are set for each member state. Given that the points of departure and capacities of each state are different, these goals are based on the GDP per capita and are adjusted depending on cost effectiveness.
– The member states are also mutually responsible for eliminating carbon from the atmosphere so the Directive on land use, forestry, and agriculture prescribed the general EU goal of eliminating 310 million tonnes of CO2 emissions by 2030 through natural sinking. There will also be national goals in order for member states to attend to their carbon sinks and expand them. By the year 2035, the EU should attempt to reach climate neutrality in the use of land, forestry, and agriculture, which include emissions from agriculture that do not contain CO2 (generated, for example, by fertilizers and livestock). The goal of the EU strategy for forests is to improve the quality, volume, and resilience of our forests. In addition, it supports rangers and the forest-based bio-economy, sustainable utilization of wood and use of biomass as well as the preservation of biodiversity and establishes the plan for planting three billion trees in Europe by 2030.
– Considering that the production and use of energy make up 75 % of EU emissions, it is necessary to speed up the transition to a greener energy system. The Directive on promoting energy use from renewable sources of energy will increase the production goals of these sources of energy by 40 percent by 2030 and will require the contribution of all the member states. In addition, specific goals are proposed for energy use from renewable sources in transportation, heating, and cooling as well as in buildings and the industry. In order for achieving the climate and environmental goals, sustainable criteria for the use of bio-energy have been made more rigorous and the member states have to come up with a support program of support for bio-energy in line with the principle of the cascading use of wood mass.
– The Directive on energy efficiency will establish a more ambitious binding annual goal of reducing energy use at the EU level in order to reduce overall energy consumption, emissions, and energy poverty. It will also contain guidelines for national contributions and the obligations of member states to save energy will practically double. In order to promote a recovery wave, opening of new jobs, and reduction of consumption and costs for taxpayers, three percent of public sector buildings will be renewed annually.
– It will be necessary to introduce a number of measures in order to supplement emission trading given their constant growth in road traffic. More rigorous norms for CO2 emissions from automobiles and vans will require a 55 percent reduction of emissions from new automobiles from 2030, as compared to 2021 levels, namely 100 percent from 2035, will accelerate the transition for mobility with zero rate emissions. In order for all the drivers in Europe to be able to rely on the charging system, the revised directive on infrastructure for alternative fuels will require of member states to increase their charging capacities in accordance with automobile sales with zero emissions and set up a sufficient number of charging and hydrogen supply stations along the main traffic lines: a charging station every 60 kilometers, and a hydrogen supply station every 150 kilometers.
– Fuels for air and maritime traffic are considerable environmental polluters and so special measures should be introduced for them as well. The Directive on alternative fuel infrastructure requires that airplanes and ships have access to clean electric power in the main maritime and air ports. The Initiative ‘ReFuelEU Aviation’ will oblige fuel suppliers to have an increasing share of sustainable fuels in jet fuel, including synthetic fuels with a low level of carbon emissions (e-fuels) at EU airports. Likewise, within the framework of the ‘FuelEU Maritime’ a limit will be established for the share of greenhouse gases in the energy used by ships docking in European ports in order to stimulate the use of sustainable maritime fuels and technologies without carbon emissions.
– Adequate incentives must be introduced through the taxation system of energy products in order to protect and improve the single market and promote the green transition. The revised energy taxation directive proposed the alignment of energy taxation with the EU’s energy and climate policy, namely, promotion of clean technologies and elimination of obsolete tax exemptions and lower rates with which the use of fossil fuels has been stimulated to date. The new rules are an attempt to reduce the harmful effects of tax competition in the field of energy and in that way provide states with green tax revenues which limit growth to a lesser degree than labor tax.
– Finally, on the basis of the new carbon adaptation mechanism a compensation will be paid at the border for carbon when importing specific products so that ambitious climate policies in Europe do not cause “the leakage of carbon.” Accordingly, decreased emissions in Europe will contribute to the reduction of emissions in the world, and large emission industries will not move out of Europe but rather this step will encourage industries outside of Europe and our international partners to follow the same road.
A socially just transition
Without a doubt, the benefits of the EU climate policy, both mid and long-term exceed the costs of transition, but could in the short term additionally burden vulnerable households, micro-enterprises, and transportation users. Therefore, the policies in the set presented today have been conceived in a way that the costs of the struggle against climate change and adaptation to them are justly distributed.
Owing to the instrument for establishing the price of carbon, revenues will grow and they can be channeled to the promotion of innovation, economic growth, and clean technologies. A new social fund for climate has been proposed the resources of which member states will use to help their citizens to finance investments in energy efficiency, new heating and cooling systems, and clean mobility. It would be financed from the EU budget in the amount of 25 percent of anticipated revenues from emission trading from buildings and road traffic fuels. It would provide to member states 72.2 billion EUR in the period 2025 -2032, after the targeted change of the long-standing financial framework. In accordance with the proposal to utilize the corresponding funds of the member states, 144.4 billion EUR would be mobilized for a socially just transition.
The priorities of immediate action aimed at protecting people and the planet are clear: cleaner air, cooler and greener cities, healthier citizens, reduced consumption of energy and smaller bills, European jobs, technologies and industrial possibilities, more space for nature, and a healthier planet which we will leave to future generations. The greatest challenge of the green transition is to make the benefits and opportunities ensuing from it available to all and to make it as fast and just as possible. In other words, if we use the political instruments available at the EU level we can achieve rapid changes which will not disrupt our way of life – the Commission emphasized.
Frans Timmermans, the executive vice-president of the European Green Plan pointed out: This decade is crucial for combating the climate crisis as well as the biodiversity crisis. The European Union has set ambitious goals and today we are presenting the plan for their implementation. All the member states and all sectors will have to work consistently on the achievement of a green and healthy future for all and our proposals will prompt the necessary changes, enable citizens to experience the benefits of climate policies as soon as possible, and provide support to the most vulnerable households. The European transition will be just, green and competitive.
The energy commissioner, Kadri Simson underlined: “We can achieve the Green plan goals only if we transform our energy system which is the source of most of the emissions. If we wish to attain climate neutrality by the year 2050 we have to switch quickly and radically to renewable energy sources and ensure in the process that we are preventing the dissipation of energy. Today, we are adopting more ambitious goals, tearing down obstacles, and encouraging the rapid as possible achievement of zero rate emissions.
