Greenhouse gas emissions - monitoring & reporting mechanism

The EU Monitoring Mechanism Regulation (MMR) updates the system for monitoring and reporting on greenhouse gas emissions. The EU and EU countries must now provide better quality data in their reports and cover new areas, such as low-carbon strategies.

ACT

Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on a mechanism for monitoring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions and for reporting other information at national and Union level relevant to climate change and repealing Decision No 280/2004/EC

SUMMARY

This Regulation revises and strengthens the EU's greenhouse gas (GHG) monitoring and reporting framework, in order to provide a better platform for EU action to tackle climate change.

At the heart of this framework is the GHG monitoring mechanism, established in 1993 to enable the EU and EU countries to track progress in reducing the man-made emissions that contribute to climate change - including the commitment to a 20% European emissions reduction by 2020.

The revised GHG mechanism's main goals include:

• improving the quality of data reported;
• enabling implementation of the 2009 EU Climate and Energy package by accurately tracking the progress of the EU and EU countries towards meeting their emission targets for 2013-20;
• taking into account the latest international guidance on using measures (global warming potential of gases) and methodologies (IPCC Guidelines) when producing greenhouse gas inventories.

New reporting obligations

Low-carbon development strategies (making the European economy more climate-friendly and less energy-consuming): must be prepared by EU countries and the European Commission on behalf of the EU according to any internationally agreed reporting provisions under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process. EU countries must report on these strategies by 9 January 2015 and every second year thereafter.

National systems for GHG policies, measures and projections: must be set up and run by the European Commission and EU countries. The aim is to enhance the timeliness, transparency, accuracy, consistency, comparability and completeness of the information in their reports.

In the context of fighting climate change, EU countries must also report on their:

• financial/technical support to developing countries ;
• use of revenues from the auctioning of allowances in the EU emissions trading system (EU ETS) (at least half of these revenues must be spent on fighting climate change in the EU and other countries).

The Regulation provides the legal basis for and will guide an internal EU review of EU countries' adaptation to climate change. This review will cover the emissions data for sectors such as housing, agriculture, waste and transport (not aviation or international shipping), in line with the Effort Sharing Decision (Decision 406/2009/EU).

last update 28.11.2014