(1)

Regulation (EU) 2018/841 provides the Member States with access to compensation for specific excess emissions and diminishing removals. In accordance with that Regulation, such emissions and removals need to be attributable, either to the long-term impact of climate change resulting in excess emissions or diminishing sinks which are beyond the control of the Member States and do not qualify as natural disturbances, or to the legacy effects of past management practices in Member States with an exceptionally high proportion of organic soils in their managed land area.

(2)

In accordance with Article 13b(8) of Regulation (EU) 2018/841, aridity is to be considered as an environmental characteristic for the identification of areas affected by long-term impacts of climate change. To analyse changes in the ratio between water needs and water availability over long time periods, it is therefore appropriate to rely on the aridity index. The geographical distribution of biomes and the productivity of managed land are intrinsically linked to aridity. As the aridity index comprises the core variables of precipitation and potential evapotranspiration and is insensitive to local impacts of human activity, it is a reliable means of analysing changes in the ratio between water needs and water availability over long periods of time.

(3)

Areas that have shifted in aridity class from humid or dry subhumid to semi-arid, arid or hyper-arid as described in the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, or areas classified as semi-arid, arid or hyper-arid whose respective aridity index has decreased, face constraints led by water scarcity. Increasing water scarcity can result in changes characterised by sparser vegetation cover, low soil organic carbon, poor soil structure, reduced soil biodiversity, and a high rate of soil erosion. These developments decrease both the carbon sequestration potential of land and its climate resilience. An area that has undergone such a shift should therefore be considered an area affected by the long-term impact of climate change.

(4)

In order to allow for the use of potentially higher-quality data backed by the scientific community, Member States should be allowed to use indices other than the aridity index for determining areas affected by the long-term impact of climate change provided that they demonstrate the link between the long-term impacts of climate change and the reduced carbon sequestration capacity.

(5)

It is common practice in the scientific community to describe the occurrence of natural phenomena that are equal to or above the 85th percentile of a distribution as exceptional. Therefore, it is appropriate to consider the proportion of organic soils in a Member State’s managed land area as being exceptionally high compared to the Union average, when it is equal to or above the 85th percentile of the frequency distribution of such proportions of all Member States.

(6)

The legacy effects of past management practices on organic soils, such as draining or afforestation on peatlands, may accelerate the degradation of organic soils and, therefore, generate soil emissions in the long term, leading to less resilient ecosystems. Areas showing negative impacts of such past management practices should thus also be considered as areas affected by the legacy effects.

(7)

So as not to undermine the integrity of Regulation (EU) 2018/841 and the efforts of the Member States to achieve the 2030 targets set out in that Regulation, the Member States seeking to make use of the additional compensation provided for in that Regulation should submit evidence of the action they have taken to improve climate performance in the affected areas, both in terms of climate mitigation and resilience to climate change. Such policy measures are a pre-requisite for making use of the flexibility mechanism. In the case of long-term effects of climate change, efforts of the Member State concerned should therefore include sustainable land management practices and technologies, and in the case of legacy effects of past management practices on organic soils, efforts should include the management of the level of the water table or equivalent management practices that minimise the negative impacts of the legacy effects, while taking into account the resilience of the affected areas.

(8)

To provide evidence of excess emissions and diminishing removals, it is appropriate to use comparison. In order to understand the magnitude, in terms of tonnes of CO2 equivalent, of the long-term effects of climate change or of the legacy effects of past management practices on organic soils, the affected area should be compared to an unaffected area of the same core characteristics, such as size, land use, climate, terrain configuration and soil type.

(9)

Since both the long-term effects of climate change and the legacy effects of past management practices on organic soils require reversal of the negative trends on land-based removals, it is appropriate to submit evidence of such efforts at the beginning of the compliance period of 2026-2030.

(10)

To ensure alignment with the greenhouse gas inventory submissions required under Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2), the data used to provide evidence for the amount of compensation for the excess emissions and diminishing removals should comply with the standards of transparency, accuracy, consistency, comparability and completeness applied to the greenhouse gas inventory reviews carried out in accordance with Article 38 of that Regulation.

(11)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Climate Change Committee,

(1)

‘aridity index’ means the ratio between precipitation and potential evapotranspiration;

(2)

‘aridity class’ means any of the following categories in which areas are classified according to the aridity index:

(3)

‘organic soil’ means a soil either fulfilling the definition based on approved national standards, used for reporting under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), or, where there are no such standards, using criteria listed in 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines (Annex 3A.5. Default climate and soil classifications, Chapter 3 in Volume 4).