European Climate Law

KEY POINTS

EU institutions and EU Member States must take all necessary measures to meet the regulation’s aims, while taking fairness, solidarity and cost-effectiveness into account.

The regulation establishes an independent European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change. The board’s tasks include, for example, considering the latest scientific findings from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports and scientific climate data, in particular with regard to information relevant to the EU, providing scientific advice and issuing reports.

Member States are invited to set up a climate advisory body to provide expert scientific advice to the relevant national authorities.

The regulation defines the following intermediate EU steps, which aim to help the EU meet its 2050 climate-neutrality objective.

• Reducing net EU greenhouse-gas emissions by at least 55 % (compared to 1990 levels) by 2030; in 2023, the EU adopted the ‘fit for 55’ package upgrading existing EU legislation and including new initiatives in the implementation of this new target.
• Limiting the contribution of net removals to a maximum of 225 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) equivalent to ensure sufficient mitigation efforts are made leading up to 2030. With the aim of enhancing the EU’s carbon sink² in line with the 2050 climate-neutrality objective, the regulation also provides for the EU to aim for a higher volume of its net carbon sink in 2030.
• Setting a binding 2040 climate target of a 90 % reduction in net greenhouse-gas emissions (emissions after deduction of removals) compared to 1990 levels.
• Requiring the European Commission, with a view to the period after 2030, to review relevant EU legislation, based on detailed impact assessments, in order to enable the achievement of the 2040 target and the climate-neutrality objective, and to continue to strengthen the enabling framework to support affected legal and natural persons throughout the transition.
• Requiring the Commission to ensure that the post-2030 legislative proposals appropriately reflect a range of specified elements, including:
  • an adequate contribution of high-quality international credits under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement (up to 5 % of 1990 EU net emissions, from 2036);
  • the role of domestic permanent removals in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS);
  • enhanced flexibility within and across sectors and instruments;
  • the need for a fair, just, pragmatic, cost-effective and socially balanced transition;
  • technology neutrality and cost-effectiveness;
  • energy availability, affordability, security and energy efficiency; and
  • investment needs and opportunities.
• Requiring the Commission to assess and report biennially on the implementation of the intermediate targets and decarbonisation trajectories, taking into account the latest scientific evidence, technological advances and evolving challenges to and opportunities for EU global competitiveness. The assessment may be accompanied, where appropriate, by legislative proposals.

• Requiring the Commission to report to the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, within six months of each global stocktake under the Paris Agreement, on the operation of the regulation. In this report the Commission is to take into account elements such the competitiveness of European industries, the evolution of energy prices, socioeconomic impacts, technological advances, the estimated level of net removals at the EU level, the progress towards the intermediate targets and the flexibility for Member States to use high-quality international credits for up to 5 % of their post-2030 targets and efforts.

• Postponing until 2028 the operation of emissions trading for buildings, road transport and additional sectors (the ETS2) set out in Chapter IVa of Directive 2003/87/EC (see consolidated version). The rules set out in Article 30k(2), points (a) to (e), of Directive 2003/87/EC (see summary) apply. The provisions of Article 10a(8b) of Directive 2003/87/EC also apply in 2026.

Adaptation to climate change requires:

• EU institutions and Member States to enhance adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate change, and to ensure adaptation policies are coherent and mutually supportive, provide benefits for sectoral policies, help integrate these measures into all policy areas and focus especially on the most vulnerable people and sectors;
• the Commission to adopt an EU adaptation strategy and guidelines, by 30 July 2022, setting out common principles and practices to identify, classify and manage climate risk when planning, developing, executing and monitoring projects and programmes;
• Member States to adopt and implement national adaptation strategies and plans, taking into account particularly vulnerable sectors such as agriculture, water and food systems and food security, along with the need to promote nature- and ecosystem-based solutions.

Assessment of EU and national progress requires the Commission to:

• assess by 30 September 2023, and every five years thereafter, the progress that the EU and the Member States have made towards the 2050 and adaptation objectives, and whether the EU and national measures towards those objectives are consistent;
• evaluate whether draft EU measures and legislation, including budgetary proposals, are consistent with the 2030 and 2040 targets and the 2050 climate-neutrality objective, and with ensuring progress on adaptation;
• regularly assess the consistency of relevant national measures and issue recommendations to a Member State where it finds inconsistencies with the climate-neutrality objective or with ensuring progress made towards enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change.

The regulation amends:

• Regulation (EC) No 401/2009 on the European Environment Agency and European Environment Information and Observation Network (see summary) and Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 on the governance of the energy union (see summary).