Aiming to increase carbon absorption by 15% by 2030
Binding 2030 targets set for all member states
Stricter monitoring and penalties for non-compliance
New EU rules raise the EU’s carbon dioxide absorption target in the land use and forestry sector. This will enable the Union to reduce its emissions by as much as 57% by 2030.
The Parliament adopted the revised regulation on the land use, land-use change and forestry sector with 479 votes in favour, 97 against and 43 abstentions. The revised rules are intended to improve natural carbon dioxide removal—namely, the absorption of carbon dioxide in soil and forests, which absorb more carbon dioxide than they emit. This will enable the European Union to achieve a balance between carbon emissions and removals by 2050, thereby becoming the first climate-neutral continent. It will also allow for the enhancement of biodiversity, as required by the European Green Deal plan.
Stricter EU and national targets for carbon dioxide removal
The EU has set a new target to ensure that the net volume of greenhouse gases absorbed in the land-use sector in 2030 reaches 310 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. This is approximately 15% more than at present. This target should help further reduce the EU’s 2030 greenhouse gas emissions—instead of the originally planned 55%, emissions could be reduced by as much as approximately 57% compared to 1990 levels.
Binding 2030 targets for the volume of carbon dioxide absorbed and emitted in the land-use sector have been set for all member states. These targets were determined by taking into account the absorption levels of recent years and their potential for growth. Current rules will remain in force until 2025. According to these, EU countries must ensure that emissions in the land-use sector do not exceed the volume of removals. Starting from 2026, EU countries will no longer have annual targets; instead, they will be required to achieve a specific sum of emissions and removals over a four-year period (the so-called 2026-2029 budget).
Governance, flexibility and monitoring
To reach their targets, member states will be able to purchase carbon absorption credits from one another, which are allocated to them under the land-use sector regulation and the Effort Sharing Regulation. In the event of natural disasters, such as forest fires, a special flexibility mechanism will guarantee compensation.
Monitoring, reporting and verification of carbon emissions and removals will be improved, allowing for more precise tracking of EU member states’ progress towards meeting their targets. To this end, geographical and remote sensing data will be used more extensively.
If the progress of member states is insufficient, they will be required to take corrective measures. Penalties for non-compliance will also be applied: 108% of the greenhouse gases exceeding the total target set for 2026-2029 will be added to the country’s 2030 target. In order for the EU to reach its goal, the Commission will submit a progress report no later than six months after the first assessment of overall progress (the “global stocktake” provided for in the Paris Agreement). If necessary, the Commission will put forward additional legislative proposals.
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Following the vote, rapporteur Ville Niinistö (Greens/EFA, Finland) said: “Over the last decade, natural absorption in the European Union has been shrinking. This legislation ensures that the land-use sector also contributes to overcoming the climate crisis, because we now have a more ambitious target and safeguards, such as better data and stricter reporting requirements, greater transparency, as well as a review by 2025. This is the first time that both biodiversity and the climate crisis have been taken into account together in this legislation, and member states will also have to adhere to the ‘do no significant harm’ principle.”
Next steps
Once the text of the regulation is officially approved by the Council, it will be published in the Official Journal of the EU and will enter into force after 20 days.
General information
The revised land-use sector regulation is part of the EU Green Deal legislative package. With the help of this set of EU laws, the intention is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% compared to 1990 levels, in accordance with the European Climate Law.