Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions – Accounting for land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) in the Union’s climate change commitments

Author (Corporate)
Series Title
Series Details (2012) 94 final (12.3.12)
Publication Date 12/03/2012
Content Type

At the end of 2010, in the context of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), it was recognized that global warming must not exceed the temperatures experienced before the industrial revolution by more than 2˚C. This is vital if the negative consequences of human interference with the climate system are to be limited. This long-term goal requires global greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced by at least 50% below 1990 levels by 2050.

Land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) has a positive and significant impact on the EU's greenhouse gas emissions. The sector removes the equivalent of 9% of greenhouse gases emitted in other parts of the economy. Although emissions and removals from LULUCF are reported under the UNFCCC and partially accounted under the Kyoto Protocol, the sector was left out of the EU's climate commitments under the Climate and Energy Package due to the recognition of serious deficiencies in international accounting rules of emissions from this sector.

This Communication outlines how the LULUCF sector increasingly could be integrated in the EU's climate policy using a step-wise approach. As a first step, it is proposed to establish robust common accounting, monitoring and reporting rules. In view of the sector's specific emission profile, the Commission proposes a dedicated legal framework, rather than including it in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme or as part of the rules created by the Effort Sharing Decision.

Source Link Link to Main Source http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2012:0094:FIN:EN:PDF
Related Links
EUR-Lex: COM(2012)094: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2012:094:FIN
European Commission: COM(2012)93: Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on accounting rules and action plans on greenhouse gas emissions and removals resulting from activities related to land use, land use change and forestry http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2012:0093:FIN:EN:PDF
European Commission: SWD(2012)41: Impact assessment http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=SWD:2012:0041:FIN:EN:PDF
European Commission: SWD(2012)40: Summary of the impact assessment http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=SWD:2012:0040:FIN:EN:PDF

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