The
Report on Demonstrable Progress is required under Article 5(3) of Decision
280/2004/EC [[1]]
concerning a mechanism for monitoring Community greenhouse gas emissions and
for implementing the Kyoto Protocol. This report focuses in the demonstration
of progress achieved by the Community, taking into account updated information
submitted by Member States by June 15th, 2005.
The United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the
foundation of global efforts to combat global warming. It has the goal of
preventing "dangerous" human interference with the climate system.
The Kyoto
Protocol is an international agreement, which builds on the UNFCCC. It sets
legally binding targets for industrialised countries to reduce their
greenhouse-gas emissions relative to a base year by 2008-2012, calculated as an
average of these years. These 5 years are known as the first commitment period.
In practice, discussions on progress tend to refer to the year 2010 as the mid-point
of the range.
The Kyoto
Protocol offers flexibility in how countries may meet their targets. For
example, they may partially compensate for their emissions by increasing
"sinks" - forests, which remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Countries may also pay for foreign projects that result in greenhouse-gas cuts,
through Joint Implementation (JI) and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
referred to as flexible mechanisms.
Under the
Kyoto Protocol, the EU has committed itself to reducing its greenhouse gas
emissions by 8% compared to the base year (1990) during the first commitment
period 2008-2012. This target is shared between the 15 countries that were EU
Member States at the moment of the EU’s ratification of the Protocol on 31 May
2001 under a legally binding burden-sharing agreement [[2]].
This agreement sets an individual emissions target for each EU-15 Member State in accordance with Article 4 of the Kyoto Protocol. Article 4 enables
countries to conclude an agreement for a joint target equal to the sum of the
targets of the participating countries.
Of the
ten Member States that acceded on 1 May 2004, eight have individual reduction
targets under the Kyoto Protocol, of 6 or 8% which they will need to honour
separately from the collective EU-15 -8% target. Cyprus and Malta are Non-Annex
I Parties to the UNFCCC and thus do not have a target under the Kyoto Protocol.
The
European Union, with its 25 Member States, is making considerable efforts to
tackle climate change, despite being responsible for only 14% of global
greenhouse gas emissions. Robust domestic policy-making supports the EU’s
commitment to lead by example, with a comprehensive package of policy and
legislative measures at the EU level, introduced through the European Climate
Change Programme (ECCP) [[3]].
Each Member State also puts into place a series of further domestic actions,
discussed in their own reports.
The ECCP
reaches out to a wide range of sectors of the economy, defining policy relevant
to the household, industrial, commercial and transport sectors. The most
important measures include:
·
The
Greenhouse Gas Emission Allowance Trading Scheme [[4]]
to limit the total carbon dioxide emissions from almost 12000 installations
across the EU’s 25 Member States (EU-25).
·
The
Linking Directive [[5]]
which amends the Emissions Trading Directive to enable Member States to allow
operators to use credits obtained through Kyoto mechanisms (certified emission
reductions and emission reduction units) to comply with their obligations under
the EU ETS.
·
The
Intelligent Energy for Europe [[6]]
programme[a]
that promotes sustainable development in an energy context encouraging
improvements in energy efficiency, the generation of renewable energy, the
reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from the transport sector as well as the
promotion of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency in developing
countries.
·
The
Renewable Electricity Directive [[7]],
which includes an indicative target to increase the proportion of the EU-25’s
electricity supplied by renewable sources to 21% in 2010 (14% in 1997), with
specific indicative targets for each Member State.
·
The
Biofuels Directive [[8]],
which includes an indicative target of 5.75% of transport fuels to be biofuels.
·
The
Energy Performance of Buildings Directive [[9]],
which requires Member States to adopt energy performance standards, will
introduce energy labelling of buildings across the EU, along with a requirement
to evaluate the opportunities for installing renewable energy systems in
buildings above a certain size.
·
The
Cogeneration Directive [[10]]
that aims to provide incentives for the development of cogeneration (also known
as combined heat and power (CHP)).
·
A
voluntary commitment [[11]]
by car manufacturer associations to improve CO2 efficiency of new
cars by 25% in 2008/2009 with respect to 1995.
·
The
Landfill of Waste Directive [[12]],
which will reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill and the production of
methane associated with its decomposition.
The
Community Tax Framework, Council Directive 2003/96/EC [[13]]
further supports some of the above-mentioned directives by encouraging the more
efficient use of energy and enabling the adoption of tax measures directed at
CO2 emissions. In the field of research and development, the 6th
EU RTD Framework Programme (2002-2006) [[14]]
provides more than € 3 billions for developing and demonstrating new
technologies related to energy, transport and environment.
Other
important measures include the Energy Using Products (EUP) Directive [[15]]
to provide minimum performance standards for many energy-using products and the
End-use efficiency and Energy Services Directive [[16]].
The latter directive will help remove barriers to energy efficiency, promote
energy services and encourage the establishment of energy efficiency
programmes. In addition, a regulation on fluorinated gases and a Directive on
fluorinated gases in automotive air conditioning systems are still in the legislative
process [[17]].
The EU’s
climate policy does not stop in 2012. Many of the EU policies that are already
in place will have an important impact beyond the Kyoto Protocol’s first
commitment period. The EU’s greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme automatically
continues after 2012. The second phase of the European Climate Change Programme
was launched in October 2005 and will include carbon capture and storage,
emissions from road vehicles, aviation and strategies to adapt to the effects
of climate change. The role of the EU in reducing vulnerability and promoting
adaptation will also be explored. In addition, further policy initiatives in
the field of energy efficiency and renewable energy are foreseen. The 7th
RTD framework programme [[18]],
along with the established and new Technology Platforms, is also looking beyond
this horizon and will provide the means for a long-term shift to a CO2 free
economy (efficient renewables, hydrogen and fuel cells, zero emission fossil
fuel power generation, etc.)
The European
Commission has also adopted a Communication outlining key elements for a
strategy for further action post 2012 [[19]].
While it indicates that the EU is ready to engage in an open dialogue between
countries concerning the further development of an international framework post
2012, it has highlighted a number of key elements for a successful global
climate policy: the need for broader participation by countries and sectors,
the development of low-carbon technologies, the continued and expanded use of
market-based instruments, and the need to adapt to the inevitable impacts of
climate change. These policies provide strong, long-term signals to industry,
Member State governments and the wider international community that the EU is
committed to tackling climate change and expects all of its institutions,
businesses and citizens to play their part.
The
European Commission is committed to implementing these measures to combat
climate change, whilst also considering the impacts on the economic development
of the EU and its citizen’s well being. Specifically the Commission committed itself
in the Communication of February 2005 that it “will review progress and explore
new actions to systematically exploit cost effective emission reduction options
in synergy with the Lisbon strategy”.
The EU is also working
internationally to help countries outside of the Union to reduce their
greenhouse gas emissions. It is currently working with 140 countries in six
regions of the world to assist in the implementation of renewable energy
sources and energy efficiency, with the aim of improved quality of life and
sustainable development. The EU provides financial support to programmes
including using solar energy to provide clean drinking water in the Sahel,
improved energy efficiency and use of renewables in China, forest-planting
projects to generate clean development mechanism incomes in South America and
strengthening institutional capacity on climate change in India.
Despite
drastic reductions of a number of pollutants in the transport sector, this
sector is currently responsible for 20% of the EU-25 emissions. Specifically,
energy use in the transport sector remains an area where greenhouse emissions
continue to rise. Policies aimed at reducing transportation-related emissions include
the agreement to limit the average emissions of new cars [11] and a directive
to encourage the use of biofuels [8]. The EU has been able to make important
progress in limiting emissions per kilometre driven by a vehicle. The growth in
the number of vehicles and vehicle kilometres has however outweighed these
reductions and emissions continue to rise though at a lower rate than in the
past.
EU
policies and other actions by Member States to date, in combination with
restructuring of European industry, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe,
have contributed to a reduction of annual carbon dioxide emissions of some 350
million tonnes (5.5%) across the EU-25 by 2003.
In the
EU-15, existing measures lead to emissions of greenhouse gases without LULUCF in
2010 that are projected to be 1.6% below base year levels. Savings from
additional domestic policies and measures being planned by the EU-15 would
result in emission reductions of 6.8%. In addition to this, Member States
forecast that they will achieve reductions of over 100 Mt CO2-equiv.
per year through the use of Kyoto mechanisms. The inclusion of Kyoto mechanisms
will lower projected emissions in 2010 to 9.3% below base year levels.
In the EU
25, from the aggregate of Member States projections, total emissions of
greenhouse gases without LULUCF will be 5% below base year levels in 2010 as a
result of measures already implemented. The implementation of additional
measures is projected to reduce EU-25 greenhouse gas emissions to 9.3% below
1990 levels by 2010 and the use of Kyoto mechanisms to 11.3%.
Figure 1: Actual and projected emissions
(without LULUCF) for the EU 15 and EU 25.[b]
Considering
that the Kyoto Protocol has only recently entered into force (16.02.2005), the
EU has made significant progress in achieving its commitments. Further progress
depends on the speed and thoroughness of the implementation by Member States of
Community legislation and domestic measures. The total of the projections for
the EU-15 Member States show that the Kyoto target of -8%, can be met if Member
States implement additional domestic measures and use flexible mechanisms, as
planned.
Delivering
on the Kyoto commitments does not mark the end of the EU’s efforts. The EU is
advocating deeper cuts in greenhouse gas emissions in order to put a halt to
global climate change. The EU is committed to taking its fair share of the
global efforts to reduce human interference with the climate system and has
already started to take concrete steps towards that direction as outlined
above.