The European Commission is seeking public feedback on four central pieces of European climate legislation, due to be adopted in June 2021 to implement the 2030 Climate Target Plan.

The four future proposals will help to deliver on the European Green Deal and achieve the proposed new emissions reductions target of at least 55% by 2030.

The Inception Impact Assessments on the EU Emissions Trading System; the Effort Sharing Regulation; the Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry Regulation; and CO2 standards for cars are now open for public feedback.

The public consultation process will remain open until Thursday, November 26, 2020. The initial feedback period will be followed by further open public consultations.

Green Deal

The European Green Deal sets the goal for the European Union (EU) to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 – i.e. having an economy with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.

The commission is therefore reviewing all relevant policies – including its regulation on land use, land use change and forestry. The goal is to increase this sector’s efforts to reduce emissions and maintain and enhance carbon removals.

To prepare for the transition to an economy with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 (‘climate neutrality’), the commission has proposed a plan to attain steeper emissions reductions by 2030 – at least 55%, compared with 1990 levels.

To deliver this goal, the commission will review all relevant policies which includes the regulation that sets binding annual greenhouse emission reductions for each EU country from 2021 to 2030 (the ‘Effort Sharing Regulation’).

The commission will also the emissions trading system (ETS), and propose extending the ETS to new sectors of the economy.

Feedback from stakeholders

The commission is looking for feedback from citizens and stakeholders on their views of the commission’s understanding of the problem and possible solutions.

Participants are also urged to make available any relevant information that they may have, including on the possible impacts of the different options.

To reach the increased climate target, the commission said all sectors will need to contribute.

The European Green Deal already indicated that the commission will propose including maritime emissions in the emissions trading and assess expanding the use of emissions trading to other sectors.