Select Committee on European Scrutiny Fourth Report


8 Implementation of Community obligations under the Kyoto Protocol

(27997)

14918/06

COM(06) 658

+ ADD 1

Commission Report on progress towards achieving the Kyoto objectives

Legal base
Documents originated27 October 2006
Deposited in Parliament13 November 2006
DepartmentEnvironment, Food and Rural Affairs
Basis of considerationEM of 8 December 2006
Previous Committee ReportNone, but see footnote 20
To be discussed in CouncilNo date set
Committee's assessmentPolitically important
Committee's decisionCleared

Background

8.1 In order to meet the environmental challenges presented by global warming, the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) requires industrialised countries to return their emissions of greenhouse gases by the year 2000 to the levels obtaining in 1990. However, in 1997, the Kyoto Protocol went on to set legally binding emission targets for industrialised countries to meet by 2012. The Community of 15 accordingly undertook to reduce its 1990 emission levels by 8% by the period 2008-2012, with reductions being apportioned between the individual Member States under the Burden Sharing Agreement (see Annex I). Of the 10 Member States which acceded on 1 May 2004, all but Cyprus and Malta have individual reduction targets under the Protocol, equivalent to 8% (except for Hungary and Poland, where the target is 6%).

The current document

8.2 This report provides a description of historical trends in, and projections of, greenhouse gas emissions for the EU-15 and EU-25, based on information provided by Member States, and follows a couple of earlier reports produced at the end of 2005.[20] Historical emissions are shown between 1990 and 2004 (the latest year for which data is now available), whilst projected emissions are provided for 2010 (the midpoint of the first commitment period) on the basis of those measures currently in place and the additional policies and measures being introduced, as well as the effect of the planned use of the Kyoto flexible mechanisms,[21] and the projected use of carbon sinks (Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry) allowed under the Kyoto Protocol.

8.3 The report notes that, compared with 2003, emissions in the EU-15 in 2004 increased by 0.3%, and are now 0.9% below the base year. Also, of the countries concerned, only Sweden and the UK are on track to meet their Kyoto targets for the first commitment period using existing measures, whilst six other Member States[22] are projected to do so when additional policies and measures, and use of the Kyoto mechanisms, are taken into account. However, even on this latter basis, the seven remaining Member States[23] do not consider that they will meet their targets. It also notes that aggregate energy-related emissions in the EU-15 increased between 1990 and 2004, largely as a result of growing transport and electricity demand, but that this was offset by reductions in emissions from non-energy related sources, such as agriculture, waste and industrial processes.

8.4 The report says that, on the basis of existing measures, the EU-15 is currently projected to be only 0.6% below base year levels in 2010, but that planned additional policies and measures are projected to result in a further reduction of 4.0%. In addition, use of the Kyoto mechanisms will lower Member States' projected emissions in 2010 by a further 2.6%, whilst removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through carbon sinks will contribute a further 0.8%. It says that, taken together, these policies and measures will allow the EU15 to meet its commitment to reduce emissions to 8% below base year levels in the period 2008 — 2012.

8.5 For the EU-25, emissions in 2004 were 7.3% lower than the base year, but this was due mainly to the fall in the ten new Member States which were affected by economic restructuring in the 1990s, and emissions did in fact rise in 2004 by 0.4%. The EU-25 is projected to reduce emissions by 4.9% below base year levels in 2010 as a result of measures already taken, and by 8.1% with the implementation of additional measures. The report adds that the use of Kyoto mechanisms will lower projected emissions in 2010 to 10.8% below base year levels, but that, without additional measures, emissions are likely to increase between 2004 and 2010. However, as things stand, all the eight new Member States which have made commitments under Kyoto are projected to meet these with existing policies, as are Bulgaria and Romania.

8.6 More generally, the report notes that the majority of the measures in the first phase of the European Climate Change Programme (ECCP), announced in 2001, have been implemented, and that the second phase was launched in 2005; that the European Union emissions trading scheme — which it describes as the cornerstone of the ECCP — was launched on 1 January 2005; and that allocation plans for emissions credits for the second phase of the scheme, which coincides with the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (2008 — 2012), are currently being assessed. It also notes that ten Member States[24] have allocated €2.8 billion over the five-year commitment period for the use of Kyoto mechanisms, and that this is expected to result in emissions savings equivalent to over 30% of the emissions reduction required by the EU15.

The Government's view

8.7 In his Explanatory Memorandum of 8 December 2006, the Minister for Climate Change and Environment at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mr Ian Pearson) says that the Community and the UK have taken a leading role in calling for action to tackle climate change. The UK's new climate change programme, published in March 2006, sets out how it plans to meet, and go beyond, its Kyoto target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5% below 1990 levels over the period 2008-2012. Additionally, the Energy White Paper published in 2003 announced a goal of putting the UK on a path to cut carbon dioxide by 60% by 2050, whilst the Energy Review 2006 reinforced this commitment, and detailed policies and measures which, if implemented, will ensure that, by 2020, the UK has made real progress towards the 2050 target. He adds that the UK emissions of the 'basket' of six greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol fell by 15.1% between the base year and 2004.

8.8 The Minister says that the UK welcomes the report as a useful signpost of the progress being made, and of the further action which will be needed if all Member States and the Community as a whole are to meet their Kyoto targets. He adds that the Government has urged all Member States to meet their targets and believes that the Community should not rely on over-compliance by some Member States. It, therefore, believes that the report will provide those Member States in danger of missing their targets with an incentive to take action.

Conclusion

8.9 This report is the latest in a series of assessments of the Community's progress towards meeting its Kyoto targets, and provides some interesting and useful information. As in previous years, we think it right in clearing the document to report it to the House, noting that, whilst a number of Member States are not projected to meet their Kyoto commitments, the Commission nevertheless estimates that, provided additional measures (including use of the flexible mechanisms under Kyoto) are taken, the Community as a whole should also do so by 2010. However, as we observed last year, this conclusion does depend critically upon those additional measures being taken, and also seems to place undue reliance on the contribution made by over-compliance in certain Member States, such as the UK. To that extent, therefore, it may again prove to be over-optimistic, particularly as the level of emissions in 2004 appears to have been higher than that in the previous year.


20   (27078) 15370/05 and (27124) 15912/05; see HC 34-xvii (2005-06), para 6 (1 February 2006). Back

21   Joint Implementation (JI) and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)). Back

22   Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Back

23   Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Back

24   Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and Spain. Back


 
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Prepared 27 December 2006