24 Amendments of Stanislav POLČÁK related to 2021/2006(INI)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 a (new)
Citation 1 a (new)
- having regard to Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action,
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas reducing methane emissions is indispensable in the fight against climate change, in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement; whereas methane emissions contribute to air pollution and the formation of ground- level ozone, another greenhouse gas with negative effects on human health, crops and the stability of ecosystems, and it is therefore necessary to tackle these emissions in order to protect the health of EU citizens;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. E. whereas methane emissions associated with human activities account for around 59% of all methane in the atmosphere, with a total of 53% of these anthropogenic methane emissions in the EU coming from agriculture, 26% from waste and 19% from the energy sector;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
Db. F. whereas methane accounts for 10% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the EU;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D c (new)
Recital D c (new)
Dc. G. whereas the EU is the world's largest importer of fossil gas, but most of the methane emissions associated with the extraction and import of these fuels are generated outside the EU;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Underlines the importance of improving standards and methodologies for the measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) as well as leak detection and repair (LDAR) standardsof methane emissions; calls on the Commission to seek effective tools to improve the quality of measurement and reporting of these emissions in all sectors concerned;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Underscores the need to revise EU climate and environmental legislation in a coherent manner; takstresses the view that theimportance of binding emissions reduction targets for Member States in the Effort Sharing Regulation5 should remain the main legislative tool to reduce methane emissions, while, but also considers that this legislative instrument should be complemented by other instruments targeting methane-emitting sectors, and welcomes in this respect the Commission's consideration of strengthening the role of the Industrial Emissions Directive6 and other legislation could serve as a complementary toolin the prevention and management of methane emissions; _________________ 5Regulation (EU) 2018/842 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on binding annual greenhouse gas emission reductions by Member States from 2021 to 2030 contributing to climate action to meet commitments under the Paris Agreement and amending Regulation (EU) No 525/2013. OJ L 156, 19.6.2018, p. 26. 6 Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 on industrial emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control). OJ L 334, 17.12.2010, p. 17.
Amendment 131 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses the importance of developing an inventory of best practices and available technologies to promote the wider uptake of innovative mitigating actions; considers that the best available technologies to reduce methane emissions should become part of the Best Available Techniques conclusions of the BREFs;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Stresses that the upcoming methane regulatory measures should strive to achieve emissions reductions as cost- effectively as possible and provide flexibility for companies to achieve performance standards in an optimal, technologically neutral manner, and at the lowest possible cost; stresses that this flexibility must not mean the transfer of methane emissions to other sectors or activities;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Recognises the importance of voluntary industry initiatives aimed at reducing methane emissions and considers that any regulatory initiatives should build uponmake use of the best practices from existing voluntary actions, but not be limited to them, and must be duly preceded by thorough impact assessments;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Calls on the Commission to adopt binding, specific and ambitious methane emission reduction targets that will lead to reductions of these emissions across all key sectors;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Welcomes the upcoming legislative proposal concerning compulsory MRV for all energy-related methane emissions, as well as the introduction of an obligation to improve leak detection and repair procedures on all fossil gas infrastructure, as well as on other infrastructure that produces, transports or uses fossil gas;
Amendment 196 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Welcomes the Commission’s proposal to consider legislation onto ensure the elimination of routine venting and flaring in the energy sector covering, if feasible, the full supply chain, in accordance with the targets set out in the World Bank’s ‘Zero Routine Flaring by 2030’ initiative; considers that existing national legislation addressing routine venting and flaring, taking into account complex safety and environmental aspects, must be taken into consideration when developing EU legislation;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Acknowledges that imports comprise over four fifths of the oil and gas consumed in the EU and that most methane emissions associated with oil and gas occur outside EU borders; draws attention in this context to the possibility of adopting a number of measures, which have either zero or near-zero costs, to reduce methane emissions from basic mining operations; calls on the Commission to explore regulatory tools for fossil energy imports, including extending forthcoming obligations on MRV, LDAR, venting and flaring to imports;
Amendment 212 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Calls on the Commission to take such measures in the framework of the EU’s diplomatic and external relations as will lead to globally coordinated efforts to reduce methane emissions in the energy sector; calls on the Commission, in the event that international partners are unwilling to make such commitments, to consider targets, standards or other incentives for reducing methane emissions from fossil energy consumed in the EU and imported into the EU;
Amendment 225 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls on the Commission to support the establishment of an independent international methane emissions observatory, in partnership with the United Nations Environmental Programme, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition and the International Energy Agency, tasked with collecting, reconciling, verifying and publishing anthropogenic methane emissions data at a global level, and with developing a methane supply index based on these data in order to increase transparency on global methane emissions;
Amendment 231 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Welcomes the Commission’s initiatives on the utilisation and mitigation of methane from coal mines; expresses its strong support for mandatory MRV for coal mine methane emissions, including the requirement for companies that own closed sites or Member States (for abandoned mines where no existing owner is liable) to adopt the same MRV and LDAR measures as for operating sites; stresses the importance of clean-up works aimed at preventing and eventually eliminating methane emissions from closed coal mines in coal regions undergoing transition, and calls on the Commission to ensure that they are effectively supported;
Amendment 312 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Underlines that one of the key roles that the EU should play is in supporting research, innovation and development, as well as in scaling up new technologies to help address methane emissions from livestock agriculture, while protecting animal health and welfare; pPoints especially, inter alia, to the need for multigenerational studies on feed additives;
Amendment 327 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Calls on Member States to include methane reduction measures and schemes, such as low-carbon agriculture initiatives, in their CAP Strategic Plans;
Amendment 331 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 b (new)
Paragraph 13 b (new)
13b. Highlights the significant contribution of the agricultural sector to total anthropogenic methane emissions, points out in this context that total methane emissions from agriculture have increased since 2013 and that many of the appropriate measures to reduce methane emissions from agriculture, such as covering manure and slurry vats, regular removal of manure from stables, acidification of slurry and small-scale production and use of biogas, will also reduce ammonia emissions and therefore further improve air quality;
Amendment 338 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 c (new)
Paragraph 13 c (new)
13c. Warns against support for biogas production from manure that is not limited in scope or use to locally linked needs, as this could act as an incentive for further intensification of livestock farming and therefore have undesirable consequences for the implementation of the methane reduction strategy;
Amendment 345 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 d (new)
Paragraph 13 d (new)
13d. Draws attention to the need for the EU to actively contribute to a change in consumer behaviour leading to a reduction in the production and consumption of animal products, such as meat and milk, and calls on the Commission to take appropriate measures in this regard;
Amendment 347 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 e (new)
Paragraph 13 e (new)
13e. Stresses the need to promote conscious consumer behaviour across the EU, and calls, in this context, on the Commission to prepare an information campaign highlighting the risks associated with the current level of methane emissions and to include this aspect in the EU Ecolabel;
Amendment 350 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls on the Commission to revise the Sewage Sludge Directive7 and the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive8 in 2022, with a view, inter alia, to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, including methane, from waste water treatment and sewage sludge; calls on the Commission furthermore to be ambitious and to integrate a strong focus on methane emissions in the 2024 review of the Landfill Directive9 ; highlights the need for measures to require landfill sites to use the bio-methane they produce until its energy content drops below a useful value; _________________ 7 Council Directive 86/278/EEC of 12 June 1986 on the protection of the environment, and in particular of the soil, when sewage sludge is used in agriculture. OJ L 181, 4.7.1986, p. 6. 8 Council Directive 91/271/EEC of 21 May 1991 concerning urban waste-water treatment. OJ L 135, 30.5.1991, p. 40. 9Council Directive 1999/31/EC of 26 April 1999 on the landfill of waste. OJ L 182, 16.7.1999, p. 1.