Activities of Sylvia LIMMER related to 2021/2006(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
An EU strategy to reduce methane emissions (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on an EU strategy to reduce methane emissions
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on an EU strategy to reduce methane emissions
Amendments (22)
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2
Citation 2
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Regrets the lack of a comprehensivPoints to the insignificant share of methane emissions from EU agriculture, as the EU accounts for only 5 % of global methane emissions, and therefore understands why there is no appropriate EU monitoring framework for methane emissions; calls on the Commission, therefore, to improvebring about an improvement in the measurement, reporting and verification of methane emissions in the agricultural sector without undue bureaucracy and costs for farmers;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4
Citation 4
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 5
Citation 5
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the European Climate Law commits the EU to reaching climate neutrality by 2050, with increased emission reductions by 2030; whereas addressing energy-related methane emissions is a key component of the European Green Deal, as are measures in the agriculture and waste sectors; whereas the EU strategy to reduce methane emissions notes that the EU should also play a role in ensuring methane emission reductions at global level, as the largest global importer of fossil fuels and a significant player in the agriculture sectoronly 5 % of global methane emissions come from the EU;
Amendment 52 #
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 it is therefore necessary to tackle these emissions in order to protect the health of EU citizenscould only make sense at global level;
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Urges the Commission to ensure positive synergies between climate regulationthe Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the Industrial Emissions Directive in order to avoid double regulation;
Amendment 65 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Highlights the fact that research and investment in mitigation measures and technologies is of paramount importancefor investigating climate change causes and consequences are important in order to enable reason-based decisions to be made that take due account of health, environmental protection, economic prosperity and the safeguarding of individual fundamental rights; considers that there is great potential in adapting the diet of and developing feed additives for ruminant and bovine species, which could reduce methane emissions without having negative effects on the livestock sector; points out that all new feed products should be assessed with regard to long-term animal welfare, meat quality and costs;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas cutting methane emissions can have a quicker impact on slowing the rate of global warming than reducing CO2 emissions, since methane does not stay in the atmosphere for as long, and it coulrepresent only a small proportion of greenhouse gas emissions – around 10.6 per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions in the EU – and twherefore be one of the most cost- effective strategies to rapidly reduce the rate of warming and avoid some tipping points for global warmingas the cost of measures and efforts should always be weighed against impacts;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. WelcomNotes the cross-sectoral approach outlined in the EU strategy to reduce methane emissions and fully supports a fair framework covering the agriculture, waste and energy sectors;
Amendment 111 #
4. Considers that value-added utilisation of agricultural residues and other by-products is an important driver of the circular economy and bio-economy; calls for the acceleration of European biogas production from agriculture waste, as an important tool for reducing methane emissions; stresses that this should not endanger animal welfare and that food production should remain the main source of income for farmers;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Underlines the importance of improving measurement, repat harmonised monitorting and verification (MRV) as well as leak detection and repair (LDAR) standardsof methane emissions is necessary before creating a single legal framework;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
Amendment 144 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Considers that farm level certification schemes for climate effective farming, including common measurement and verification data for methane reductions, willcould be an important tool for monitoring and incentivising methane reductions at farm level; points out that livestock farming is part of a fiercely competitive agricultural sector and that livestock farmers in particular should therefore not be exposed to increasing burdens and excessive bureaucracy, but, rather, should have the burdens on them reduced and should be supported;
Amendment 160 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Notes that within the wider circular economy, the uptake of carbon removals and increased circularity of carbon shcould be incentivised; calls on the Commission, in accordance with the EU Climate Law, to explore the development of a regulatory framework for the certification of carbon removals on the basis of robust and transparent carbon accounting that takes into account the differences between the greenhouse gases, and to verify the authenticity of carbon removals and reward farmers for their mitigation effortMember States to demonstrate, by means of evidence-based studies, the possible effectiveness of such incentives, taking into account a clear cost-benefit analysis.
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Welcomes the upcoming legislative proposal on compulsory MRV for all energy-related methane emissions including the so-called renewable energies (biogas, biofuels); recalls that additional obligations for energy operators increase energy prices and consequently contribute to greater energy poverty;
Amendment 208 #
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; calls on the Commission to explore regulatory tools for fossil energy imports, including extending forthcoming obligations on MRV, LDAR, venting and flaring to imports; points out that these obligations must also apply, for example, to methane losses in biogas production and processing;
Amendment 220 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Ccalls on the Commission to support the establishment of an independent international methane emissions observatory, monitoring partnership with the United Nations Environmental Programme, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition and the International Energy Agency, tasked with collectrogramme with the task of gathering, reconciling, verifychecking and publishing data on anthropogenic methane emissions data at a global level;
Amendment 265 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Stresses that technologies and practices to limit methane emissions from agriculture are developing at a fast pace; calls on the Commission to ensure that proven effective and cost-efficient innovations are quickly implemented in the EU and integrated into EU agriculture policieemissions from agriculture in the EU amount to only 2.6 per cent of global methane emissions; points out that methane emissions from agriculture represent about 6 per cent of the EU’s total greenhouse gas emissions;
Amendment 268 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Points out that renewable energy sources have their own impact on biodiversity, in particular as a result of the extraction of critical raw materials, and calls for a regular in-depth assessment of the impact of the various energy sources; points out that to date oil has the highest ‘harvest factor’ (= metric describing efficiency in the exploitation of energy sources, known as EROI) and should not be phased out before the energy supply of the Member States is fully secured;
Amendment 308 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Underlines the key role that the EU should play 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; points especially to the need for multigenerational studies on feed additives; calls on the Commission to ensure that only demonstrably effective and cost-effective innovations are implemented in the EU and integrated into EU agricultural policy, and only after a thorough assessment demonstrating that animal welfare, meat quality and farmers’ incomes are not compromised; points out that food security must take precedence over so-called measures to protect the climate;
Amendment 352 #
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; 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.