Activities of Juozas OLEKAS related to 2021/0201(COD)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulations (EU) 2018/841 as regards the scope, simplifying the compliance rules, setting out the targets of the Member States for 2030 and committing to the collective achievement of climate neutrality by 2035 in the land use, forestry and agriculture sector, and (EU) 2018/1999 as regards improvement in monitoring, reporting, tracking of progress and review
Amendments (17)
Amendment 46 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5 a (new)
Recital 5 a (new)
(5a) Taking into account that the capacity to sequester carbon by agricultural and forest ecosystems depends on the sustainable management of land, forests and agroforestry, which offers a form of climate protection as sustainable management enhances resilience to climate change, sustainable management of forests is one of the tools to ensure their increased absorption of CO2. The positive effect can be enhanced harnessing the carbon sink potential of forest stands and the use of long-lived timber products can ensure emissions are deferred.
Amendment 48 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 6
Recital 6
(6) The binding annual targets for net greenhouse gas removals should be determined for each Member State by a linear trajectory and following impact assessments. The trajectory should start in 2022, on the average of greenhouse gas emissions reported by that Member State during 2021, 2022 and 2023 and end in 2030 on the target set out for that Member State. FThe Commission should assign specific funds for improvement of calculation systems, and for Member States that improve their methodology of calculating the emissions and removals, a concept of technical correction should be introduced. A technical correction should be added to the target of that Member State corresponding to the effect of the change in methodology on the targets and the efforts of the Member State to achieve them, in order to respect environmental integrity subject to scientific review. Where targets are not met, Member States should revise their National Energy and Climate Plans and long-term strategies to ensure additional action is taken to enhance sinks with relation to biodiversity and reduce vulnerability of the land to natural disturbance.
Amendment 56 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 7
Recital 7
(7) The Communication of 17 September 2020 on Stepping up Europe’s 2030 climate ambition33 outlined an option to combine agriculture non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions with land use, land use change and forestry net removals, thus creating a newly regulated land sector. Such combination can promote synergies between land-based mitigation actions and enable more integrated policymaking and policy implementation at national and Union level. To this end,, as well as strengthening the incentives to comply with reduction targets using carbon farming and CO2 removals. However, considering the sensitivity of both the agriculture and the forestry sector, as well as the potential reversibility of GHG removals by natural carbon sinks, methods of calculating relative weights of emissions and removals should be considered after in- depth analysis, before the obligation for Member States to submit integrated mitigation plans for the land sector ishould be reinforced. _________________ 33 COM(2020) 562 final.
Amendment 63 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8
Recital 8
(8) The land sector has the potential to become rapidly climate-neutral by 2035 in a cost- effective manner, and subsequently generate more greenhouse gas removals than emissions in the short and long term. A collective commitment aiming to achieve climate-neutrality in the land sector in 2035 at EU level can provide the needed planning certainty to drive land- based mitigation action in the short term and form a sound basis for action after 2035, considering that it can take many years for such action to deliver the desired mitigation outcomes and positive climate impact. Moreover, the land sector is projected to become the largest sector in the EU greenhouse gas flux profile in 2050. It is therefore particularly important to anchor that sector to a trajectory that can effectively deliver net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. By mid-2024, the Member States should submit their updated integrated national energy and climate plans in accordance with Article 14 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council34 . The plans should take into account the specificities within Member State territories, and include relevant measures by which each Member Statone best contributes to the collective target of climate neutrality in the land sector at EU level in 2035. On the basis of these plans in a sustainable long-term approach. On the basis of these plans, and taking into account findings of the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change, the Commission should propose national targets, ensuring that the Union- wide greenhouse gas emissions and removals in the land use, land use change and forestry sector and the emissions from the agriculture non-CO2 sectors are at least balanced by 2035. Contrary to the EU level target of climate neutrality for the land sector by 2035, such national targets will be binding and enforceable on each Member State. _________________ 34 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, amending Regulations (EC) No 663/2009 and (EC) No 715/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Directives 94/22/EC, 98/70/EC, 2009/31/EC, 2009/73/EC, 2010/31/EU, 2012/27/EU and 2013/30/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Directives 2009/119/EC and (EU) 2015/652 and repealing Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 328, 21.12.2018, p.1).
Amendment 71 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8 a (new)
Recital 8 a (new)
(8a) Forests provide important benefits for biodiversity, soil stabilisation, purification of air and water, carbon sequestration and storage and potentially the provision of long-lived wood products. However, the nature and function of forests is highly variable across the Union, notably north, where timber production is more prevalent, to south, where soil conservation is a priority and other specific multifunctional forest types (Mediterranean forest or Dehesa) often need specific conservation and ecological measures, which need long time periods for sinking CO2. Such Mediterranean forests are more vulnerable to climate change due to direct impacts such as drought or temperature-induced forest dieback or evolution of aridity, for which an aridity index should be used as one of the tools needed to strengthen the resilience of the Union’s forests.
Amendment 81 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10
Recital 10
(10) In order to enhance greenhouse gas removals, individual farmers or forest managers need a direct incentive to store more carbon on their land and their forests while providing other societal benefits and protecting biodiversity. New business models based on carbon farming incentives and on the certification of carbon removals need to be increasingly deployed in the period until 2030. Such incentives and business models willshould also enhance climate mitigation in tha circular and sustainable bio- economy, including through the use of durable harvested wood products, in full respect of ecological principles fostering biodiversity and the circular economy. Hence, new categories of carbon storageircular economy products should be introduced in addition to the harvested wood products. The emerging business models, farming and land management practices to enhance removals, with incentives to implement ecosystem-based and biodiversity friendly approaches, contribute to a balanced territorial development and economic growth in rural areas. They also create opportunities for new jobs and provide incentives for relevant training, reskilling and upskilling.
Amendment 84 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10 a (new)
Recital 10 a (new)
(10a) The Commission, Member States and national competent authorities should assign specific budgets for funds and investments in infrastructure for new decarbonisation and climate mitigation technologies, including specific funds for small and medium farms and forest owners. Union and national competent authorities should work closely with relevant stakeholders to develop an enabling environment and adequate financial support mechanisms for the transition to carbon neutrality.
Amendment 102 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 15
Recital 15
(15) In view of setting out the indicative net greenhouse gas removals targets for the Member States for the period from 2026 to 2030, the Commission should exercise a comprehensive review to verify the greenhouse gas inventory data for the years 2021, 2022 and 2023. For this purpose, a comprehensive review should be carried out in 2025, in addition to the comprehensive reviews that the Commission is to carry out in 2027 and 2032 in accordance with Article 38 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999.
Amendment 110 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1
Regulation (EU) 2018/841
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point d
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point d
(d) indicative targets for net greenhouse gas removals in the land use, land use change and forestry sector for Member States for the period from 2026 to 2030;
Amendment 148 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3 Regulation (EU) 2018/841
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3 Regulation (EU) 2018/841
3. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts setting out the indicative annual targets based on the linear trajectory for net greenhouse gas removals for each Member State, for each year in the period from 2026 to 2029 in terms of tonnes CO2 equivalent. These national trajectories shall be based on the average greenhouse gas inventory data for the years 2021, 2022 and 2023, reported by each Member State. The value of the 310 million tonnes CO2 equivalent net removals as a sum of the targets for Member States set out in Annex IIa may be subject to a technical correction due to a change of methodology by Member States. The method for determination of the technical correction to be added to the targets of the Member States, shall be set out in these implementing acts. For the purpose of those implementing acts, the Commission shall carry out a comprehensive review of the most recent national inventory data for the years 2021, 2022 and 2023 submitted by Member States pursuant to Article 26(4) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999.
Amendment 167 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3 a (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3 a (new)
Regulation (EU) 2018/841
Article 4 – paragraph 4 a (new)
Article 4 – paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Regarding the proposal for AFOLU after 2030, and before2027, the Commission shall conduct a thorough impact assessment, including at the Member State level and down to farm level, to identify implications regarding administrative requirements, cost of efforts to be undertaken, likely effects on income from incentives, as well as the specific provisions, governance and targets to be adopted.
Amendment 190 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 11
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 11
Regulation (EU) 2018/841
Article 13 – paragraph 1
Article 13 – paragraph 1
1. Where, in the period from 2021 to 2025, total emissions exceed total removals in the land accounting categories referred to in Article 2(1), or where, in the period from 2026 onwards, the annual balance of greenhouse gas emissions over removals exceeds the net emissions limit established in the linear trajectory and in Annex IIa, in the land accounting categories referred to in Article 2(2), [accounted for in accordance with this Regulation,] in a Member State, that Member State may use the managed forest land flexibility set out in this Article in order to comply with Article 4(1).
Amendment 195 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 11
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 11
Regulation (EU) 2018/841
Article 13 – paragraph 4
Article 13 – paragraph 4
4. Member States shall submit evidence to the Commission concerning the impact of natural disturbances, extreme weather incidents and climate impacts, which may impede increase of natural sinks, calculated pursuant to Annex VI in order to be eligible for compensation of remaining sinks accounted for as emissions against its forest reference level, up to the full amount of unused compensation by other Member States set out in Annex VII for the period from 2021 to 2025. In case the demand for compensation exceeds the amount of unused compensation available, the compensation shall be distributed proportionally among the Member States concerned.’;
Amendment 221 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 14
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 14
Regulation (EU) 2018/841
Article 13c – paragraph 2
Article 13c – paragraph 2
An amount equal to the amount in tonnes of CO2 equivalent of the excess greenhouse gas net emissions, multiplied by a factor of 1,083, shall be added to the greenhouse gas emission figure reported by that Member State in the following year, in accordance with the measures adopted pursuant to Article 15.;
Amendment 223 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 15
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 15
Regulation (EU) 2018/841
Article 14 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point c a (new)
Article 14 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point c a (new)
(ca) synergies between climate mitigation and the development of bioeconomy, associated to the substitution of carbon- and fossil-intensive materials with wood-based materials for purposes other than energy production.
Amendment 225 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 16
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 16
Regulation (EU) 2018/841
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – point d
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – point d
Amendment 258 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex III
Annex III
Regulation (EU) 2018/1999
Annex V – Part 3 – paragraph 4 a (new)
Annex V – Part 3 – paragraph 4 a (new)
The Commission should ensure collection and analyses of GIS geo-spatial data at the EU level in cooperation with, and using data from, the European Environmental Agency, the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change, the Commission’s Joint Research Centre and other bodies, as well as the European Earth Observation Programme Copernicus, and provide assistance to the Member States to apply Tier 3 methods, in order to ensure consistency and transparency of the data from 2026 onwards.